Summer Skin

Ah, sun. You elude us for pretty much 11 months out of the year but when you do show up it's always worth the wait. Glorious warmth, happy faces everywhere and a fine old stretch in the evenings. Lovely. With this newfound meditteranean style weather I generally try and shake up my skincare/make-up routine accordingly.

Nothing says Summer to me more than the smell of coconut- just a whiff reminds me of sun lotion, sand between my toes and a great big 99....complete with a flake, obviously. The Body Shop coconut body butter contains fair trade organic virgin coconut oil to provide hydration for dry skin over 24 hours. These body butters are one of my holy grail products- they smell amazing with the scent lasting ages on the skin and clear up any dry patches super fast. The beautifying oil for body, face and hair is a new product for me- the lovely Marissa Carter of Cocoa Brown tan fame recently suggested on Twitter that when you want to gradually remove fake tan that a body oil such as coconut oil is a great option as it helps break down the tan on the skin gently, rather than just scrubbing it all off in one go, which will only serve to make you look all blotchy! By contrast- avoid oil based moisturisers when trying to maintain a fake tan, I usually use my coconut body butter when preparing my skin for tanning- dry patches are the kiss of death for an even tan! It's worth keeping an eye in-store as they always have good deals on. 

Speaking of Cocoa Brown, the latest sunless tanning product from Marissa Carter is Night & Day Tan Mousse* and is officially my new favourite tan, following closely on the heels of the original Cocoa Brown 1 hour Tan. The idea with Night & Day is that you apply it with your tanning mitt, and are immediately tanned- no need to leave it to develop or to wash it off, you can get dressed and head straight out the door- perfect for when you want a nice deep tan for a night out. Up you get early the next morning (optimistic) for brunch but at that stage you probably want to look more sun kissed than bronzed, so you hop into the shower and are left with a light glow that'll then last for up to five days! You could be forgiven for thinking this is some sort of fancy witchcraft but you'd be wrong. It's just that someone has finally developed tanning products that work and are actually convenient also, something I know I've been waiting for since I was a teenager (way back in the year 19-dickety-2). All the better is the fact that Cocoa Brown is an Irish brand, available in Penney's and lots of pharmacies around the country for the bargainous price of 7.99. 

If I'm telling you about sunless tanning then it should be obvious I'm not a big sun worshipper- don't get me wrong, I love the beautiful weather and no one rocks an ice pop (tangle twisters are my favourite, in case you're interested) and a sun chair quite like I do but I burn, not tan and that's not a good look. So I coat myself in the above- Boots own brand Soltan, a moisturising facial suncare cream with the highest UVA and UVB rating and SPF 30. It smells lovely and sinks into the skin quickly and easily- I wear it under foundations that don't have an SPF (I'm looking at you Bourjois Healthy mix serum) or on it's own if I'm just popping out for a walk and not only have I never burnt but it also leaves my dry skin nice and soft. Yay! For lips, I use my Eos lip sphere in lemon, which has an SPF of 15. There's a full review of it HERE.

Lastly, sun care wise is this embarrassing looking bottle of Nivea for kids- there's genuinely no reason as to why I have this but I found it in the house and think himself must have bought it. Either way, it has factor 30 with UVA and UVB protection and is water resistant. It also tickles us both that the liquid is in fact bright blue- a feature that is clearly for children but amuses us nonetheless.

Lastly, I've been loving this Green Tea BB cream from Singapore-based brand Ginvera. It contains SPF 30 and suits all skin tones- it brightens and evens out the complexion and although it looks dark when first out of the tube, once applied it seems to alter according to your skin tone. I'm quite pale and I find this suits me really well. It's also easy to apply, looks beautiful on and is perfect for those off-duty days when you can't be bothered to make any sort of an effort, which lets face it is pretty much any sunny day. Luckily this is only the second BB cream I've tried and I love it so the search is over. Huzzah! You can find this on Ginvera's website HERE.

Let me know below if you have any hot tips (see what I did there?!) for Summer skin care!

XX

*pr sample