Wealden Times | WT230 | July 2021 | Education supplement inside

Beauty
of nourishing ingredients that include avocado oil, vitamins C
and E, hyaluronic acid, coconut water and honeysuckle flower
extract. (You just need access to a shower to rinse it off, when
time’s up – and first time out, I’d stick with the 20 minutes
so you can assess the effect on your individual skintone.)
A growing category for facial self-tanning, meanwhile, is
the self-tan face mist. I particularly like St Tropez Self Tan
Purity Face Mist, £19.75 for 80ml, which smells a little like
a tropical vacation (nothing wrong with that, in the absence
of the real thing), and simply spritzes lightly onto the face
with no need to blend; it also features hyaluronic acid, so it
gives skin a bit of a quench, too. (Though I would always
apply after moisturiser or night cream.) At the affordable end
of the market, and perhaps foolproof for beginners because
it gives a subtle hit of instant colour, is L’Oréal Sublime
Bronze Self Tan Express Mist Spray Face, £12.99 for 90g.
Very streak-proof, with a lovely, summer-fresh scent.
It’s one thing to smoosh on a bronzer, add a lip gloss and head
out the door to an impromptu summer rendezvous, meanwhile
– and in my recent experience, everything’s all very last-minutedotcom
on the social life front – but realising your legs are
pastry-pale isn’t quite so easy to fix. Rather than reach for your
linen palazzos, I recommend keeping handy some vita Liberata
Body Blur Instant HD Skin Finish, £30 for 100ml. Powered by
organic ingredients, it’s fantastic for adding a subtle glow (unless
you’re naturally fairly dark, I’d choose the Latte Light shade, to
be on the safe side), but also for evening out imperfections like
broken veins and other discolourations. It’s lightly shimmering
(hence the ‘blur’ effect), and can also be used on faces – so
a good one to pack for going away (is anyone going away?).
Perhaps my favourite leg tint of all, though, is This Works
Perfect Legs Skin Miracle, £38 for 120ml, a rich serum with a
wonderful aromatherapeutic scent (from essential oils including
frankincense), which is deeply moisturising and very, very
flattering when its natural, caramel-powered formula is smoothed
into skin. (Not just legs, either – it’s good for the whole body.)
For a longer-lasting golden glow, I always recommend
gradual tanners as the safest option; nobody needs a fake
tan ‘surprise’. So I’d also put in a good word for some longstanding
favourite gradual tanners. One is the gradual tanning
version of the aforementioned product, This Works Perfect
Legs Gradual Tan, £38 for 150ml, which delivers truly
streak-free results. Secondly, I like ESPA Gradual Tan Body
Moisturiser, £37 for 200ml, which has a delicious ‘slippy’,
properly moisturising texture and is really easy – in fact, I’d say
utterly foolproof – to apply. Not a hint of hamster cage scent,
either, in my experience. What I do is apply on two consecutive
nights and then perhaps every third night, and the colour
is unbelievably natural. My other absolute favourite gradual
tanner is Eco by Sonya Winter Skin, £41.40 for 200ml (not
that easy to find, but I get mine from gloworganic.co.uk).
It’s a multi-award-winning product and although it’s
inexplicably called ‘Winter Skin’, it’s summer-perfect for
a subtle, buildable, golden, can’t-tell-it-from-real look.
Assemble an arsenal of these, then, and whatever
summer throws at us – heatwaves, flash floods and
anything in between – we can be good to glow.
Visit beautybible.com for Jo’s daily ‘loves’ and features.
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