Sea 'weed' Out The Stress

There's nothing like a week off to recharge the batteries and banish the dark circles, even if their disappearance is short lived. My R&R unfortunately didn't feature any winter sun or taking to the slopes in some quaint European town. I did however get a little piece of heaven in the form of the Nadur SPA in Ballygarry House in Tralee.

There's great deals to be had out there at the moment, so after watching the pennies for a few weeks I was able to indulge in the monthly offer at the spa. The November deal involved  a Voya sweet seaweed sugar scrub, Voya mineralising seaweed facial, Voya forget me knot reconditioning hair treatment.  Seaweed was the magic word for my afternoon of pampering. The benefits of seaweed have long been shouted about but it was my first encounter with products that capitalised on its natural properties. 

Before my treatments I had the use of their thermal suite. It was the perfect way to get me in the mood for relaxation. After slipping in to the not so flattering over-sized dressing gown and slippers I headed for the crystal steam room. Then it was onto the Glass Herbal Sauna. I did my best to stick it out for the ten minutes but despite all its padding my bum wasn't able to cope with the heat off the wood so I bailed out. Because it was November and Tralee the rain inevitably was falling so I decided to give the outdoor hot tub a skip. That and it was already taken and the look you get off someone in that situation is like you've gotten into their bath with them. After chilling out in the relaxation room for a while my therapist came to get me and then the real pampering began.

It started with the hair treatment - and by no means was it brushed through. It was like getting a head massage, it was glorious. Ignoring my natural urge to create chit chat, I closed my eyes and lapped it all up. I've never had a professional body scrub so I was pleasantly surprised at how relaxing removing dead skin cells could be. I have to say the therapists ability to gracefully preserve my modesty was something I had to admire. How the towel was moved to strategic positions, so I wasn't left red faced, and the way the muslin cloth was placed over my chest was effortlessly perfect. After ever inch of my body was scrubbed it was time to wash it off. The well equipped room had a wonderful shower where I was able to indulge in more Voya products - shower cream, shampoo and conditioner. I was fascinated with how the scrub looked. It was like little black crystals scattered all over my body. 

It didn't end there. After I'd washed off, I then had the pleasure of having the most indulgent body cream applied. It felt like it was heated and smelt amazing. At that stage I was well on my way to pure bliss so when the facial started I was on another planet where stress was a word I didn't even recognise. The facial was the usual amazing rigmarole of cleansing, scrubbing, and a face massage - but the twist came in the form of the face mask. To help the mask along strips of seaweed were placed all over my face. Even though I knew like one of the creatures out of Pirates and the Caribbean I was too relaxed to care. 

Unfortunately by 1 hr 3/4 of pampering came to an end, despite my pleas for it to last forever. To ease me back into reality I was led back to the relaxation room where a cup of herbal tea and yummy homemade shortcake biscuits helped to bring me back down to earth.

The next day my hair was like silk, my skin was glowing and my pores were practically non-existent. 

After discovering the magic of seaweed I think I'll be picking some up the next time I pass a beach!

The Pits

If Ogres are like onions because they have layers then I must be related to Shrek! As promised I've been going to town on the exfoliation trying to reveal a new layer of youthful, glowing skin. I'm dying to exaggerate and say it's been tough work but the only person it's been hard for is the one trying to get in to the bathroom while I'm scrubbing away all the dead skin cells.

I continued to dip into the Spa Siam products this week, they're pretty impressive. I took my aching body off for a bath on Saturday, I'm was either wrecked from my new weights programme or I'm getting too old for going out on a Friday night, and decided to try out the Oatmeal rice face scrub. While the lemongrass bath salts got to work on relaxing my muscles I set about using the scrub. It looked like mushy weetabix, but it smelt yummy and felt fab when I massaged it in. It helped to ease the appearance of last weeks unwelcome spots and my skin definitely had a bit of a glow about it after.

