Getting Your Tan On With The Velvotan Original Self Tanning Mitt - A Product Rave

One of the best things about blogging is been given the opportunity to try lots of new brands. If it hadn't been for being a blogger or reading blogs their would be loads of things that I now consider essentials that I would  never even have heard of let alone tried.

Recently though I was lucky enough to receive a product for review that I had tried before and that I loved -The Velvotan Original Self Tanning Mitt.

Many moons ago I used to apply my fake tan with bog standard thin, disposable, plastic gloves, that I kind of stole from Mummy Lou's work bag (she used be home care worker for the local council ), it was pretty successful and certainly easier and cleaner than using my bare hands but you did still get the odd streak. Then one day when I was in my local chemists I saw a self tan applicator mitt that promised a clean, streak free finish - I was hooked and since then I've never looked back.

The Velvotan Self Tanning man is a double sided mitt - one side is made of a thin fabric features a coloured, patterned or logo design, and the other side features a velvet feel fabric. This is the side that you use to apply your fake tan.

Depending on the product I either apply the product directly to the mitt or directly onto my skin, then you just work the product into your skin using either long strokes or a buffing motion for smaller areas - I've used this method for two reviews lately including the St Moriz Mini Bronzing Collection, and the Tanatomicals Holy Grail For The Deathly Pale Instant + Self Tan Mousse so hopefully you can see how easy and successful this method is .

It isn't just the fact that the application is so even that makes me love this product but I also love it because it's a much cleaner, easier and quicker method altogether. The velour side of the mitt is lined inside with a special polyurethane material to stop the product soaking through the mitt and staining your skin. You still need to be careful about getting a bit of product on the fabric side or on your wrist but on the whole it's a much cleaner method compared to using your bare hands.

Another reason why this product deserves a LouLouLand product rave is that fact that it's reusable - the plastic gloves had their place but they aren't that strong and they certainly don't last more than one or two applications. The Velvotan on the other hand is machine washable and reusable. Washing after every use doesn't get all tanning stains out but it does mean that you get a clean and hygienic application every time.

Yes there are plenty of similar mitts on the market now but in my opinion this is one of the best, I've tried mitts from some of the top self tanning brands that cost at least 3 times the price of this one and I have to say these ones last the longest. The Velvotan Original Self Tanning Mitt comes in various different colours and designs and retails at around £2.99 from various stockists including Tesco, Bodycare and independent pharmacies across the UK. I am also lead to believe that Velvotan are releasing some new products to help us in out quest for the perfect fake tan including a polishing sponge, a back applicator, and a facial mitt, I haven't seen any of these items in stores yet but I will definitely be giving them a go when I do. Have you tried the Velvotan Mitt? and how do you apply your fake tan? please let me know in the comments I love reading what you have to say xx

(The Velvotan Original Self Tanning Mitt Was Provided By PR For Review Purposes)

Foodie Friday On A Saturday - Mummy Lou's Birthday Dessert Edition

Ok if it isn't already obvious this little old post should have been up yesterday but as you might know it was Mummy Lou's birthday :) so things were a bit hectic at times. We started the celebrations on Thursday when after my doctors appointment  (don't ask !) we went to the Metro Centre for a little shopping and eating trip. The day started well with free Starbucks hot chocolate in the car park to celebrate their new drive through opening :) I will definitely get a shot of hazelnut syrup in the my hot chocolate the next time - it was yummy! We then did a bit of shopping to enable Mummy Lou to spend here birthday money, she got a lovely new purse, a Yankee Red Velvet candle, and some faux ugg boots to use as slippers in the winter. She bought me a few bits in Primark, TK Maxx and in Yankee Doodle Candy where we stocked up on Nestle Butterfingers NOM!!. We then went for a meal in Chiquitos - I love Mexican food so we went for the 2 course lunch menu for just £7.99 each excluding drinks - my mum had Nachos For One, and the Spicy Chicken and Melted Cheese Quesadilla, and I had the Mushrooms Con Queso and the Goats Cheese and Sweet Potato Salad which was gorgeous! We were so stuffed we didn't have a dessert but we did return home via the insane new Krispy Kreme store which had opened that day - It was crazy - the queues were about 20 minutes if you wanted a single doughnut, thankfully my mum wanted a double dozen - two boxes of 12 doughnuts - 1 variety box  and 1 box of classic rings instead of a birthday cake so I was served pretty quickly. My first ever bite of a Krispy Kreme was a dangerous one - I ate way more than I should have done being wheat and gluten intolerant but the stomach pain was soooooo worth it :)

