Totally tantastic!!!

Last year I tried the 'pale and interesting' look for a couple of weeks, inspired by Nicola-what's-her-name from Girls Aloud. "Yes" I thought to myself "English rose, flushed cheeks, pale skin, rosy lips, such a gorgeous look".

Never have I been asked more if I am 'ok' or whether I've been feeling under the weather. My boss even suggested I went home as I was clearly unwell. Winner.

Since this momentous failure I have been slathering my grey, pasty complexion with a concoction of lotions and potions to try to appear less deathly, more bronzed beach babe. However, I am not a fan of the tangoed look, sported by many a Katie Price fan, and I try at all costs to avoid looking like I have liver failure.

My regular fake bake spray tans and weekly self tan touch ups seem to have done the trick and I have successfully fooled my boss into thinking I'm in full health. However, I pay the price of sleeping in a sticky, sweaty fake tan mess after application, run the risk of orange knuckles and white patches I've missed or I normally smell of digestive biscuits. Not great.

I've been reading a lot about the new Lauren's Way tanning products, with bold claims like 'fast drying' and 'no fake tan smell'. Despite not really wanting to go 'Essex brown' I decided to give it a go as these claims were surely too good to be true! No more sticky, orange bedsheets? Surely such magical wizardry only existed in the dreams of pasty girls like me?!

It arrived quickly (always good when you're staying indoors for fear of scaring small children) and was packaged well so as not to leak or spill. I opted for the foam as spray or lotion is just too fiddly for me, I prefer to slap it onto my tanning mitt and whack it on quickly before Eastenders starts...

After moisturising my hands, feet and face I decided to Essex myself up...

The first thing I noticed was the smell, almost like sunscreen or moisturiser, very pleasant. Once I started applying I noticed that it had a really silky texture and that when I started rubbing it on, it almost doubled in quantity, foaming more as it was applied!
This was by far the easiest tan I've ever used. It didn't leave the dark splodges that some 'quick drying' tans can leave if while you're rubbing it in. It was really easy to apply and left very little room for error. I finished the application and applied my whitening toothpaste to my nails. (***Super tip***: whitening toothpaste is GREAT for removing excess fake tan. Use it on the palms of your hands, or like me apply it to your nails with a nail brush after tanning to avoid yellow staining. If you sleep with whitening toothpaste under your nail tips they'll be super-white in the morning!)

I noticed after about 10 minutes that my skin was touch dry. I have used several tanning products in the past which claim to dry quickly, but this really did!! The claims were true, I was able to sleep without sticking to the bedcovers!!

When I woke, the guide colour did make me look like I had changed race overnight. I was a little worried as the tan intensities that you see in The Only Way Is Essex are fine 'up there' but I'm pretty sure that level of 'glam' isn't really appropriate for walking around Tesco with my children buying cat food...

I nervously showered, using a loofa for good measure.

When I inspected my post-shower tan I was incredibly impressed. It was completely even, a lovely golden colour and I didn't even smell like a biscuit barrel!

I can happily say that as far as self-tan goes this is the best product I have come across.

I'm sure that if you favour the darker tan another application would easily take you to the next level, but the colour after 1 application is lovely. I'm hooked. It's easy to apply, cheaper than Fake Bake, smells gorgeous and allows you to sleep with dry skin!

For more info take a look at Lauren's web page. Here is a link to the mousse that I use:

http://www.laurensway.com/tanning-products/laurens-way-self-tanning-mousse-150ml/

or there are several other products on there to tempt you!!!

Happy tanning, smiley girlies xxxx