Which is more then I can say for my Anew Clinical Luminosity Pro Brightening Serum. (http://beautyslogblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/spot-of-bother.html) I quit using it this week for a number of reasons; First off it was doing nothing to lessen the appearance of the skin pigmentation I developed while on holidays. Secondly it was leaving my skin looking a little greasy even though I was using the correct amount. Thirdly I'm pretty sure the serum was responsible for my spot breakout, I'm lucky enough to have pretty clear skin and this was the only thing I'd started using or changed before the breakout. For such a pricey product the results for me were pretty disappointing.

Something I find the 'pits' is trying to find an effective anti-perspirant. My body unfortunately feels the excessive need to cool itself down meaning I'm often left looking like a penguin in my attempts to hide the offending wet patches. Before any of you start avoiding me I should point out that B.O. isn't a problem. A few weeks back I tried Tripe Dry Anti-Perspirant Spray. It wasn't bad but although under my arms were mainly dry they didn't feel very fresh. Sure have come out with a new one and of course I was keen to try it. It's called Sure Women Maximum Protection. It comes in a white box and I got it for €3.99. It's most effective apparently when put on before heading to bed because our body temperature tends to be pretty consistent while sleeping and this allows the anti-perspirant to get to work. Don't worry it's supposed to keep working after your shower in the morning. Only once in 3 days have I remembered to put it on a night, so I've had to make do with the mornings. So far though it's getting a thumbs up from me. It's been keeping underneath my arms fairly dry; it doesn't irritate if you put it on after shaving and it smells pretty fresh.

All I need to do now is to remember to spray it with the window open to avoid the inevitable coughing fit!

Spot The Difference

At the end of long day when you run your hands over your face with exhaustion the last thing you want to come across is a spot. It's that feeling of, that's all I need,' especially when your cleanse, tone and moisturise routine has become as much apart of your life as breathing. Then you ask the inevitable question, why me? Sorry if the Linda Martin song is now playing in your head.

Sometimes there's no good reason for it, other times you know you deserve it. I better own up to my imperfections, on my right and left temples I developed matching spots, as if that wasn't bad enough down the side of my nose, towards my cheek 2 little pimples showed up, and I'm not done there. On the right hand corner of my nose a pore inflamed right up.

Instead of playing join the dots I decided I needed to take action. Fortunately this all came to a head, a white head to be more exact, heading in to the weekend. Since I was returning to the mother ship I knew there'd be plenty of supplies there for a D.I.Y. facial.

There was two things I knew I needed, a good scrub and a mask. A face mask that is, although sometimes I wonder if popping on a Halloween mask, until the offending red bumps have gone, is a better idea. Fortunately I found myself in a house with a teenage girl, they always have spot fighting lotions and potions, and a mom who'd just been given a present of some spa products.

While raiding the bathroom shelf I found Clean and Clear Deep Cleansing Lotion. For a couple of nights I used this instead of rose water as my toner. I also unearthed a Clean and Clear daily scrub - I took this into the shower with me two mornings. Between the two they improved the look of my spots slightly.

My work didn't end there. I dug out a Lancome Renergie Morpholift Mask, I knew it wasn't exactly what I needed but I said I'd give it a shot. I had to leave it on for ten minutes and then removed it with some damp cotton wool. The final thing I tried was Spa Siam Pompengranate and Jasmine facial massage cream (It's from a day spa in Cork City, who have their own range of products.) I had to massage this in for a few minutes and then left it on for 5-10 minutes. Pomengrante is supposed to restore the pH balance of the skin and Jasmine is a natural antiseptic and has antibacterial properties, which you'd think would be good for clearing spots.

After all that I was hoping to have skin that was a little less Amy Winehouse and a little more Katy Perry but no such look. Yes my skin was a little softer but of the 4 things I tried nothing seemed to to offer any miracles.

Prevention is definitely better then cure so I won't be slacking off when it comes to exfoliating after this breakout - cleaning out those pores is the only way to go.

Let the excavation begin!

Hairdly Notice

I had to get to the root of a common problem this week, regrowth. As much as I'd like to think I'm a natural blonde my roots tell another story. I'm a mesh girl which means endless hours sitting talking about the weather and what you're doing for the weekend. It also means that I have different tones going through my blonde and that the regrowth is bearable, for at least a few weeks anyway.