Unsurprisingly yesterday we weren't really hungry all day we did have a doughnut or so with visitors just to be social you understand ;) but we didn't really eat much till about 6pm when I'd continued the Mexican theme and made massive dish of nachos with homemade salsa, and some other dips, and some of my Spicy Mexican Cornbread - we accompanied that with a bottle of nice white wine. About an hour and a half later I made dessert something I've made many, many times before Frozen Berries With Hot White Chocolate Sauce - I'm almost apologising in a way for calling this a recipe - it really is that easy - if you don't do sweet and sickly don't make this - although the berries are quite tart the sauce is VERY sweet! We got the original recipe from American cook Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa At Home cookbook hence the American measurements and terminology 

Frozen Berries With Hot White Chocolate Sauce

2 Half Pints Fresh Raspberries

2 Half Pints Fresh Blueberries

1 Pint Fresh Strawberries Hulled and Sliced Thickly

1 Cup Heavy Cream

10oz Good White Chocolate 

1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

This recipe imo makes it's more complicated then it needs to be, since you need to freeze the fruit first, but this is my quicker and lazier version 

1 Box / Packet Frozen Mixed Berries / Summer Fruits

1 x 300ml Carton Double Cream

300g White Chocolate 

1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract 

1. About 10 or so minutes before you want to serve divide your fruit up into between however many people  you want to serve and put into bowls. We used roughly half a 500g pack of Tesco Mixed Summer Fruits which included raspberries, blackberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, and white currants - We are pretty greedy so play it by eye. If your using frozen strawberries you might want to take your fruit out a bit earlier and they can sometimes be pretty hard even after the sauce.

2. Time for the sauce - get a heatproof bowl together over a pan of simmering water. Break up the chocolate and add it to the bowl - we used a mixture of Lindt and the cheapest one Tesco had to offer. Then add about 200ml of the double cream to the bowl.These quantities are just a guide really, you can alter the amounts of cream and chocolate to alter the consistency of the sauce, more cream equals a runnier sauce, more chocolate equals a thicker consistency especially when it's cooled. Then add you vanilla extract to the bowl - please use extract the flavour is so much better than the essence - this is a catering sized bottle from Costco but most supermarkets sell it now. I've used a little bit more than the original recipe here but I used some slightly poorer (and cheaper!) white chocolate then recommended.

3. Gently stir the ingredients over the simmering water until the chocolate has melted into the cream. Please try not to get any steam or water into your mixture as this can make the sauce grainy. You should be left with a mixture that pretty much resembles condensed milk.

4. Pour the hot sauce over the frozen fruit - the sauce melts the fruit and and starts to solidify when it hits the cold bowl and frozen fruit, grab a spoon and eat :)

Yeah I said this wasn't for the faint hearted ! - This recipe easily makes enough for 3 greedy people! but my mum always likes to take a spoon to the left over sauce and she wanted to try it with Krispy Kreme! Lol Depending on the quantities used this sauce can be used as a fondue or a dip, and even with the addition of more chocolate as the basis for white chocolate truffles! The quantities really are just a guide put in what you have and experiment - once the sauce is cooled you can pop it in the fridge and reheat gently as needed but ours very rarely makes it that far! This is a stupidly easy recipe that looks really impressive, yes it's sweet but the tartness of the berries really balances it out even so I wouldn't recommend eating more than a small bowl at a time.

This is one of mine and Mummy Lou's favourite desert recipes because it is so quick and easy around 10 minutes or less from start to finish - not something you want to eat on a regular basis but for a treat it's well worth it, what's your favourite pudding and what's your quick dessert standby let me know in the comments?

