The answer to your fake tan disasters

It is still so unbelievably hot in London. Smelly people bump into other smelly people as they race for the hot and smelly tube. The only respite is the air-conditioning in the office, which invariably doesn't work as well as it could because all the windows are open. In fact, I reckon Heart Radio is inadvertently cooling the whole of London as the precious air-con flies out of the windows.

One thing I have noticed is that a lot of women seem petrified to get their legs out, even though it is so very hot. It breaks my heart when I see women in floaty little dresses with black tights on. You see I can totally relate to what they are going through. Before I had laser treatment my legs were always hairy and it didn't matter how often I shaved or waxed, those pesky hairs seemed to sprout back almost instantaneously. I also suffer from ghostly white legs and with all the pressure to look bronzed, this could be another reason why so many women choose to hide their legs.

My main advice in this situation is to do your best with the hair removal situation. Waxing is better than shaving, apart from the fact that you have to wait for the  hair to grow sufficiently before your next wax which takes us back to the black tights predicament. If you can afford to have laser/IPL then please do it. It is the best thing that I ever did for my body and I am now almost hair free.

The other thing that I have found to be my saviour this week is Hi-Shi One Day Tan. I find normal fake tan really annoying. I never get it quite right and always end up with streaks and white bits. I also hate waiting for it to develop, getting it on my sheets and the biscuity smell. (You can see an example of my awful fake-tanning application in my post on Xen-Tan.)

Hi-Shi One Day Tan is incredibly easy to apply evenly. You literally squeeze it onto a tanning mitt, rub it in in a circular motion, wait two minutes for it to dry and hey-presto, a lovely, natural looking tan that doesn't budge until you have a shower.

If you hate applying traditional fake tan because if always goes wrong, then this is the product for you.

Xen-Tan Luminous Gold Gel

It is hot hot hot in London at the moment and last night was spent celebrating my dear friend Darren's birthday. We spent the evening eating INCREDIBLE dim-sung and sipping Ginger Martinis at Yauatcha in Soho. This place isn't cheap but it is the best Chinese food I have eaten bar-none.

If you do go, I highly recommend the soft shell crab which comes covered in chilli roasted almond flakes and the jasmine tea infused spare ribs. Heavenly!!

Anyway, I decided to slip into my newest LBD from my favourite shop of the moment & Other Stories. Being all pale and pasty I knew I had to fake tan and due to the fact that Chris and I were running late (as usual) I had to do it quickly.

I squirted a healthy does of Xen-Tan Luminous Gold Gel on my tanning mitt, rubbed it over my body and within ten minutes was dressed and out of the door.

Now I really love this Xen-Tan gel , mainly because it smells of holidays, has sparkly gold particles in it and dries really quickly. The colour is also very natural and olive in tone.

However, my speedy application led to a very uneven tan....

As the night went on I got progressively browner and the bits that I had missed looked paler and paler. I have decided that fake-tanning is an art form and takes experience, time and patience.

If you have never tried Xen-Tan, give it a go though as it really is gorgeous when applied properly. x

Beautiful Brows Kit

My eyebrows have got me into trouble quite a few times.

When I was young they were big, bushy and highly unattractive. Then, as a true 90's teenager, I had a tweezer epiphany moment when I changed my entire face by plucking them to within an inch of their lives.

Following my initial tweezer attack, I kept going and now as a woman in my 30's they are suffering from a life of over-plucking. They are overly thin, patchy and lacking in shape.

I am constantly being told off for what I've done to my eyebrows by make-up artists. My most memorable ticking off was in the middle of Boots, Piccadilly where a woman from the Benefit counter rolled her eyes in disgust and lectured me for about five minutes in the middle of the shop-floor.

Anyway, I'm relieved to say that I have recently been trialling a total eyebrow life saver  kit from Beautiful Brows. This gorgeous little compact comes with an eyebrow powder in the colour of your choice, application brushes, three different eyebrow stencil shapes, a highlighter, tweezers and a mirror. 

You choose a stencil of your choice (I have been going for natural), stick the top of the stencil to the highest point of your brow and then fill it in with the powder and brushes. The result is perfectly shaped, beautiful brows.

This is a great little kit of you find it hard to get your desired brow shape with a pencil and will have you looking glamorous in no time.