Where: Rite Aid

Price: $7.49

Image from Nivea.

So, Spring has definitely sprung here in my part of the world. That means it’s time to break out the shorts and the bathing suits…which means it’s time to do something about my pale, pale legs so I don’t blind people with reflected sunlight. Regular tanning is, of course, out of the question. Even if you don’t have coloring like mine, tanning still puts you at increased risk for skin cancer! (I also have almost every other risk factor, like family history and a history of bad sunburns as a child, so I’m controlling the one factor that I can by not tanning and wearing SPF 30+.)

That’s why I love gradual self-tanners. It’s almost impossible to wind up with streaks using them (you would have to miss the same spot several days in a row), and they give you a finer degree of control over the color of your tan than traditional sunless tan formulas. Plus, they are usually combined with moisturizers, and you don’t have to wait nearly as long for them to dry.

This spring, I gave Nivea Body Sun-Kissed Firming Moisturizer for Light to Medium Skin a try. (They also have a formula for darker skin tones, but I can’t really tell you how well it works.) This lotion promises two things: to give you a gradual, natural tan, and to give you firmer, younger-looking skin. It takes about three to five days to get the full color, and it will gradually wear off over several days once you stop applying it.

The tan was subtle, and natural looking. It didn’t make me look like I’d just come back from a week in the Bahamas, but it did make me stop glowing in the sunlight. The color was very realistic, and not orange or fake-looking at all. It faded evenly, too, so I didn’t have patches or streaks of different-colored skin at any point in the process.

I didn’t notice much firming in my skin, though. It was also not very effective as a moisturizer. The formula was very thin, and although that made it easy to spread everywhere, it also made it easier to use up the bottle. I got about three and a half weeks’ total use out of it, and it’s not really a small bottle. It’s just hard not to use more than you really need, because it squirts out in huge globs in your hand.

My final verdict: this is great as a gradual self-tanner, but kind of crappy as a firming moisturizer. It’s a couple of dollars cheaper than most comparable products I found, so I’d definitely recommend it if you only want it for its tanning effects.

Products used:

CQ Smooth Color Eyeshadow in Santa Fe
wet n wild Mega Liner in Turquoise
Cover Girl Professional All-In-One Waterproof Mascara in Black

Where: Walgreens

Price: $4.99

Image from Walgreens..

I am noticing a disconnect between wet n wild’s website and the products they have in stores. I noted it when I reviewed their Mega Protein Mascara, and now I can’t even find this product on there. It’s not this, but it’s similar. Weird.

Anyway, on to the powder itself. I bought it to throw into my gym bag for use after I shower, but it’s been getting a lot of non-gym use, too. I took it with me when I went to the beach for a couple of days at the beginning of this week, and it’s handy to throw on when I’m in a hurry in the morning. The cardboard packaging is surprisingly sturdy, too, and comes with a little mirror inside.

I get decent coverage from this powder. It’s obviously not nearly as complete as my usual primer+liquid foundation+finishing powder combo, but it more than gets the job done. It lasts, too. I have to blot a couple of times over the course of the day, but I usually have to do that anyway. The powder itself needs no reapplications, though. It also matches my skin perfectly, with none of the orangeness I’ve noticed in earlier wet n wild foundations.

My only gripe is that it’s kind of drying on skin, but if I make sure I moisturize well before I put it on, it’s not an issue. If you have dryer skin, though, I’d take it into consideration before you buy this powder. If you’ve got oily or combination skin, you might love this.

Where: CVS

Price: $9.49

Image from CVS.

I’ve been using this for a couple of months now. I gave it a try after I ran out of my New York Color finishing powder. Truth be told, I don’t like it as much. It doesn’t seem to last or to keep the shine away from my face for quite as long as the NYC powder. The difference isn’t drastic, and this is a perfectly serviceable finishing powder, but I don’t think it’s worth paying $4-$5 more for.

I think you do get slightly more powder with this, though. I will grant that it will last you for a while, but then again, so did my old powder. I’m switching back when I do eventually run out.

Products used:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Foundation Primer

Maybelline Mineral Power Finishing Veil Powder in Light

jane Be Pure AguaCeuticals AguaGlow Bronzer

e.l.f. elements eyeshadow in Sage and Golden Glow

L’Oreal Paris Bare Naturale Mascara in Black Brown

Maybelline Pure.Makeup Shine-Free Foundation with H20 in Natural Ivory.

Hard Candy Painted Lady Lipstick in Hot Shot

Styli-Style Line & Seal Lipliner in Sand

Nivea Body Sun-Kissed Firming Moisturizer

Where: CVS

Price: $7.29

Image from Rimmel London.

If you’ve been looking at my Friday Mugshots, I’m wearing Rimmel’s Fix & Perfect primer in most of them. It’s amazing the difference it makes. You just put it on after your lotion and before your foundation, and it smooths out fine lines, evens out your skintone a bit, and makes your foundation last so much longer. It even helped out with the shine control.

The only two problems I had with this are the color and the packaging. It’s a deep orange, which almost scared me away from using it entirely. Fortunately, it goes on mostly clear. (My face was slightly darker, but you couldn’t tell once I had my foundation on. It did reduce the need for concealer on my red blotches.) As for the packaging, it’s a tube that likes to squirt out way more product than is needed. A little of this goes a long way, so it winds up wasting primer. I wish it were a pump or a bottle or something that you didn’t have to squeeze. Failing that, I wish the tube had a narrower mouth.

I think the best evidence of this product’s usefulness I can give is the following anecdote: not a week after I had started using it, and not two days after I’d been bemoaning the appearance of my very own crow’s feet, I went to a friend’s wedding. I wore the primer under my foundation, and the lady sitting next to me was convinced I was in high school. (I am attributing this to the primer, at any rate. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that I don’t look like a grown-up yet.)

Where: CVS

Price: $2.19

Image from CVS.

First off, the product pictured on the wet n wild page I linked to is not in the same packaging as the mascara I have. The name is the same, however, so I’m going to assume the formula is, too. The Mega Protein Mascara pictured on CVS’ website is the one I have.

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this. I grabbed it because I thought it would be nice to have a plain, black mascara without a lot of bells and whistles, and it was only two dollars. I did get a plain, black mascara, but it’s not as nice as I thought it would be. I’m not saying it’s noxious or anything; it goes on fine, and is completely unobjectionable for the first couple of hours that you wear it. After that, though, it’s Raccoon City. (I didn’t meant to make that a Resident Evil joke, but I guess a zombie would be just as appropriate as a raccoon for describing how this mascara makes you look.)

That’s right; this mascara has terrible staying power. It slides off onto your face, leaving black, smudgy circles and not in a good way. Save your two bucks and pass this one on by.

Products used:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Foundation Primer

L’Oreal True Match Super Blendable Makeup in Porcelain

Maybelline Mineral Power Finishing Veil Powder in Light

jane Be Pure AguaCeuticals AguaGlow Bronzer

L’Oreal Wear Infinité in Enchanted Bouquet

L’Oreal Paris Bare Naturale Mascara in Black Brown

ModelCo Colourbox Gloss in Cherry