Lauren's Way Fake Tan at the SHABA Bloggers Event

I am beyond being late to the party with this one, so late that the cleaners have been and gone.  In fact, another party is already pouring the cocktails and tottering in their stilettos. That is how late I am, justifiably late due to working full-time but none-the-less late. 

A couple of weeks ago I went along to the Scottish Hair and Beauty Awards Blogger's event at the beautiful Private Members Club Number 29. The event was tan by INAA (I Need An Appointment) -

"The UK's first online hair and beauty booking portal dedicated to making the booking of salon appointments simple and fast - 24/7.

For Consumers we offer a free to use, appointment booking service providing access to an ever increasing range of Salons in your local area that accept online bookings. The portal will show you the full range of special promotions available at those Salons, as well as details about the Salon and what services and products they offer".

Lauren formerly star of the TV show The Only Way is Essex also made an appearance to promote her new beauty range, mainly focusing around her fake-tan line.  Not going to lie I was excited to see her in person, and adored the play-suit she was wearing. She looked gorgeous. 

However, although fashionably late the post is still relevant -this week it is sunny in Scotland (which for any foreign readers is as rare as the UK doing well in the Eurovision). Ouch! Painfully true though.  Us Scots don't see much of the sun, but we do love a tan. Well, some of us do. We would love for it to a natural tan but that is never going to happen on this side of the Atlantic.  So we get our tan from a bottle. 

Again I'll say some of us do, I don't.  I'm the super pale goth girl. The token goth in a circle of friends some might say. I've also been referred to as Morticia on occasion. My vampire complexion and pasty legs are a fright for most people.  In your typical night club in Scotland I stick out like a sore thumb, like the living dead amongst bronze goddesses. 

Even next to naturally pale people (like Susan on the right) I am pale by comparison. When I was younger I did experiment with fake-tan, but after getting a spray tan for my 5th year prom I never used fake-tan again. It was horrible: I was orange, my dress was green, and my face was not impressed. I don't even have any photo's on facebook it was that bad. I've just had a  look for evidence since I thought I could give you all a laugh.  It would appear it is too tragic though. 

However when I was asked at the Scottish Hair and Beauty Awards Blogger Event if I would like to try some of Lauren's way fake-tan I was like 'Ok then, convince me'. I felt my pale arm would work as a good canvas to show if the product really is any good.  

I opted to try the Instant Wash Off Glow, and I was actually really impressed.  I expected to hate it, but the tan actually looked quite natural.  Well, natural when you didn't look at the corpse like arm next to it. But the best part is that it doesn't smell like fake tan, not one hint of digestive biscuit. 

For an instant fix of beautiful tan - Essex style - try our Instant Wash Off Glow. 

This is a hydrating tinted lotion that provides a natural looking tan on the go, perfect for last minute parties! As a no fuss, no commitment product our Instant Wash Off Glow is so easy to remove - simply wash off with soap and water.

If I were to get back into the habit of wearing fake tan on a regular basic I would definitely use Lauren's Way tanning products. 

I had a fantastic evening at the bloggers event and was happy to network with lots of bloggers who I have previously spoken to online but never met in person.  I am really looking forward to the next bloggers event.  Good luck to all the salons competing in the awards ceremony.

Pay Day Haul

Finally it is pay day, I have been working at John Lewis for the last four weeks - hence the lack of blogging and lots of early nights.  I am really enjoying the job so far but the last couple of weeks have been a struggle for money, so it was finally great to be paid be able to buy some much needed things. Well, some of them were needed and others I just wanted.

1. Superdrug Sugar & Spice Self-heating Mask - £1.00.

I usually buy the self-heating Montagne Jeunesse mask - you know the one that makes you look like you have been tragically burned - so I thought I would give the Superdrug one a try. It feels the same on the face, warm and as if all the icky stuff is being sucked out, but it smells a lot nicer. I would re-buy this.

