art insta @christinesart
In school, my nickname was Snow White. No joke.
I remember in Std 5 when Tropitone’s self tanner came out, it felt like a revelation: bronzed skin overnight. I even loved the distinctive smell I have later learned to call ‘hamster cage’.
I have grown to love my pale skin, luckily, as I really don’t enjoy basking in the sun. Born and bred Eastern Cape, I have always somehow managed to live in cities all over the world whose temperatures reach over 30deg in summer, next to the ocean- don’t ask me how I managed to get that right! I love the sea, and unfortunately waltzing into the waves looking like Morticia Adams isn’t quite a look.
Cue the search for amazing sunless tanning for Snow White.
I have tried everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, from standing naked in a strange ladies grotty shower getting sprayed in places no-one except God should ever see, to sunbeds, to taking self tan tablets, to asking my boyfriend to spray me in our shower, and staining everything in our bathroom (and bedding) for months. Grr.
Firstly, because as much as I love beauty and skincare stuff, I honestly don’t have hours every day to spend primping- give me self tan that’s not CLEAR please. I want to see where I’m putting it- have I missed that irritating spot behind my knees? Do my elbows look like used teabags?
Secondly, please let it have sunscreen!
Thirdly, if it doesn’t smell like a guinea pig covered in sawdust that’d be FAB.
Enter: Palmer’s Sunless Tanner. I have about 20 of these scattered between every travel bag I own.
This product delivers the most natural, totally-not-orange colour to even paleys like me. It’s an instant bronzer too YAYYYYYY so immediately I know where I’ve applied it and immediately I look like someone who doesn’t sit behind a computer all day. It smells delicious (like everything in their cocoa butter range) AND! it has an SPF of 15.
This product is sadly very hard to find- I’m not sure why as there honestly isn’t anything like it out there, and when I do see it at Clicks or Dis-Chem, I buy en masse.
I couldn’t even find it on their local and global sites :/
Heck, I couldn’t even find a decent quality picture!
No matter, here’s my amazing leg-fie….
This is my last instalment of the ‘cheap & cheerful’ as I’m planning my first ‘Bathroom Apothecary’ event in the Eastern Cape- if you can make it, I promise a great workshop where you’ll be one step closer to being a beauty chef. (Find on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1981080281940975/)
Love,
Candy xo
