I’m Irish. Pale. Pasty. A Whitey. Especially in the winter.
But, I’m ok with it!  OK.. not really. In the winter time, bronzers, and blush are the only things I can use to help me look like I have a pulse. But can you blame me? I am over going to tanning beds for the obvious reasons ( they cost too much money…plus I’d rather not be known as ‘Leatherface’ in my retirement village crew.)
While bronzing powders take on my pale little head, tanning lotions take care of the rest of my bod. The drug store brands are safe, fast & cost effect…but lets just put it out there they are in their own classification of SMELLY. Those of you who have ever experienced the smell of self-tanning lotions can completely agree. Not to mention the fact that you have to be some sort of steady-handed Picasso to make the tanning lotion to develop evenly and not all stripey and streaky.
When I heard about this non-stinky celeb fav sunless-tanning lotion wonder that is Xen-Tan Transform Selfless Tanner, I snatched it up as fast as I could.
Doesn’t turn out orange…and right off the bat, it smells like a lemony-citrus dream. For only $30, I had to test it out! In the morning, I smoothed on the citrusy-scented Xen-Tan Transform lotion. It was white, and blended clearly and smoothly into my skin. Way better than those brown bronzing lotions that can get all over your clothes, furniture…everything!
Dera Enochson, Tanning Expert and creator of the Xen–Tan shared some tips for those of us who are impaired in the ways of self-tanning.
“Exfoliate first. Yes it makes your skin more smooth, but most importantly, it also makes your tan last longer. Self-tanners are absorbed by more drier skin, so make sure you focus on the extra dry areas such as knees and elbows
Apply to clean dry skin and always work from the bottom up, remembering to wash hands with soap and water in between applications. Use a circular motion to blend. If you are looking for instant color, self tan with Xen–Tan‘s Deep Bronze that also gives you a natural color guide so you won’t miss spots
Don’t forget your back! Take a long flat folded strip of saran wrap. Dot some self tan lotion in the middle. While holding the ends, smooth over areas on your back that are out of reach
If you are afraid you applied too much self-tan to your wrists or back of hands, just rub a little moisturizer to those areas and blend with arms”
It doesn’t get any easier than that!
Xen-tan also offers facial tanners and plenty of other products that can be purchased online here. I wasn’t brave enough to try to facial bronzer, due to my skin being prone to breakouts with the teeny-est bit of oil coming within 40 feet of it…so I’ve been using J.Lynne Mineral Makeups to keep my head bronzed and breakout free.
My morning facial bronzing ritual usually consists of:
e Mineral Matte Powder in Peach— swirled on with a the biggest brush my makeup bag can handle. The more I buffed the powder into my skin, the more matte, luminous and bronzer ready it became. All of the J.Lynne powders have a slight sheen to them…so I mostly buffed to make sure that the sheen was less disco shimmer, more even luminous glow.
Mineral Matte Priming Powder in 'Porcelain' $15.00
Mineral Matte Primer helps to even out my reddish skintone to prepare it for the BRONZER. The Mineral Glow in ‘Bronze’ usually does the trick.  A little goes a long way when applied to my forehead, cheeks, chin & in a rush on my eyelids as an eyeshadow. If I’m feelin’ frisky on Friday? I’ll swipe some onto my chest & shoulders for a night out.
My peoples can vouch that I hate taking too long to get ready…so these easy bronzing tools help me to look somewhat like I have a tan (aka a pulse), in the winter months, without too much effort at all.
Disclosure: All products were provided for review. No monetary compensation was received for this review. All opinions belong to the author.
This stuff is amazing. Get some and try it for yourself.