2. Natural Collection Concealer in Green - £2.00

I seen this on the blogsphere a couple of weeks back and I have been looking for it ever since.  I use the Loreal Studio Primer in Green because green combats redness, and with me having rather bad acne the green really helps tone things down.  However the Loreal primer is expensive and I don't like using it every day and this is £2.00. I haven't tried it yet but I will be back to review it when I do.

3. Extra Chewing Gum - reduced to £0.10 in Superdrug.

Since I started work I have become very concious of my breath especially after lunch so these will do nicely in my handbag to help me freshen up before dealing with the public again.  When I was at Uni I never had this problem because I lived close to the Uni so I could just brush my teeth.

4. Wilko Hand Sanitiser in Fruity Berry - £0.90.

My beloved bath and body hand sanitiser is coming to an end: Anti-Ba(T)cterial and this is the nearest colour I could find to replace The Vampires Blood with.  It smells nice and fruity but nowhere as since as the plum scent of the bath and body one.

5. Primark Tights - £2.50-3.50.

An exciting purchase in the form of tights.  I cleared out my tights this morning and binned all the ones that have seen better days.  I never wear trousers and rarely wear leggings so tights are an every day essential for me, and with winter coming in it is time to stock up on the heavy duty tights.  John Lewis have tights that are fleecy on the inside - I really want a pair.

6. Wilkinson Sword Intuition Razor - Wilkinsons - £3.50.

The other week I picked up the blades for this razor thinking they would fit the one that I already have - they didn't.  For the last two weeks I have been using the blades without a handle, surprisingly not too bad.  I really like that you do not need shaving gel with this razor as the blades are surrounded by a thick moisturising soap, and they leave you smelling great.  I still have two blades from my mistake and one came with the handle, so I am all stocked up until after Christmas. The intuition blades were also cheaper than the other Wilkinson Sword blades.

7. Glade Candle in Relaxing Zen - Wilkinsons - £1.80.

I am a big candle lover and most of my candles have reached the point where they are hard to light and the last thing I want to do when I come in from work is faff around trying to light a candle.  The Glade candles smell great and last ages. The last Glade candle I had lasted me around a year, granted I didn't use it every day but I still used it fairly regularly.  This one has a nice musty smell and it is meant to be relaxing - so we shall see.

8. Umberto Giannini - 2 for £.7.50 Boots.

I will be reviewing both these products in a separate post once I  have gave them a good try. 1. Root Boost Volume Spray for Big Hair. 2. Morning After Dry Shampoo.  Winter and my hair are not friends, the humidity and wetness just make it go curly but not like a pretty curly, more like a Bettlejuice style, so this is my attempt at having nice hair this winter. My Batise XXL volume dry shampoo has ran out and I was going to re buy it but these were around the same price, here's hoping they work as well.

9. Socks  - Primark Kids Section - £1.50-2.50.

Being on my feet all day at work is leaving them feeling super sore and a lovely pair of socks to put on in bed can make all the difference. I am only a size 3 in shoe so I tend to sock shop at the kids section - the kids section actually had a better selection of cosy socks. The adult section didn't have anything that took my fancy.  The Feet Heater socks are similar to the welly socks I bought at Download Festival and are super comfy.

10. Green Skull Bag - Krush - £15.00.

I saw this whilst walking past Krush, a store I would not usually venture into but I was drawn to the bag akin to a magpie and shiny objects.  Green is the colour that most people associate me with and I do not actually own a green bag, because I have never found a reasonably priced one that I loved - until now.  I fought with myself for a while whether to buy it or not, but I knew if I didn't I would be annoyed later down the line. The bag is too perfect for me not to buy it. It is green, tacky and has skulls on it - all it needs is a lil bit of fur somewhere and it would have been completely perfect.  For £15.00 I felt it was a bit of a bargain really, considering the Ted Baker bag I have been eyeing is £60 and the purse £99.

I have lots of other things coming up in the form of reviews and can't wait to get some of them up, such as the Liz Earle make up review and the MAC Marilyn Monroe Lipstick.  So much to blog and so little time. As always I am open to guest reviews so if anyone is interested comment or e-mail me.

Victoria.
xx