Going to get highlights done is an endurance test and isn't for the faint hearted particularly if you're getting a full head done. Fortunately this time I got away with half a head. Also as luck would have it, two girls worked on doing my highlights, which meant I was done even faster again.

My hair was heading for white recently so I decided to add a second tone to my colour - it's very subtle, and considering my hair is so thin it would pass for paper I've been enjoying how it makes it look a little thicker. It wasn't a decision I took lightly, not that it mattered because on one seemed to notice anyway.

If I can get out of the hairdressers without getting my hair cut I consider it a victory. Usually I give in about every 14 weeks and get it trimmed, it's supposed to encourage growth and all that but my hair just doesn't want to grow. That doesn't mean I escape roots though, oh no my hair just breaks off at the end instead. I figured it was the mousse I was using so I scrapped that. When that didn't make a difference I figured it was because of the dye weakening the hair. I've gotten clever though and am winning that fight.

My best investment in my quest for long hair has been Bed Head, Dumb Blonde Reconstructor (it can be used on any coloured hair.) Leave it in damp hair for 10 to 15 mins once a week and after the first go you'll notice the difference. It's packed with protein which is the number one essential for healthy hair and it smells of pineapples so you will want to eat your hair if nothing else. My split ends are minimal now, my hair feels and looks silky and the best part is the hairdresser is no longer giving that disapproving look when I answer, 'no,' to the dreaded question -'are we cutting today?'

I have a second secret weapon in the form of leave in conditioner. Again it's Bed Head and it's called Superstar Volumizing leave-in conditioner. This one smells of strawberries and if your hair is a little limp like mine it will give it a much needed boost. Don't go over board on it or it may leave your hair looking a little greasy.

The great thing about getting your colour done is that you get your hair blow-dried at the end of it. The hairdresser always manages to do it in such a way that no matter how hard you try you just can't replicate it. I've made a new discovery of how to get that bit longer out of your blow dry - Batiste dry shampoo. All the festival veterans will already know the virtues of the dry shampoo but I've been left gobsmacked by how good it is. Not only does your hair look washed after using it, it also gives it volume and smells great. Batiste has been around for 30 years so they know what they're doing. Plus there's a variety in the range and they even do miniatures!

......With all the blonde talk I'll leave you with this.

Question: If a blonde and brunette fell off a building, who would hit the ground first?

............

Answer: The brunette - the blonde would have to stop for directions!

A Spot Of Bother

Since my return from holidays I've been tackling a new skin problem - pigmentation. When my face began to tan I developed what looked like birth marks underneath my left eye and spreading across to the bridge of my nose. I'd like to say no one noticed but it looked like a black eye and when I went back to work one person said my face looked 'funny,' just what every girl wants to hear! Bedsides keeping my face well protected from the sun, not that sunshine is a big problem in Ireland, I knew I had to take action.

There are some purse friendly options: apparently applying fresh cream and lemon juice to your face for a few minutes is good,; as is wetting holy basil leaves with lemon juice and leaving them over the dark spots for a while; or applying cucumber juice to your face. I wasn't convinced that putting the contents on my fridge on my face would work so I tracked down a chemical option, but I could find myself literally eating my words yet.

Anew Clinical Lumonosity Pro Brigthenging Serum is apparently an at home alternative to dermatoligists laser. The serum promises to fade dark spots, which is what I'm after and to brighten and retexturise skin. I've been using it for 4 nights - after 3 days it's supposed to begin fading pigmentation. I can't say I've noticed a huge difference. I have learnt that the first night that if you use too much it leaves your skin greasy the next day which is never a good look, those days were reserved for my teenage years only. Oil blotting paper anyone?!?

I'm holding out hope that the pricey serum will work and with just 30mls in it, it would want to work fast. (I got it for €20 on offer.) With our lack of sun I'm also hoping that it comes through on its brightening promise considering the dull summer we've had has left my face looking grey.

From one end of the body to another, feet! Between too high wedges, ridiculous flat sandals and running in humidity, feet can become a little neglected and unsightly. I've started using an African Shea butter foot cream, it smells heavenly but you have to wash your hands after or it gets overpowering. The cream really came through for me after a night breaking in new shoes. Sky high heels and dancing meant the balls of my feet were on fire. I lathered on the cream before catching some zzzz's and I was sorted the next day.

