Xen Tan Review!!!

The following review is for Xen Tan Dark lotion: RRP £25.95 or £17.99 from feelunique.com

Ok, so the reason this took me so long to do was because I thought the best way to do it would be to actually show you the results, and me an avid fake tan wearer I had to wait for my existing tan to come off so that I could get some 'before' pictures.

I'll start by showing you my deathly pale skin so you can get some idea of the difference this stuff makes (excuse my bra, but all my nice bikinis were packed)

BEFORE

not too sure what's going on with my hip but what can you do ay.

AFTER 1 APPLICATION

AFTER 2 APPLICATIONS

SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON

AND FOR THOSE WHO WANT A

MORE DETAILED REVIEW :) ...

Colour

The first time I used this self tanner I thought the colour looked unbelievably unnatural, I felt like I looked really really red. I decided I hated it and vowed never to use it again until people started asking me whether I'd been on holiday or used sunbeds. My mom, dad, boyfriend and close friends all agreed that it was by far the most natural coloured fake tan I had used to date despite how dark it was. I was puzzled by this initially, but after a couple of days I started to get used to the red toned colour and so I began to really like it. Even though I couldn't see it at first, I think that it's the red undertones in this tan that make the colour so natural, I always believed that the green undertones famously used by St Tropez were the way forward. But, when you think about it, who actually goes green in the sun?! If you look at a Caucasian (other races will probably differ) with a really dark natural tan, chances are they have a slight pink/red tinge to the skin (unless they're just completely fried).

Evenness

It's completely even, streak and patch free! No matter how poorly you apply it :)

(except from if you just completely miss a patch out)

Application

Initial application is fine, it's quite thick so you do have to rub a bit to get it to spread and I absolutely love the smell even though its not to everyones taste (almonds and cherries).

But once you've rubbed it in, oh em gee it looks appalling!

Insert picture to that doesn't even begin to show the appallingness that can be witnessed in real life.

The person who said you can use the guide colour as a bronzer and go out tanned straight away, well, they lied. But once you've showered all the horrible patchiness just washes away :)

Durability?

If that's the right word lol, is pretty standard. No fake tan is ever gonna look the same as when you first applied it after about a week. Although I have to say this wore of a lot better than St Tropez and I didn't experience the dreaded snake skin effect, so thumbs up to that. I'd say this maintained its full colour for about 3/4 days and I was completely completely fake tan free after about a week and a half.

So after the longggg wait there it is. This is definitely my new HG fake tan and I would definitely recommend it to all those fake tan obsessives like me :)

xxxx

A little bit of everything haul

Reviews for some of these products coming soon.

This was what I picked up whilst on a recent shopping expedition with the boyfriend (needless to say he was not impressed at being dragged back and forth between boots and superdrug)

Oh, and also a couple of things off the net.

Enjoy!

Soap & Glory Glow lotion, £5 : love this, it's my new everyday moisturiser. Its really light, sinks in easily, has a pleasant smell and gives a pretty shimmer to the skin, especially on the legs.

Xen-Tan dark tanning lotion, £17.99 including delivery : I didn't actually buy this whilst shopping. I got it from feelunique.com as they were selling it at a really cheap price. The service and delivery was great, I'd definitely buy from them again.

Sleek face contour kit, £5.99 : I was unsure as to whether I was going to like this, purely because cheaper bronzers and blushers tend to go patchy on me and I was concerned this was going to do the same. BUT, I can safely say it didn't and this is my new HG bronzer/face contour. Full review and tutorial coming up.

Montagne Jeunesse mud pack face mask, 99p : This is the second one from this brand that I've tried, previously I had a peel off one, not sure which one it was. These are great value and have more than enough product to cover the face, neck and chest. I felt really fresh and clean after using this and I really think it did make my skin look clearer and my pores smaller. Would definitely recommend and for 99p what have you got to lose?!

Max factor facefinity compact foundation, £10.99 : I bought this in ivory, there was a limited shade selection and they all seemed pretty dark so I'm guessing this wouldn't be a product for people with fair skin. I actually bought this to use as a powder as I find powder foundations on there own too drying. It's not bad but I shall continue to use mac mineralize skinfinish natural and just use this for odd touch ups where my make up's come off and I need more coverage than just a new sweep of powder if that makes sense?!

Eylure Cheryl lashes, £4.89 : It's safe to say I absolutely hated these, I have never felt such a huge amount of disappointment over false eyelashes in all my life. I really wanted to love these (damn you Cheryl for being so pretty) but they just looked so... fake (but not in a good way). I like my lashes BIG, and when I wear false eyelashes I want them to make a BIG difference but these were just too drag queen-esque and I just looked as if I had got two black pieces of cardboard and stuck them on my eyes. All you could see were two big black lines, not quite the sultry, sexy look I was going for. So. What did I do?... Turn them into my all time favourite mac 7 lashes of course! I just un-knotted alternating segments of lashes to leave gaps and break up the solid line these gave. Fiddly, but worth it. I may do a tutorial on un-knotting false eye-lashes if I remember lol.

Rimmel the max volume flash mascara, £6.49 : I only picked this up because I thought the models own mascara (see below) wasn't going to come in time for my dinner dance on Friday and my Maybelline falsies was running dangerously low. It's ok, it doesn't really do anything spectacular, but will inevitably get better though when it's dried out a bit. I do like the wand on this though, it's pretty good at getting into the corners.

Models own volumising big brush mascara, £5 : This was from asos, and was bought on the basis of Imogen at foxylocks extensions saying it was good (her eyelashes always look gorgeous, false or not) I have to agree, it's pretty amazing and definitely comparable to Benefit's Bad Gal. I'm planning on reviewing this properly and have already got a few picks of this to post, they should be on really soon.

and last but not least...

Benefit pencils courtesy of Glamour magazine, £2 each ;) :

xxx