Powdering Down With Living Nature - A Review For My Pure

My name is Louise, I am 34 years old and I still have shiny skin. My mum keeps saying that I'll be thankful for my oily complexion when I'm older, and she's probably right she had oily skin when she was younger and her skin is amazing now - it's practically blemish free and she barely has any wrinkles, oh and did I mention that she's 71 this week! Not only am I prone to oil slicks every so often but because of various health issues, and medications I also have the most awful temperature control - I perspire a lot, and I go cold a lot, so in other words I have often have serious problems keeping my make up on my face. Thankfully primer and foundation formula's have improved no end over the years and if I can get something to last on my face you can guarantee it's pretty good. No matter how good the base products are though, I always get a bit of shine coming through as the day progresses, so I rely on face powder to keep my shiny bits matte and smooth. Yes I know that face powder is terrible passe but it does the job for me , I'm not a brand devotee by any means and I always love trying out new things so as part of August's My Pure reviews I decided to try out a face powder

The Living Nature Luminous Powder aims to use natural minerals and light reflecting and refractive particles to give a soft and luminous glow.

The powder comes boxed and in a sturdy plastic compact, which is refillable. It comes complete with a full sized mirror, and a powder puff.

There are 3 shades to choose from - Deep, Medium and the shade I went for Light.

My Pure suggest that you should go for a shade darker, as the colour in the pan is darker that it appears on the skin, but Light was a pretty good match for my skin tone - you can just about see hear that it's pale, pink toned nude beige shade.

The powder itself has a soft but not overtly powdery feel, and no noticeable scent. Although this powder comes with a powder puff / sponger I've been applying it with either a kabuki brush or my Bare Minerals Flawless Face Brush, and then going back over my t-zone with the powder puff gently pressing the powder into my foundation.

The only way really to show you the effectiveness of this powder is with a few before and after pictures. In the before pictures the only make up on my face is the Living Nature Foundation that I reviewed here. I have used this over other brands of foundation though with similar results.

Before

After 

Before

After 

Spot the deliberate mistake, yup I did befores and afters of different sides of my face LOL

Before

After 

Yes this strange body part is actually my forehead :)

Before

After 

and believe it or not this is actually my nose ;)

Apologies for the randomness of the pictures and the blooper, but hopefully you can see from the forehead and nose pictures the difference that this powder makes. My skin looks less shiny, and my pores aren't as obvious. This powder leaves a matte but not flat finish. 

I have to say I thought this was a pretty decent face powder that did the job, that said I don't think I would actually purchase it. It currently retails at £20 which to mine is a bit much, if you regularly buy big brand products that retail for more than that it doesn't sound too bad. At the moment though it's a bit prohibitive price wise for me especially when I'm currently loving a face powder just as much but for slightly different reasons that costs just £1.00 - if your after a decent and relatively natural powder thought this could be the one for you x  Living Nature Luminous Powder 14g retails at £20.00 from My Pure. Do you still use face powder? Which one do you love? Let me know in the comments xx

(Living Nature Luminous Powder 14g - Light Was Provided By My Pure For Review Purposes)

I Want To Love This But I Can't - Nails Of The Day

A month or so ago my lovely momma bought me a few nail polishes from Avon's recently relaunched Colortrend range. In case your not a regular Avon shopper Colortrend is their budget make up range, the packaging has been updated to give it younger and funkier feel. I've only ever had a bits from the range in the past and I have to say it's been a bit hit and miss, some things have been OK, others well haven't, but the couple of nail polishes I've had have always been OK so I thought I'd give them another go.

The one I went for here is the Avon Colortrend Suede Nail Enamel in Blue Royale. Being a suede effect polish it has an almost matte to satin finish - it's a gorgeous navy blue in colour with lots of silver sparkle which stops it from looking too flat. The colour really is beautiful it really looks like a starry sky. So yeah so far so good I actually like the finish and I love the colour but as you've probably guess from the title of this post I can't recommend it :( This makes me sad but the texture wasn't the easiest to work with, the coverage was okay but it just dried too quickly for perfect application. I guess I could live with less than perfect application given the prettiness after all who looks that closely at you nails but unfortunately I didn't have to live with it for long -this polish chipped like crazy. In face after less than 8 hours two nails were completely bare!  Using the top coat on this polished improved the wear slightly but obviously you lose the suede effect even when you use a matte top coat - sad times :(

