If you know me at all, you will know I am extremely pale and instead of tanning, I simply burn. Sound familiar? Well I've found 2 gorgeous tanners that are perfect for my pale complexion. One works amazing for my legs whilst the other does wonders for my arms. I was kindly sent these two items to review but as always these are my honest opinions and I'll be showing you my before and after shots so you can see the actually difference and it's not me spouting nonsense!
The tan is in a nicely presented pump bottle which distributes a good amount of bronze foam onto your hand which goes a long way on the skin (I use approx 3 - 4 small pumps on my lower legs). I absolutely love the design of the packaging too, it arrives in a white box with bold black text and accents of gold which is the exact same on the bottle. It really stands out in my bathroom and is very pleasing to look at.
So what does the tan claim and do? Well Madama LA LA tan is a quick-dry DD product which basically means it's a dynamic do-all that's infused with ingredients such as coco water, aloe, green tea and vitamin E (a huge bonus for the skin). The tan itself is an instant glow and adapts to your current skin tone which is probably why it worked so well with me being pale. The product also claims it lasts for up to 10 days which is very promising!
Process:
So this product promised a lot but did it deliver? I'm going to talk you through the process of how I got my legs looking sun kissed and my thoughts of it.
I exfoliated and moisturised before applying my tan as I'm sure we all know that applying tan straight onto un-cleansed skin in a big no-no and will only lead you to a patchy, flaky tan (ew!). I let my moisturiser settle into my skin before pumping the foam into my hand and smoothing it into my skin in an up/down motion to make sure the tan applied evenly and not streaky. At first the foam was very dark and I was scared it would not blend into my skin but if you continue to work it into your legs then the product colour fades into a gorgeous brown glow instead of a scary dark mess!
I made sure to work on the bottom portion of my leg first, distributing most onto the actual front and back of my leg whilst being slightly more sparse on areas such as my ankle to avoid patchiness. Once I had that portion done, I would move onto my upper leg where I'd go up to my hip bone. If I was to wear a bikini I would obviously tan the whole area so my stomach isn't stark white but for this trial period I knew I wouldn't be braving the cold just yet!
It was the same process on my thigh, pumping foam into my hand and rubbing it into my skin until it left a glow that I was happy with. With that full leg done, I move onto my other leg so that I have a matched tan and that is all! If you're like me and use your hands to tan, be sure to scrub your hands with some exfoliant and soap, otherwise you get awful tan hands!
Final thoughts:
Apart from my initial thought of the tan being too dark for me, I was pleased to find out that it gave me a gorgeous sun kissed glow that looked natural and not orange or fake. The only problem I had was that the second time I topped up my tan, it stuck to my ankles horribly and left me with an orange patch on both ankles but that is mostly my fault as I shouldn't have topped that area up since it didn't need to be done and I didn't exfoliate massively as I didn't want to wash away my tan fully (Forgive me, I'm new to tanning okay?).
I would definitely recommend this tan to anyone who is looking for something that gives a natural look to their skin. Even if you're a beginner like me, you do not need experience to use this product as it works a treat!
Madame LA LA is stocked in superdrug and you can see the list of stockists here.
RRP: £30
(The lighting makes it look like I have very pale bottom portions of my leg, this is not the case!)
Process:
The process of this tan is the same as the other tan I used. I made sure to exfoliate and moisturise generously before applying this gradual tan onto my arms, rubbing it in so it works right into the skin. The lotion gives off a subtle glow at first, an almost 'barely there' glow and it slowly builds and develops through out the day to give a more bronzed look which is once again super natural on my complexion.
Final thoughts:
I was once again pleased with this product as I didn't have any horrible disaster and it gave a gorgeous, healthy glow. The only problem I had was my watch rubbed away the tan underneath the strap so when I took my watch off there was a white line of untanned skin, but due to my nature of work (cleaning) and constantly wearing a watch I cannot complain!
If you're too anxious to try out a proper tan then definitely give a gradual tanner like Cocoa Brown's a go instead!
You can see your nearest stockist here.
RRP: £5.99
(I applied this tan at around 1pm and this is how it looks 7 hours later! Excuse the awkward arm angle, how does one pose their arm whilst trying to take a pic??)
I'm super pleased to have taken the plunge and tried out both a fake tan and gradual tanner as I was super happy with the results of my tan and my main issue was for it to look natural and it definitely delivered that!
