Tips- Make up, hair, and skin care.

This summer you'll be seeing a lot of new trends. Most common, self-tanning. Now, self-tanners can be very intimidating... so many different brands, shades, and contents. Within the past 2 years or so, theyve come out with self-tanners including SPF, UVA & UVB (SPF being Sun Protection Factor, and UVA & UVB being Ultraviolet A&B rays). Both included seperately in most of the tanning agents to protect your skin as well as tan it with the option of either screening or blocking out the harmful rays that the sun provides. The thing with these self-tanners is, the streaking and blotchy orange marks it can leave on your skin...and hands if you happen to forget about washing your hands after the application (Jess, werent those the days :) Preventing this can be a long process you'll probably want to skip...DONT, its worth it, trust me. I suggest you look around and ask a cosmetician before choosing one of the many over-whelming selections there are available to you. A cosmetician should be able to give you all the information you'll need before finding what's best for you, and what's best for your skin type. If you want a nice looking, realistic tan and a tanner that wont leave an awful scent, you wont be stingy when it comes to paying for it. I highly recommend: Streak Guard by Bain de Soleil (around 10$), Neutrogena Sunless Tanning Spray (Shade: Medium if youre fair skinned, or else you'll have a fake looking tan. Around 10-15$), and Guerlain Terricotta Tinted Self-Tanning Emulsion (around 35$). *Please note: Neutrogena Sunless Tanning Spray does not include an SPF or UVA-B block. Also, it should not be used on your face, you have to purchase the matching face tanner for that. See below for instructions and tips on for applying self-tanner.

A VERY important thing to do before applying your preffered self-tanner is, exfoliating. By exfoliating you'll be removing the dead and dry skin that can cause the un-eveness and blotching youre looking to avoid. Make sure you exfoliate all over: your face, neck, stomach, legs, arms... and if you can, try to get a friend to exfoliate your back, and apply the lotion on it for you. Rince it all off, then fully dry yourself. You must be completely dry before the application. Start appying in small areas in an even, thin layer (the best thing to do is start at your feet and move upward. And yes, you are supposed to do your feet). Your knees and elbows are the parts of your body where your skin is the dryest, therefore, you'll want to blend well in those areas. The most common places where you may encounter streaking are: Your lower back, upper inside thighs, the back of your neck, and the outsides of your arms, so, make sure you apply evenly and look at yourself in a full length mirror while doing it. The last, and a very important application; your face. Self-tanners include a dye that if applied to eyebrows, may discolor. To avoid that, simply put a thin layer of vaseline over them. Now, if youve ever used a moisturizer or something of that sort on your face, you shouldnt have much trouble with the application. What ever you do, blend in as well as you can, and especially blend well at your jaw line. Youre probably gonna want to keep up your tan, so repeat the process of application once a week. No need to exfoliate that often though. Good luck :) *I am currently testing out Bain be Soleil Sunless Tanner in medium, I'll keep you posted with the results*

Okay, I've tried out Bain de Soleil's Sunless Tanner. What do I think? Well on 10, I'll give it an 8 1/2. It did give me a great color, went on very well, and smelled great. Downsides? Well, whatever you do, if you try it that is, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, fall asleep with it. No matter how dry it is, if it's at all hot in your bed, and you happen to sweat a tad, it ends up streaking. Today is my second day with this fake tan, and to tell you the truth, I LOVE IT! That is, besides the tiny streaks it left on my feet and ankles. I do recommend this to you, but like I said, DO NOT fall asleep with it. It costed about 20$ with tax, so it's not really too expensive. One thing though, it only leaves you with enough lotion for 3 applications so I suggest using it once every 2-3 days. Another thing you should do before using this, is EXFOLIATE. Find a body exfoliating cleanser at your local Pharmacy, they cost around 5-10$ a bottle, and also another good thing to have is a loofa sponge. Use it after your first application in the shower. Well, I guess that's about it. I'm going to be trying out Biotherm sunless tanner in a week, I'll keep you posted with those results.