I am having some toe nail varnish issues, my polish has gotten thick and it makes for a painful French manicure. I know I've got to throw it out but I am going to try thinning it with some nail varnish remover first to see if I can get one last go out of it. Fingers crossed I can keep a steady hand pouring it in!

They say beauty is pain and I reminded myself all about that at the weekend. My bikini wax wasn't to my liking so I decided I'd give a go at tidying it up myself. I wasn't long remembering why I go to the beautician to get it done -OUCH. There was brusing and what looked like burst blood capillaries. And the worst part is I only removed like 5 hairs! Disaster. I won't be doing that again.

Beach Beauty

I would love to say that my extended break away from beauty blogging has been because I've been so busy trying out new treatments and products, but sadly not. The part of my brain that's responsible for writing this I must have left on the lush beaches of Praia da Rocha. Thankfully it's now back and raring to go.

It has brought with it a unique insight in to how to be beach beautiful. The simple answer is spend more time at the beach, preferably somewhere with a sunny climate. I discovered a number of truths while lazing on my lounger:

1. Spending time in the sun will eventually lead to a tan. If you're Irish pale like me it takes a little longer and a relatively high factor is essential. This means you can ditch the fake tan and don't need to go through the tiresome; exfoliate, apply, tear your hair out process that comes with faking it.

2. Putting on suncream throughout the day means that you end up with super soft skin, you will not be able to stop rubbing yourself, maybe I'm on my own on that one. On top of that you have the after sun , preferably with Aloe Vera. A baby's bum will have nothing on your epidermis.

3. Just when you thought your skin couldn't get any better it can. Spending your days at the beach means that you get a daily exfoliation. All that sand scrubs away old dead skin cells meaning you're left glowing and get a more even tan.

4. Your feet will think they've died and gone to heaven, everyday is like getting a mini pedicure. (Provided the sand isn't too hot, cause then you'll get welts!) Walking at the waters edge will have them looking as good as new in no time. It does tend to wear off your toe nail polish though.

5. Trekking up and down the beach from the apartment will tone up your legs. Add in splashing in the water a few times a day and walking the beach to alleviate the boredom and you will have your beach bod in top shape in no time.

There are some down sides.

1. Sun damage. It seems everyone gets a burn day - so always wear a high enough factor and reapply regularly. Not only are there the obvious affects of burning the redness and tenderness but it also does long term irreparable damage. Not good for those of us hoping to defy aging. Elizabeth Arden's 8 hour cream is good for small patches of burn.

2. Pigmentation - this year I opted for a really high factor on my face - the paleness can be hidden with bronzer but it's hard to fill in wrinkles. To my shock I developed dark pigmentation underneath my left eye and on the bridge of my nose. I'd hoped for a cute freckles but what I got looked more like a black eye. I wasn't long covering my face completely after that - and what's worse there was no hiding it with make up - it seemed to make it look worse.

3. Regrowth-If you head away for longer then a week then it's a good idea to pack your tweezers. Despite all the pre-holiday waxing there's always a few that make an unwelcome appearance. Might be one to do in the bathroom or on your own ladies cause it ain't exactly an attractive sight.

4. Runny Make-Up - Sometimes with the heat you're wasting your time with foundation - you're better off with concealer and powder. No one knows you anyone so why not give your pores a break.

5. Faded and Dried Out Hair - Always be prepared when it comes to your locks. A UV/ Chlorine/ Sea Water protector spray is always a good idea. It saves your colour and keeps it in tip top condition. As a blonde I had the protector on and kept it covered so my hair didn't go snow white. I also used having it back in a pony tail during the day as an excuse to put in regular treatments.

Since getting home I enjoyed a week without foundation - but wasn't brave enough to go bare faced so touched up my complexion with powder, concealer and one of my new best friends Benetint.

I also enjoyed having a natural tan so much that I shamefully bought myself some sunbed minutes. The guilt from doing this and now admitting it in writing is almost enough to make me want to stop. Almost.

