My Winter Essentials : Fake Tanning

Sad (or exciting) as it is, Winter is nearly upon us! The clocks have gone back marking the official end to British summertime and our wardrobe's are slowly changing from flip-flops and shorts to jumpers and coats!

BUT just because summer is gone doesn't me can can't still be fabulous and glamorous. Winter is one of my favourite times for beauty, warm tones, seriously amounts of shimmer and glitter plus the perfect time to use that trusty old fake tan!

Over the next month or two on the lead up to Christmas and the New Year I have decided to start a new small series of posts on here named "My Winter Essentials" I'll be sharing the products and items I can't live without and maybe a few cheeky wishlists too!

First up today I'm going to be talking about Fake Tan - the stuff that keeps us looking slightly healthy and un-casper like through the dark and cold months before Spring arrives again!

In my time (we'll say the last 5 years) I have been through my fair share of different tanning products to change my dodgy pale complexion to a half decent bronzed glow but there is always one that sticks out to me and one that I have always recommended to friends and family alike and that is St Moriz.

Now I first stumbled across this brand when doing a bit of bargain hunting on Fragrance Direct back in 2010! I purchased a couple of bottles on a whim as they were only £2.99 and back then there was noway I could really afford to splash out on things like St. Tropez and Fake Bake.

I remember it arriving and being slightly dubious and applying it initially but once I had a mitt in hand I thought I'd give the mousse a go and if it went wrong I'd just wear jeans and long sleeves!

But it never really did go wrong, I so pleased with the results, it was so easy to apply and the results were just what I was looking for.

That was with the Medium shade and I have ALWAYS used the medium shade until recently when the awesome people at St. Moriz contacted me!

St. Moriz Instant Shimmer, Dark Mousse & Applicator Mitt*

 Dark shades of fake tan have always made me a little nervous. Naturally I'm pretty pale (having a red headed mother will do that for ya!) so I've always stuck to the middle of the road medium tones which I knew I could always build up if I wanted to make it darker.

After years of this though I have now felt more confident to try out things a little more bold. So when St. Moriz sent me one of their 'dark' mousses I was excited to give it a go! I haven't been back from Florida long so it was also good to use to try and keep the slight tan I got there!

The mousse has always been my favourite product, alongside the mitt provided this is, for me, the easiest way to tan my body and gives the best results!

The dark shade left me with a great natural bronzed look, perfect for a night out with my girls!

 The instant shimmer isn't something I would use as much just as the weather here isn't always great I would be nervous of t running if I was to get caught in the rain! 
It works great though to give the legs a subtle shimmer and dewy shine - much better than my usual dull wobbly calves, shins and thighs! 

Tanning is the best way to get your body looking slimmer and more toned without actually having to do anything plus you can even get your limbs and abs looking naturally defined and strong with a bit of contouring if you feel brave enough. 

A Few Fake Tanning Top Tips from Myself & St. Moriz

• Always exfoliate before tanning, Getting rid of those nasty dead skin cells will help your tan sit better on your skin, avoid patchness and also make sure it lasts longer!
• Moisturise your skin! Keep it hydrated and soft - another way to prevent patchiness across yourself and to help prolong your tan!

• Always shave at least 24 hours before tanning - there's nothing worse than getting a saving rash from tanning!
• Start from your feet and working your way upwards! It's the best way to get an even tan when doing it yourself. It helps you avoid those creasing marks from bending over!
• Always use a mitt - a mitt is a tan's best friend, especially when using a mousse! It helps you blend it evenly and also saves your hands from getting in a horrible stained mess!
• Tan in front of a mirror if you can! You can always see then if you have missed anywhere or if anywhere needs more blending!
• Don't tan on carpet - it's not the easiest things to get out but if you have no choice when either stand on a towel or even do it when stood in the bath or shower!
• Pop your mitt on the end of a wooden spoon! If you struggle to get those hard to reach places on your back an don't have a helpful sole around who could do it for you then just grab a wooden spoon and attach your mitt to it! Easy peasy!
• Wear loose clothing to bed! 9 times out of 10 your going to fake tan over night so you can let it develop while you sleep - make sure you wear loose clothing that way it hopefully won't interfer with your masterpiece tanning job too much!

St. Moriz is by far the best value for money tan I have ever used! Their products range from just £4.99 and the results truly are as good as higher end products which I've tried!
 The mousse is a product that I will repurchase again and again and for less than £5 I urge you all to give it a go!
 You can find St. Moriz is soooo many places now Boots, Asda, Feel Unique, Tesco naming just a few so there's got to be some near you wherever you live :)

Have you tried any St. Moriz products?

What's your favourite fake tan?

What are your Winter Essentials?

Like this post? Follow A Yellow Brick Blog on  Bloglovin so you never miss a thing!



