Review // Dove Summer Glow

Being as pale as I am, and prone to hayfever, I can find it difficult to tan in the summer time.

I've never fancied the idea of 'fake baking' - whether in the form of a self-tan lotion or a spray tan - or using a sun bed in order to achieve golden skin. Seeing girls with streaky, blotchy orange skin made me laugh rather than evoke any sense of jealousy. But after spending an afternoon out in the sunshine and developing a slight tan, I noticed it made me look a little better - definitely more alive anyway - so I thought I'd look into the world of self-tan.

Being a newbie, I didn't want anything too drastic so automatically ruled out conventional self-tan mousses and lotions and instead opted for a moisturiser with a hint of self-tan.

Dove Summer Glow Fair to Medium Nourishing Lotion 250ml

Dove's Summer Glow Nourishing Lotion - Britain's No.1 for this type of product - is a daily lotion which acts as a deep moisturiser as well as a tanning agent. The moisturising element was something that appealed to me as I often find myself having dry skin.

The product is nothing like other tanning products. It comes out looking just like a normal moisturiser and smells lovely and sweet unlike the horrid biscuit smell you usually associate with self-tanners. The downside to it's appearance is that it makes it difficult to know where you've put the lotion and how much you've used so you could end up with sections of your skin looking darker than other parts.

Even after the first use, I instantly saw a difference in my skin. It was incredibly soft! I don't think I've ever used a moisturiser that's been as effective as this one. As well as that, my skin had already began developing a slight summery glow.

Top: left, before; right, day 2 - Bottom: left, day 3; right, day 4

As you can see even after four days, I had developed a nice tan. I was only using the Fair to Medium lotion so the tan was never going to be that substantial but there is a clear difference between what my skin was like before using it and what it looks like now.

However, as I've already pointed out, applying the lotion is made difficult by the colour of it and I have been left with a few white patches.

This photo probably shows up the difference between my before and after skin a lot better but as you can also see I have quite a significant white patch on my wrist! It's obviously easily fixed as you can apply more lotion onto the wrist whilst avoiding the areas already tanned but it's something to keep in mind if you are using this product.

I was all ready to just write a fantastic review raving about this product until I had a bath this morning...

I'd had no problems with the tan when showering, obviously it lessens slightly but my skin was still looking good. However, once I had come out of my bath, I noticed that I had been left looking incredible patchy and streaky. As well as that, whatever of my tan hadn't been rinsed down the plughole had left a lovely ring around the bathtub. 

As you can see, my leg has been left looking rather patchy. Although I still have a nice tan, it is disappointing that this is the result of having a bath. I suppose it's easily fixed but it has left me feeling slightly lukewarm towards the product when I had loved it so much.

Overall, this product is great for a newbie to self-tanning and if you avoid baths then it's perfect! 

The lotion also comes in Medium to Dark as well as the Fair to Medium and is currently on sale at Superdrug: £2.48, down from £4.99!

Review // Collection 'Work The Colour' Nail Varnish

Working in certain retail environments can be tough on a girl: hair always has to be tied back, unflattering uniforms and no nail varnish, ever.

This is a world I know all too well so when I have a good few days off in a block, I jump at the chance to jazz up my nails and actually feel like a girl again. Probably like most girls, I have a vast collection of nail varnish but sometimes the right one just isn't there no matter how many you have so I decided to go out and find something new to try.

Being as pale (and extremely indecisive) as I am, I often struggle to pick a nail varnish as I worry that certain colours will make me look even more corpse-like than I already do. I tend to stay away from the neon trend that's around at the moment, as well as blues and pastels - I feel like I just can't win but perhaps one day I'll take the plunge and just go for it!

However, this time I settled on Raspberry Pink 20 from Collection's new range: Work The Colour.

This nail varnish is extremely good value as it's only £1.99 in Superdrug!

I've got to admit, I didn't expect much from it as it's so cheap and I wasn't exactly in love with the colour either - after a while of um'ing and ah'ing, my boyfriend practically forced it into my hand! But I'm glad he did, as I love it!

The coverage from it is amazing. It takes two strokes to paint the nail and I only needed one coat of it! Plus it's not too Barbie pink, which I was worried about. I like feeling girly, but not that girly. It dries in as a lovely dark pink/red colour and it doesn't leave my hands looking pale either. As you could probably guess though, the only downside to the product is that it chips very easily. After only having it on for a few hours it had already began chipping, although not too drastically.

As you can see, the chipping isn't as noticeable as you would expect, although I did put a clear top coat of protective and strengthening nail varnish on top so that could perhaps be why it hasn't chipped so much (I would recommend doing this, maybe putting two coats on, to prevent chipping!). You could get away with keeping it on like this as it is barely noticeable and so for the price, this nail varnish is pretty impressive!

This range from Collection has a great selection of colours to choose from so if pink isn't for you, take a look and see what you fancy! You can't go wrong at £1.99.