I've also been enjoying my duty free purchases but that's another blog for another day!

Up close and personal

This week I had the misfortune of running into a magnifying mirror. What was supposed to be a quick eyebrow tidy turned in to a grueling pokefest of every pore on my face. I'm going to go ahead and admit it, and secretly I know you share my embarrassing obsession, I love squeezing spots, ingrown hairs and black heads. So when I saw all the blocked pores I had to clean I was in my element, well when I got over the disgust of having them in the first place.

Armed with a cleansing pad and willing index fingers I got to work. But I took it too far and ended up looking like Rudolph my nose was so red. The sides of my nose remained raw for a number of days and the cracked skin took almost a week to exfoliate away. I think I'll stick to normal mirrors from now on!

I'm a fan of D.I.Y. pedicures, mainly because I can't afford a professional one and treated my toes to a fresh lick of paint. As per 'predictable' usual I went for a French manicure. In the summer I usually do this every fortnight. The cracks began to show on my last attempt when I broke my baby toe nail. I got a kick out of going around saying I broke a nail, my 'toe' nail. I guess no one laughed cause it's not that funny. Anywho, I stripped off my old varnish, cut and filed my toe nails, and then I got my good friend Lizzy Arden's 8 hour cream and massaged in to my toes to stop the hard skin and left them over night. It sounds like I was cooking something. The next day I gave one last quick file to the nails to make sure they were smooth and got started. I started with the white tip, when that was dry I moved on to the pink and made sure that was good and dry and then to finish it off I painted on the clear top coat. My sister thought they looked like false toe nails, I was delighted with myself and spent that night eying up everyone else's handy work on their toes.

As a fake tan lover I also have to be a fan of scrubbing. I got a very good tip for a homemade/cheap exfoliator. If you have patchy skin mix ordinary salt with your showergel or for a less drying alternative mix it with caster sugar. Simple and easy!

Operation holidays is continuing. I have just 7 days to transform myself into a goddess and it's looking unlikely. The cellulite treatment is continuing and I can't believe I'm able to say this but it is actually improving. I think the combo of the cream, water and loads of exercise is paying off. Ahead of the dreaded bikini wax I've been keeping on top of the exfoliation, I know scrubbing again, and have been using an ingrown hair minimising gel from Boots. It seems to do the trick. Also my bikni line is finally getting the message that it's not wanted and the regrowth is slower and less, yippee!

Heading off on the 23rd and fairly confident that the day before will be spent filing, scrubbing, de-fuzzing, moisturising and painting toe nails.

I'm off to get to raid the cupboards for salt .......

Nail it!

This week has been all about the slog. The routine that I've committed to is like a life sentence and with every month, and at this stage week, there's a new lotion or product I really should be using. But this week a little colour was added to my life. It came in the form of the much sought after Chanel Le Vernis in Particuliere 505.

It's a mushroomy colour but I think it also looks like melted chocolate and have been tempted to lick my nails on more than one occasion. Nail polish is something I normally reserve for my toes and at that it's usually the French manicure option but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked a splash of colour on my fingers. I prepped my nails with a quick file and got to work, trying to stay between the lines, three strokes and all that jazz. I was fairly happy with my 'handy' work and it only took two coats to hide the white tips of my nails. I've noticed there's a certain way you hold your hands when your nails are painted - everything is very gentle and lady like. Far from prim and proper are the inevitable chips - I got just about 24 hours out of it before it started to look far from glamorous. The simple act of typing seems to be too much for even the toughest nail varnish. (Think I've been listening to too much Barry Scott.)

Last week I started using a new eye cream and a Cellulite minimiser lotion. The eye cream I've been fairly religious with, every morning and night. You're only supposed to use a grain of rice sized bit of cream so I've been doing my best not to do more damage than good. The Cellulite treatment is supposed to be used twice a day but if I actually want to leave the bathroom and make it to work I can only fit it in at night. I've also been a little lazy with it at the weekend as you really have to massage it in and it tends to take off any fake tan you've on. I've been trying a combination of things to shift it in time for holidays so hopefully between the cream, all the massaging and litres of water I'll shift the craters.

