I’ve never been much of a sun worshipper. I’ve tried sunbathing in the past but I’ve got the palest of pale skin and have never been able to get the right balance of sunscreen to protect me but also allow a tan. Plus I’m an awful fidget and can’t sit still for long enough! My life until this point has therefore been spent whiter than Casper the Friendly Ghost.
This year has been different though. Thanks to Pokemon Go I’ve ended up outside a lot more this Summer, navigating around lakes, through woodland and to new places of interest on the hunt for more things to add to my Pokedex. Without any real conscious effort to do so, I’ve thus managed to very gradually build up a bit of a healthy gold glow.
As it turns out, if you’re really pale you can’t rush a tan… it’s only just taken me thirty odd years to work this out!
I’ll admit to being rather scared of damaging my skin though, so I’ve been doing all I can to keep it healthy and hydrated whilst also wanting to make the most of having a bit of colour for a change!
Here are my favourite beauty buys that I’ve been using this Summer to keep my golden glow:
Shake the bottle and like a Californian version of a snow globe, a shower of golden sparkles will twinkle away at you. However it’s more than just pretty packaging, this is a multi use dry oil that can be used on your hair and your skin to keep it soft and firm, whilst the shimmery particles will enhance and flatter any colour you’ve managed to build up during the summer.
I was a bit dubious about using oil to begin with as I didn’t want to look or feel greasy, but this is a dry oil so it works a bit differently to what you might expect. It glides on just like a normal oil, but soaks in like a watery lotion and leaves my skin feeling soft and silky with a beautiful sheen and a hint of the shimmery sparkle that takes full effect as the sun goes down. It’s perfect for after work drinks or an evening out. I use it on my arms, legs and collarbone.
It’s got a really lovely subtle nutty fragrance owed to the Sweet Almond, Camellia, Hazelnut and Macadamia plant oils in it.
I found this in Marks and Spencers of all places (not the first place I’d think to go for beauty products) so if it’s sold out online it’s well worth a look in store.
Ideal World kindly sent me a beauty box jam packed full of goodies from their beauty range and this was my favourite pick, so much so that it’s become a regular in my makeup routine. Like the Nuxe Oil, this eye serum has a golden appearance but this time the particles are minuscule, formulated to conceal dark circles and lift the appearance of the eye area.
I was concerned about just how dark the peach tone was to begin with, but I suffer from blue circles under my eyes and have found that although it looks harsh at first, using an orangey or peach tone as a base helps to correct the colour and you can then apply a lighter concealer over the top to match your skintone.
The liquid is on a spatula so I dab on a couple of drops, then gently blend it in using a sponge applicator. I find that the colour lightens as it disperses too so it isn’t as dramatic as it first appears. It blends really nicely and leaves a nice smooth even base to work with, as well as helping to reduce puffiness and slackness around my eye area.
By the way if you’re wondering who Ideal World are, they are a website and Shopping Channel on Sky, Freeview, Virgin and Freesat. They have a vast range of beauty brands and products making them a one stop shop for makeup, hair and skincare.
I have to admit, I read a few other reviews online and was surprised that no one seems to have heard of these guys, I’m a shopping channel junkie and have been watching them for years! I especially love the beauty segments to see all the products being demo’d as you can pick up some really great tips on how to use them to best effect.
Ah Touche Eclat – my old faithful! Others highlighting concealers have vied for my attention, but I always end up going back to this one.
Now just to clear something up, it states on the ‘how to use’ for this product to use it under your eyes to conceal dark circles. On it’s own, I really don’t like it for that. I don’t find that it gives enough coverage and because it’s bounces light I find that all it does is draw attention to the area and make blue circles a grayish colour.
I much prefer to use it as a highlighter on areas I want to enhance or deflect the light from. As well as dark circles I suffer from the dreaded puff too (lucky me!) so I dot the product directly where the shadow that the puffiness creates is. Then I gently pat to blend it in, being careful not to drag it over the whole undereye area, just keeping it in the spot that I applied it to.
I also pop a bit on the inner corners of my eyes, on the tip of my nose and under my brow arches to enhance my golden glow. Because it’s got a brush applicator I find this really easy to apply with precision.
Have you tried any of these products? What are your Summer beauty essentials for a healthy golden glow?
