True Love

I’ve fallen for a mid-price self tanner and I can’t get up.

Tip Of The Day:  Well, it’s less than $20, so that’s something, right?  Read on for my review of the greatest self-tanner in the world, brought to you by Bath & Body Works.  Warning – it costs more than the beauty products I usually review.

Tip For Tomorrow:  Hump Day brings… what?  May flowers?  Showers?  Pilgrims?  Who knows, but what I DO know is that it brings the Hump Day Opinion Poll.  Stop back tomorrow and share your views with the world.  Or at least, the section of the world that reads my blog.

Further Elucidation Of My Cheap Deal:  If you’ve read The Cheap Chick for any length of time, you know how I feel about looking tan.  In short, I like it.  Tanned skin makes one’s cellulite look less lumpy, and let’s face facts – I have cellulite.  On my booty, on my thighs, even a bit on my lower tummy.  At least when I’m tan, my lumpy skin looks nicer.  And it’s cheaper than lipo, right?

However, as much as I like BEING tan, I don’t care for the whole tanning process.  Basking for hours in the sun is a. boring, b. sweaty-making and c. skin cancer causing.  Therefore, I use a great deal of self-tanner.  I’ve tried Jergens, Aveeno, Vaseline, Neutrogena – most of the drug store gradual tanners, plus the self-tanner offered by Mary Kay Cosmetics.  Some I like, some I find average, and a few I downright hate.  The upshot of my experimentation is I found a good drug store product for under $9 – Jergens Gradual Tan Foaming Daily Moisturizer.

I thought Jergens would be the best I’d ever used.  Then one day last week, I was lured into Bath & Body Works by… to be honest, by boredom.  I was killing time between appointments, and I didn’t feel like trying on clothing I wasn’t going to buy.  And then I saw it, B&B’s self-tanner:

I checked the price tag and gasped in horror – $18.50 a bottle.  GAH.  That’s twice what I spend on my drug store stuff.  And yet, for some reason not known to me, I bought it.  Perhaps because I was feeling pale, lumpy, and blah?  Who knows, but I forked over my cash plus tax before you could say, “Don’t do it, Cheap Chick!  Think of the children!”

Alright, enough back story.  What you really want to know is – does it work?  The title to today’s post should be a dead giveaway – this stuff is AWESOME.  It is the best self-tanner I’ve ever used, and completely worth the almost $20.  In fact, I sing a little song to it whilst applying:

“Cuz you’re every self-tanner in the world to meeee, You’re my tanning dream, you’re my reality.”

What?  You don’t sing to your inanimate objects?  Clearly, you do not live alone.  Anyway, here are the five main reasons why I love True Blue Spa’s Bronze Bombshell Shade To Order Select-A-Shade Self Tanning Body Lotion.  (Note: I do NOT care for the extra-long title.)

1.  It doesn’t streak.  At all.  Ever.  You can even have an inept male person apply this on your hard-to-reach places (your BACK – I was talking about your back.  Sheesh.), without fear that you’ll look streaky or splotchy.

2.  It turns your skin a real shade of tan.  The tan I get from True Blue actually looks like what I’d get if I went to Florida for a week.  Brown, with a hint of reddishness (that’s just how I tan), with no sign of orange.  Also?  It’s the only tanner that actually works on my booty.  Seriously, my booty has amazing repelling abilities – self tanners, exercise, proper diet – nothing seems to affect it.  But this stuff actually made my lower cheeks tan.

3.  It dries quickly, but not too quick.  I put this on, brushed my teeth, and by the time I rinsed, the tanner had dried enough so I could get dressed.  Also, when it’s dry, it doesn’t feel sticky, tacky or slimy.

4.  It smells good.  Not ‘not bad’, but actually GOOD.  The first time I used it, I kept catching a whiff of something nice, like a cross between body lotion and men’s cologne.  It took me forever to realize it was the smell of the tanner reacting with my skin.  Normally, that smells like the epidermis is moldering off my body.  But with True Blue, the chemical reaction smells really good.  Finally, a tanner that won’t frighten people away.

5.  The tan you get lasts forever and a day.  I applied True Blue last Tuesday, and I didn’t have to reapply until last night.  That’s one full week off of a single application.  And THAT is what makes True Blue worth the money.  It lasts longer, so you use less, so you buy less of it, so you save money.  Ta-da!  I just justified the $20 price tag.

Share with the group – what slightly high-priced item to you feel is worth the extra money?