Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.. I should really learn. It’s approaching Summer and I’m feeling the need to bare my pins a little more than usual, unfortunately my legs are ghost white, despite my asian skin. I don’t know why this is, my sisters do not have the same problem but I’ve always suffered with very pale hands and incredibly pale legs and feet – maybe bad circulation? Who knows, but all I know is if I’m showing some leg, I have a whole regime of applying fake tan that simply must be done beforehand.
So for some reason I decided to use L’oreal Sublime Bronze Self Tanning Shimmer Gel, instead of my more recent fake tan purchase, Piz Buin, I guess I thought it was a good idea to vary things, (regrettably).
Well, to cut a long story short; Eurgh.
Application
This fake tan comes in an orangey bronze squeezy tube bottle. It comes out a like a thick dark brown gel, and you can see the shimmer particles.
Onto the application.. My latest discovery with fake tan application is hair removal cream first! I suppose this isn’t really advisable if you’re using it all over, but if you’re like me and just want your legs bronze then this is a fab idea. As hair removal cream exfoliates AS WELL as removing the hair, it provides a perfect smooth base for the fake tan. Honestly, your legs are silky smooth for daaays, far more preferable to shaving (EDIT: HERE are the reviews on these creams!). As this fake tan product is fairly moisturising, I only apply moisturiser on my feet, ankles and knees after hair removing, then apply the fake tan straight.
Applying this tan is pretty easy, but my gosh is it sticky! And it takes aaaaages to set, definitely not a quick drying one. And I really don’t like the shimmer in it, I have since learnt my lesson and will never buy a fake tan that is shimmery again, it looks awful.
As I wanted a deep tan quick, I applied the tan every few hours the night before I needed my legs bronze. Ideally, you should apply it every night for a couple of nights prior to leg-out day, instead of my short cut way, but I didn’t have the luxury of time.
Verdict
After four applications (and fully developing), I finally got a a vaguely acceptable colour for me, however, I would still have preferred it darker. It was quite an even tan, but it was very orangey instead of bronze, eek. Despite this, I probably would have thought it was fine had it not started to ITCH a few days into it. OMG, sooo uncomfortable. I must state that I do have incredibly sensitive skin and a lot of fake tans are prone to make my skin itchy and dry, but in this day and age, many don’t anymore. I think it was the AHA’s that this product contains, far too active for me. I know the majority of you will probably not have this problem but if you have slightly similar skin to me (sensitive, prone to dryness), I’d keep away.
So in conclusion, I shoulda just stuck to my Piz Buin as that definitely didn’t make me itch and didn’t go orange. Everything about this L’oreal one makes me cringe a little now in retrospect, the gross orangey bronze packaging, the thick gell-y liquid, the shimmer, the slow drying and the, eww, itch. Big thumbs down. One other thing I think you should know, if you’ve applied several layers of this fake tan before exfoliating next, be prepared to look like you’ve got a skin disease when you do finally exfoliate, with half the tan scrubbed off and half white skin left. Nice.
On a final note, I’ve heard good things about Palmers Gradual Tan so I will be purchasing that soon and testing it out – watch this space! I have incredibly (deludedly?) high hopes!
I’ve been on and off using L’oreal Lash Architect for years, ever since I bought the first originial fake lash mascara from Yves Saint Laurent about 8 years ago! Eek, showing my age now! The YSL one was great, but pricey and dried out suuuper quick. So when this product came out soon after, I snapped it up straight away.