Tanning has thankfully been pretty straight forward this week. Pity I didn't take my own advice of putting the Dove summer glow on at night. Ended up with patchy feet from putting my shoes on too soon. Not to mention the stink of the stuff all day long.

Now as us ladies know fake tan sometimes requires a helping hand. That normally comes in the form of our significant other. This week I've been reminded that although the tanning glove is a saving grace for us women for men it often ends up being a tight squeeze. We've all heard of mansized tissues, but the same can't be said for tanning gloves. A solution for our men as they help is on our plight to be beautiful is surgical gloves. These come in different sizes and can be binned afterwards. If all else fails the marigolds may have to be borrowed from the kitchen!

...... Time to deal with the chipped nail varnish. Where's the paint stripper, I mean nail varnish remover.

Lotions and Potions

To save people the hassle I usually point out my beauty cock ups and last week was no exception. My patchy hands and feet were hard to miss and came up in many conversations.

For days I battled to scrub it off but it wasn't until day 8 that I was back to my milk bottle best.

Scrub a dub dub, me in my tub. In the end it took a 15 minute shower, a fairly rough loofah and practically a bottle of shower gel to get rid of the disaster wedding tan. As I was at it I decided I might as well do a facial scrub. Good job I wasn't going anywhere afterwards because between the heat of the shower and all the scrubbing I was a little bit red, and not in the 'doesn't she have a lovely glow about her' way. At that stage I was considering renaming myself Beatrice Beetroot.

Speaking of redness the sun finally decided to make an appearance and that meant plenty of burnt people around, including me! Oh yes I made sure my goddaughter had cream on before taking her to the park but completely forgot that I'm Irish and likely to go red at the mere mention of the word sun. Lucikly I wasn't too bad, unlike some tomoatoes going around the place, and I've been trying to squeeze as much sun in as possible at lunch time and in the evenings. I've also deluded myself in to thinking that I might get a base for holidays which at this point is 4 weeks away but still highly unlikley.

On the hottest day of the year I had to take a trip to the beautician. It's bikni season ...... in some countries ....... and I like to make sure my bikni line is well, in line. In theory it should be embarrassing, uncomfortable at the least but at this stage I'm buddies with the beautician so it's just a case of getting on with it. None the less that freshly waxed feeling is not to be relished on a warm day. The moisturiser had To be layered on!

This week I've welcomed some newbies into my collection of lotions and potions. As mentioned holidays is on the way and there's one bumpy issue I don't want to have to worry about when exposing my pins, CELLULITE. Dimples are only cute on babies and not all over the backs of my legs. Anew Clinical laser shape cellulite treatment promises to act like laser and liposuction would. Apparently in 4 weeks I'll notice a difference so I'll be slapping it on every night, drinking lots of water and hoping it disappears.

Eye felt it was finally time to get an eye cream, prevention is better than cure and all that jazz. It's Anew clinical eye lift and is made up of an upper eye gel and under eye cream. The gels a little sticky but can't say that I've noticed any major difference yet but here's hoping.

Maybe some good old fashion beauty sleep will do the trick zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Operation Wedding

As I feared preparing for the wedding was a week long event. Between trying to scrub off the layers of instant and fake tan, removing my nail varnish from my toes, then filing and shaping my toe nails and finger nails, not to mention the hair treatment I put in to try and transform my hair from straw to silk, I was a little tired by the time Friday came around.

De-tanning wasn't as bad as I'd predicted - a good scrubbing glove and some rough drying for a few days soon had me looking my pasty best.  Considering it's May and my phobia of wearing pants I had to do something to take from the whiteness, that even the people at Daz would be proud of. And that's when Ciara met Sally. It wasn't quite moaning in the middle of a restaurant but more sly smiling to myself in the changing room of my gym. Sally Hansen airbrush legs is a life saver. It got me through the week and ended up playing a major part on the day of the wedding.

