I had finally resigned to the fact summer was over. I had banished my sundresses to my out-of-season wardrobe (my parent's house) and stocked up on opaque tights. So at the end of last week, excitement was high at the promise of a glorious weekend, but I had allowed white-winter-legs to creep in, so I was in need of a tan quickly to get my pins ready for the Indian-Summer.
Luckily the lovely He-Shi had sent me some samples of there range to try out, so on Friday evening I checked it out.
I'm always slightly dubious when a tanning range has their own exfoliator, they tend to be over-priced and no better at the job then more affordable brands. However, I was blown away by He-Shi's exfoliating gloves, teamed with their strawberry scented
Exfoliating bodywash, left my skin super-smooth and soft. In fact the gloves were so exfoliating that they are just as good with any body wash.
The next surprise was that, unlike many other tanning ranges, you don't moisturise before applying the tan, so speeded up the process nicely. So directly onto my towel-dried skin, I applied the
Express Liquid Tan. I must stress that the tan is a thin liquid, I was half expecting a lotion, so manage to make a mess when I first went to apply the tan to the
Tanning Mitt.
The tinted formula means that you can see where you've applied you tan, so you can rub any streaks away and prevents any 'missed' patches. The
Tanning Mitt is great to use, as it is slightly foamy, there isn't any risk of fibers being left on the skin and prevents staining of your paws.
The instructions told me to wait 2 minutes for the product to dry before re-dressing, but I did feel slightly 'sticky' so waited a little longer. You are also advises to avoid contact with water and perspiration for 6 hours, so I'd recommend applying just before heading to bed. The blurb from He-Shi tells me there are 'no chemical smells' however, a few hours later, the tell-tell fake tan aroma is obvious to me.
I do love the results, a natural sun-skissed bronze with no-streaks or white patches (although I do pride myself on being a top-notch tan applicator) and no transfer onto my clothes or bed-linen.
He-Shi is marketed as a tan for both men & women, however, whilst the
Tanning Mitt. was a perfect fit for my small hands, Mr blog-me-beautiful struggled to get them on his - this was as close as he'd get to the products, apparently rugby-players don't fake tan....
I'm not the only person to be impressed by Ireland's leading self-tanning range, its also the winner of a Cosmopolitan Beauty Award in 2010. Why not try out this range for your self in their
3 Step Discovery Kit which includes a mini (50ml) Exfoliating Body Wash, Express Liquid Tan and Day to Day Gradual Tan along with a Tanning Mitt for only £14.90.
Tanning Mitt £3.40
Exfoliating Bodywash 150ml £9.39/150ml
Express Liquid Tan 150ml £19/150ml
Express Liquid Tan 300ml £33.25/300ml