My life seems to flow fairly quietly, and then all of a sudden everything happens at once. Pretty much like the consistency of my blog posts. So here I am, early February, already slacking on my New Year resolution to be more active with the blog, so feeling pretty guilty with myself I wrote a load...all at once.
What with it being super grey outside, I thought I'd brighten things up with a post about golden skin. And with St.Tropez's crown slipping as the queen of fake tan I went on a hunt to find a brand that is rivalling them for their title. Having graced the bodies of Strictly Come Dancing, Sienna X seemed like the obvious choice.
A few months back I had a Sienna X spray tan for my graduation (and yes I know I'm half Indian and have been blessed with a bit of colour, but when I go pale, it’s more of a yellow complexion, something that doesn't sit right with my pink lipstick and orange nails) Anyway, I did the usual pre exfoliation and went to get sprayed down. I had fun posing in awkward positions so the tan covered my whole body, obviously avoiding the palms and soles of feet. The colour developed beautifully and extremely natural, I was slightly worried as it looked pretty dark in the bottle. I was able to wash it off after a few hours which meant I could head straight out afterwards. (You don’t have to sleep in it-so there’s no harm done to the bed sheets). It lasted a good few days, and served its purpose by making me look all golden in my graduation pics. It was even coming off on the leg wax strips two weeks later! And the smell was fairly refreshing too...well, as refreshing as spray tans go.
The Sienna X spray tan received thumbs up from me and made me want to try some more of their products. I'm a sucker for gradual tans as I really do think they give the most natural and subtle looking colour to your skin tone. I've used the St Tropez every day tan and was very impressed, although I didn't think it was worth the price. I also tried Dove's gradual tan and again it did its job but found it had a bit of a cheap shimmer to it that stained my clothes. Sienna X's gradual tan had by far the best smell with a mixture of aloe vera, sweet almond and cocoa butter. Its rich, creamy texture melts into your skin leaving it feeling incredibly hydrated. It also includes an anti cellulite additive to its ingredients, which is never a bad thing!
Remember, whenever using a gradual tan make sure to treat the application like a fake tan. Scrub the palms of your hands afterwards as otherwise the colour will develop. Best time to use it is in the morning after you've showered as that way it has the whole day to develop, and then you can top up if needs be in the evening before you go out. Be careful though, as fake tan can go two ways, less is more, no one (with taste) wants to look like a member from Jersey Shore!
Sienna X Gradual Tan - £14.95