Then came my Mist Mission. When Thursday arrived I anxiously showered and scrubbed one last time. Lined the bathroom floor with the bath mat, a towel and a dressing gown. I would consider myself at the this stage a connoisseur of fake tan but none the less read the instructions and got to work. I sprayed away, somewhat blindly because its not tinted and you don't rub it, hoping I was covering all the areas. I possibly should have held my breath because I inhaled so much of it that I'm imagining my lungs are a love shade of orange now. After a little assistance with the back, got to love boyfriends, the fake tan was done so I got to work on french manicuring my toes nails.

L'Oreal Sublime Bronze Self tan mist, made two promises not to smell and be streak free. I can confirm that although slightly chemically I did not stink going to bed or the next day so that was a plus.

When I woke on the Friday I cautiously raised my arms for inspection, even through bleary eyes and the dim light I knew something was wrong. Bracing myself for an encounter with a mirror I made my way to the bathroom. What greeted me was a sight I wouldn't wish on a Leinster player (well maybe.) It was as if all the fake tan had gravitated to my hands and feet and on top of that left me with plenty of missed patches.

I filled the sink, got my scrubbing glove, mountains of shower gel, a nail brush and even   

some nail varnish remover to try and salvage my hands, About 15 mins later there was some improvement but there was no hope for my feet.

Then I remembered my good friend Sally. I got out the glove and began a repair job. I knew all those years spent as a youngster trying to colour between the lines would pay off at some stage.

Off I went to the hairdresser after that. That was far from a disaster, it was a master piece. GHD curls, back brushing, hair spray and pins and someone else doing it, how could you go wrong!

Make-up, dress and shoes all went fine. My patch up job on my tan was holding up well, until we got to the reception...........

The function room became a sauna as the courses kept coming and I got a little hot. To put it in a lady like fashion, 'I began to feel the heat.' The chairs had white seat covers and when I got up to powder my nose I discovered that some of my tan had transferred to the seat. To say I was embarrassed would be putting it mildly. I shoved the chair in under the table and hoped no one took it out while I was gone. I saved myself from further blushes my popping my napkin on the chair and sat at the edge. 

My shower on Saturday resembled one you'd take as a child after rolling in the muck but it washed away what I needed  it to.

....... And so the cycle begins again. De-tanning, dumping that silly mist thing, and sticking to what I know works even if I do end up being a little bit smelly.

Now off to change those sheets ........................

 

 

The Weekend Glow

The weekend always means beauty on the double. All the things you just don't have time for during the week, all the things you put on the long finger. Men head to the shed for their tool box/ lawnmower/ hose while we head to the bathroom with a scrub/ foot file and at this time of year some kind of fake tan.

With the Irish weather you need to be prepared for everything when it comes to your tan. (You'd never know when you might want to get those legs out!) The orange look is gone and hey the pale look is fine but if you're not blessed with porcelain skin and instead have to deal with blotches/ varicose veins and random redness then a bit of colour on those pins and arms does no harm.

Trying to find the balance between oompa loompa and vampire can be pretty tough.

I've tried everything from instant, to self tan, to tinted body lotions to gradual tan builders and really it just depends on the occasion. Dove summer glow is the way to go for me for an everyday subtle tan, can be a little stinky. At night is probably the best time to let it come up, it won't ruin your clothes that way, but it might drive you're other half to the spare bed (doubles up as a contraception!)

The problem I'm facing this weekend is trying to scrub it off - wedding on Friday and need to put on a more reliable tan. Going to try out the new L'oreal sublime which promises not to smell, not sure if that's possible, may need to cover the bathroom in some kind of plastic first because it's one of those spray ones, I'm already imaging the state the place will be in by the time I'm done! Have no idea how you're supposed to do your toes/ feet/ hands/ fingers with one of those spray bottles - I've no doubt it'll be an interesting result.

The tanoxeric in me in not looking forward to spending the week pale while I prep my skin for the fake tan application on Thursday. I probably should mention I'm fairly pale and although I've no intention of walking around like I had a wash with a can of tango I don't appreciate the 'are you sick questions'  so it's going to be all about finding the balance. I don't know if a natural looking fake tan is possible though.

I have bought the shade for fair so hopefully I'll be a little more Holly Willoughby and a little less Katie Price for next Friday!