To see videos check out A Yellow Brick Vlog on YouTube

Cocoa Brown 1 Hour Tan Dark Mousse Review

I love a good tan and I've been known to dabble with a fair few products in my time. Gradual tanning moisturisers, mousses, instant sprays and most recently a professional spray tan done! I love the confidence you gain with a tan, it makes you look healthier and of course I love the fact it makes me look slightly smaller!

Today is a product I had been so so excited to try out - it is the Cocoa Brown (by Marissa Carter) 1 Hour Tan Mousse. (*)

Now although I am always chopping and changing what tanning products I use - from LW Tan to St. Moritz I have always gone for the sort of 'medium' shades. 
Where I have a fairly pale skin tone I've always been nervous about going the whole hog and getting the dark dark shades but after having a dark spray tan recently it's made me a little more confident with embracing my inner TOWIE.

I had heard alot of Cocoa Brown - lots of bloggers have raved about it, twitter is full of recommendations and I recently noticed it in my local Superdrug, so I was super excited to try it out!

Mousse's are my favourite type of tan to apply because well... I find them the easiest! Pump onto a mitt and away you go!
After just 2 or 3 pumps I had completely covered my leg (yes just the one - I wanted to capture the difference for you guys.... the things I do for this blog!)

"Easy to apply this first-of-a-kind formulation combines hi tech accelerating agents, which are activated upon contact with skin and speed up the tan’s absorption and development, to deliver a rich, cocoa brown tan."

The first thing I noticed about this stuff was the scent. There was not a hint of the classic 'biscuit' smell at all! There are lots of brands that say they don't have the smell but there is always a slight hint of it but with this - not at all!
Also, the colour of the mousse was so much lighter than I was expecting! Seeing as this is a dark, fast developing tan I honestly thought the product would be alot lot darker than it is!

So tanned up I pottered around my flat for the next hour or so - thankfully this stuff dried more or less instantly and isn't sticky in the slightest so there was no trouble with needing to get on with things!
Before I knew it is was time to wash it off! No shower gel or soap needed just rinse it off and the tan will continue to develop for up to 3 hours afterwards (crazy!)

A great tanning product with great results! I love the gorgeous golden shade this has left after just 1 hour!
 A fab product perfect for when you're in a rush and want a great tan quickly that's going to last for longer than 1 night! I can't quite believe that it's only £7.99 - what a bargain!

Have you girls tried this stuff out? I'm definitely more confident with going for darker shades now!

Bloglovin | GFC | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Tumblr

Aussie Aussome Volume Deep Treatment Mousse Review

Hello new product from Aussie, how you doing there?

Yes it's that new product everyone has been raving about - and I know I'm on a spending ban but this was free as part of a 3 for 2 at Boots .... so really it's okay right?

This is the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Light, Aussome Volume Deep Treatment Mousse! (basically a mousse conditioning treatment)

Over the last month or so I have spotted lots of those bloggers who love beauty speaking about this stuff! So of course after reading their reviews I instantly wanted to hunt this product down and hop in the shower!

This is a mousse that you pop on after shampooing and leave on your locks for 3 minutes before rinsing it out.... hence the name!

I was excited to try this out as I haven't used anything like this before - mousse is something I normally stay clear of when styling, I've just never seemed to get on with it so I was looking forward to trying it in a different form!

The aim of the product is to give you more volume - something we are all striving for right?
 I've always been a fan of Aussie since I used to steal my mum's as a kid/teen - the smell is just divine.... why have they not made an Aussie candle yet?
Saying that.... this smell is nice but it doesn't smell exactly like the usual shampoos and conditioners from Aussie which is what I was expecting... ahh well!
Being a 'mousse' something I was worried about with this was the feel of the product. When I think of mousse I think of sticky but thankfully this stuff is anything but! Creamy and fluffy this stuff feels fab!

I definitely feel like I used a fair bit on my hair - I started with a good handful but as soon as I ran it through my hair it felt like it had disappeared so I added a little bit more and a little bit more.
It is a strange feeling for a conditioning treatment - I'm so used to feeling a thick and creamy mask type product on my hair when doing a treatment - but this felt like it dissolved and soaked right in!
I didn't let this put me off thought and after the 3 minutes I washed it out and headed to my hair dryer to see the results!

I could definitely see some volume improvement in my hair after I had given it a quick blow dry! Surprisingly I could really see it in the ends. My hair didn't seem to be it's normal 'thicker at the roots, thinner at the ends' self - the ends had alot more body which I was chuffed with!

This stuff is a nice treat to have and even though I think I used alot when I shake the bottle it doesn't feel like alot has gone, so hopefully this will last me a while!
 At only £4.99 it's alot cheaper than other treatment type products and if you've got really fine, flat hair then maybe this is the product for you!

GFC | Bloglovin | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Tumblr