- Emily x
* I was gifted these items by Cocoa Brown and Madame LA LA but all opinions are my own
Madame LA LA
This tan comes in three options: normal, light and a face bronzer serum. I would have chosen the light option but they didn't have it in stock at the time so I took my chance on the normal tan and I was pleasantly surprised that I ended up looking natural and sun kissed.
The Product/What It Claims:
The tan is in a nicely presented pump bottle which distributes a good amount of bronze foam onto your hand which goes a long way on the skin (I use approx 3 - 4 small pumps on my lower legs). I absolutely love the design of the packaging too, it arrives in a white box with bold black text and accents of gold which is the exact same on the bottle. It really stands out in my bathroom and is very pleasing to look at.
So what does the tan claim and do? Well Madama LA LA tan is a quick-dry DD product which basically means it's a dynamic do-all that's infused with ingredients such as coco water, aloe, green tea and vitamin E (a huge bonus for the skin). The tan itself is an instant glow and adapts to your current skin tone which is probably why it worked so well with me being pale. The product also claims it lasts for up to 10 days which is very promising!
Process:
So this product promised a lot but did it deliver? I'm going to talk you through the process of how I got my legs looking sun kissed and my thoughts of it.
I exfoliated and moisturised before applying my tan as I'm sure we all know that applying tan straight onto un-cleansed skin in a big no-no and will only lead you to a patchy, flaky tan (ew!). I let my moisturiser settle into my skin before pumping the foam into my hand and smoothing it into my skin in an up/down motion to make sure the tan applied evenly and not streaky. At first the foam was very dark and I was scared it would not blend into my skin but if you continue to work it into your legs then the product colour fades into a gorgeous brown glow instead of a scary dark mess!
I made sure to work on the bottom portion of my leg first, distributing most onto the actual front and back of my leg whilst being slightly more sparse on areas such as my ankle to avoid patchiness. Once I had that portion done, I would move onto my upper leg where I'd go up to my hip bone. If I was to wear a bikini I would obviously tan the whole area so my stomach isn't stark white but for this trial period I knew I wouldn't be braving the cold just yet!
It was the same process on my thigh, pumping foam into my hand and rubbing it into my skin until it left a glow that I was happy with. With that full leg done, I move onto my other leg so that I have a matched tan and that is all! If you're like me and use your hands to tan, be sure to scrub your hands with some exfoliant and soap, otherwise you get awful tan hands!
Final thoughts:
Apart from my initial thought of the tan being too dark for me, I was pleased to find out that it gave me a gorgeous sun kissed glow that looked natural and not orange or fake. The only problem I had was that the second time I topped up my tan, it stuck to my ankles horribly and left me with an orange patch on both ankles but that is mostly my fault as I shouldn't have topped that area up since it didn't need to be done and I didn't exfoliate massively as I didn't want to wash away my tan fully (Forgive me, I'm new to tanning okay?).
I would definitely recommend this tan to anyone who is looking for something that gives a natural look to their skin. Even if you're a beginner like me, you do not need experience to use this product as it works a treat!
Madame LA LA is stocked in superdrug and you can see the list of stockists here.
RRP: £30
Cocoa Brown Gentle Bronze Gradual Tan
This tan is a lotion instead of a foam like Madame LA LA and is in a squeezy tube, instead of it being instant this product is more gradual as the name suggests which allows you more control of building up the colour of your tan. This is ideal for my arms as I have them on show at work so I didn't want to experience any orange disasters! This tan has moisturising properties too so your skin will be left feeling smooth and soft.
The Product/What It Claims:
Process:
The process of this tan is the same as the other tan I used. I made sure to exfoliate and moisturise generously before applying this gradual tan onto my arms, rubbing it in so it works right into the skin. The lotion gives off a subtle glow at first, an almost 'barely there' glow and it slowly builds and develops through out the day to give a more bronzed look which is once again super natural on my complexion.
Final thoughts:
I was once again pleased with this product as I didn't have any horrible disaster and it gave a gorgeous, healthy glow. The only problem I had was my watch rubbed away the tan underneath the strap so when I took my watch off there was a white line of untanned skin, but due to my nature of work (cleaning) and constantly wearing a watch I cannot complain!
If you're too anxious to try out a proper tan then definitely give a gradual tanner like Cocoa Brown's a go instead!
You can see your nearest stockist here.
RRP: £5.99
I'm super pleased to have taken the plunge and tried out both a fake tan and gradual tanner as I was super happy with the results of my tan and my main issue was for it to look natural and it definitely delivered that!
- Emily x
* I was gifted these items by Cocoa Brown and Madame LA LA but all opinions are my own
