Sun Avoidance

While I live within walking distance of the beach, I am a bit paranoid about exposing my skin to the sun - and with good reason! I don't think I actually used a sunscreen until I was in my late 20's. Did they even have sunscreen in the 80's? I remember tan amplifiers and Hawaiian Tropic Suntan Oil. Being from a family of mostly Native Americans, sunscreen just wasn't thought of at all.

Now I know better, and don't leave my house without at least 35 SPF on my face, body, hands, everywhere. I'm a bit obsessive. But despite my sunblock mania, I am always looking to bronze up my skin (which is so ironic considering elsewhere in the world women want to whiten their skin, but that's another post for another time) so that it looks like I have been lounging in the sun somewhere tropical instead of slaving away in my office with no windows. And while I've used just about every self-tanner on my body, I've tried very few on my face. I think I figured with my constant exfoliation (twice a day, three times on the weekend; salicylic acid is my friend, y'all!) it wouldn't do much good to do a self-bronzer on the face. Instead I just relied on my Cargo bronzer powder and called it good.

Enter Clarins' Liquid Bronze Self Tanning. I picked this up as part of a raffle prize at Macy's, which was kind of cool. Anyone who bought a bathing suit that day was signed up to win a beach bag full of Clarins products, some flip flops, a towel, and some sunglasses. I happened to be the lucky winner, and am only just now digging into it. Actually, I wanted to use the bag for something, so I had to pull all the products out. ANYWAY. This stuff is AMAZING. Yes, it deserves all capital letters, it's that good.

You can apply this in the morning, after doing your washing ritual, but before your serum/moisturizer/etc. This light lotion goes on with a cotton ball, giving you a super light application. It soaks in immediately, and you don't have to wait to apply the rest of your regimen. You know how you have to apply your body tanner and let it dry? How many of you have succumbed to using a hairdryer to get it to dry faster because you're running late? Just me? Whatevs. This stuff dries immediately, helping you to actually make it to work on time. And there is no hint of orange when the tan develops - just a natural bronze that evens out the skin tone on your face wonderfully. Best of all, you can build it up: apply it once a day until you get the bronze you want. It works faster than a gradual tanner, but not so fast that you're overwhelmed with the bronzey goodness all in one day.

I've finally found my facial bronzer. And it only took me half of the summer to do it!