“Match foundation to your skin tone, then dust bronzer lightly on your cheeks, nose, and forehead to maintain a sun-kissed glow once summer is over.”
You're probably familiar with this bit of beauty advice suggesting that once the leaves on the trees change ? unless you live in Manhattan, where the end of summer is signified by the change in inventory of every single retail boutique from slinky summery tank tops to argyle turtlenecks mid August. To make matters worse, you've just planned a fun-filled evening with 5 of your girlfriends and figured you'd just hit H&M that morning for a worthy ensemble - only to find wool trousers are a far cry from the flirty turquoise cocktail number you had envisioned yourself purchasing.
So eventually you make do with a sheer strappy tunic and a pair of leggings that you locate on a Summer Clearance rack.
I honestly don't see the need for Summer Clearance. The fact that my August shopping sprees have been extremely limited by materials like wool and corduroy aggravates me.
Personally, I think everyone should always look like they rolled off of South Beach. Without, of course, having to bake your skin in the sun for hours. A tan instantly gives anyone a healthy glow. So then, why can I not stay tan all year round? Why does every beauty magazine I read or every beauty consultant I speak to tell me to wear makeup that will drain the color from my face so that I can reapply the color with bronze powder? Why can't I just be the color I want to be?!
With this pressing question burning in my mind on Monday morning, I walk into my office to find a blue and yellow box labeled Nuress Home Tanning Salon sitting on my desk. My heart rate quickens. My breath catches in my throat. Could this be the answer to my very own beauty dilemma?
I tore open the box and skimmed through the manual. I pop the instructional CD to my computer. I have to admit I was so anxious to try it that I didn?t read the directions much. I've been spray tanned before ? how hard could it be? I just snapped the pieces together and poured in the caramel liquid. I adjusted the small nozzle on the spray bottle to control how fast and how much color would come out. I laid a towel out in front of a mirror, stripped down to a bikini, and sprayed away, vertically on the lower half of my body, horizontally on the top half and on my face.
The result was the most amazing, natural, bronze tan I'd ever faked in my life. It didn't streak, run, or turn blotchy or orange. It sounds sort of like a vacuum cleaner, but I personally don't mind if it sounds like a fire engine if it makes me look like this!
The best part: it's almost impossible to mess up and it took me under 15 minutes! Although I didn't read the instructions carefully, I recommend doing so. The key, however, is to keep the spray bottle moving constantly, not letting it rest on one area too long! You can also have a partner help you spray your back, but it isn't necessary. If you tilt the spray bottle at the right angle, you can cover everything.
How long did it last? Well, two weeks go by before my tan begins to fade when I was browsing through a well-known, popular beauty mecca of sorts. I really really did not want the assistance of a sales associate - because every experience I've had with these people have proven them to be completely incapable of giving me any legitimate advice. For some reason, they just LOVE to put a totally wrong color makeup on my face. It's actually happened a few times before. Once, I was slathered with a color that was clearly formulated for a corpse. Another time, one would have thought I was being painted with some kind of tribal adornment for how inaccurately it matched my skintone. Naturally, the tan on my face has begun to fade first, and I just KNEW they were going to suggest I buy some ridiculously light color and then purchase bronzer to apply over it. I firmly made a pact with myself: I absolutely was not going to be convinced.
Of course, after I turned the third sales person away, I could not escape them any longer. I had to submit to their...assistance when a fourth one asked if I needed help. So I reluctantly explained that my face was typically darker than it appeared. I was in love with one particular brand of foundation that did not have a color for me. She, of course, insisted that color 040 was the correct shade. I explained that no, it was not, because I was going to be much darker in a day or two! The exchange continued, back and forth in this manner. She asked where I was going. I lied and said Miami. She said that it didn't matter - that I should use this pale foundation and use bronzer to darken my complexion. I said no way to spending $40 on a tube of the wrong shade makeup.
So - much like shopping for wool clothing in August, I simply did not see the point. And from now on, my natural color is my Nuress color. You can like it or love it, but I simply don?t see the need to ever not look like I just left the beach.
Kate Page (kate@aveyou.com)
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