Gorgeous isn't it? but the formula and the wear really let this one down. They normally retail for £3.00 but depending on the brochure offers I have seen these for as little as 99p, not a lot to pay to be disappointed but still. I'm only hoping that the wet look shine polished I got are more successful. Have you ever fell in love with a nail polish only to end up disappointed? let me know in the comments xx

Summer, What Summer? Making The Best Of It With St Moriz

Well Friday saw the official end of summer, What summer I hear you cry? Well it's been a bit of a wash out hasn't it - it's supposedly been one of the wettest summers on record in the UK. I can seriously count the number of sunny summer days we've had on one hand (and one of those days was actually today!). If like me you haven't been lucky enough to head away to warmer places this year, all in all it's been a bit depressing. I am debating whether to build an ark with all the rain and I'm pale enough to play Casper the friendly ghost. It doesn't have to be that way though, so I've been dabbling with the fake tan and the bronzer, in attempt to make myself look a tiny bit healthier than I actually feel, with varying result I may add.

One of the fake tans that I've being playing with this summer is St Moriz, a year or so ago there was a massive buzz surrounding this budget fake tan. The hype has died down a bit now but I'm still a huge fan of the brand. I currently own the lotion, the mousse, and the spray, but I didn't realise how varied the St Moriz range now is, you can buy glimmer lotion, bronzing powder, and they even do a range of body care products to enhance your fake tan experience. A little while ago now the lovely people on behalf of St Moriz sent me one of their Mini Bronzing Collection's to try out.

Designed to help you prepare, create and maintain the perfect fake tan, this airline safe kit contains 100ml tube of St Moriz Exfoliating Body Scrub, 100ml pump action bottle of the famous St Moriz Instant Self-Tanning Mousse in either Medium or Dark, and 100ml tube of St Moriz Ultra Moisturising Body Lotion, all packaged in a clear, zip fastening toiletry bag.

St Moriz Exfoliating Body Scrub  

I have to say I love body scrub - I exfoliate at least three times a week in the bath or the shower. Exfoliating leaves your skin looking soft and smooth, and it prevents ingrown hairs essential if your a waxer like me. If your a fake tan user though you'll know just how important it is to use a body scrub, fake tan clings to dry and flaky skin leaving a streaky and uneven tan. The brains behind St Moriz believe that preparation is key for a perfect self tan so they've developed a body scrub to help us along our way.

They recommend that you use this scrub on wet skin, concentrating on traditionally drier areas such as the knees, elbows and feet. The base of the scrub is a lightly foaming gel, which contains lots of exfoliating walnut shell particles.

It has a fresh smell that I can't quite describe it's a little bit fresh, a bit aquatic, and maybe even a bit like bubblegum. It produced a very gentle foaming action, and a surprisingly gentle scrub. Given the ingredients I expected this scrub to have a bit more of bite to it but it was actually quite gentle. If like me you like a slightly  more abrasive scrub, you can apply it onto dry skin, and then add water later. This wasn't actually a bad body scrub (although it did fail Mummy Lou's clean bath test ;), it left the skin feeling soft and clean but having said that I probably wouldn't repurchase as I've said before I much prefer salt or sugar based body scrub.

St Moriz Instant Self Tanning Mousse - Dark

If you've ever used St Moriz in the past I can pretty much guarantee that it's the mousse that you've tried. It was the first St Moriz product that I ever bought and I've repurchased a couple of times since then. However    the colour that I normally purchase is the original  or Medium mousse, the one I received in this kit was the Dark! I have to say I was actually quite scared at this point - as I said before I am ghostly pale and I would never have dreamed of buying a dark fake tan, but I was brave and gave it a go.

First of all the packaging I love pump action dispensers, they make application so much easier - I applied this like I normally do with a velour tanning mitt - I think these are brilliant for beginners and more experienced tanners. The mousse looked a tiny bit darker than my usual St Moriz but it certainly wasn't scary, it had an almost golden, honeycomb type colour. It has quite a fresh fragrance but nothing too heavy.

It was quite easy to apply it has a light mousse like texture that isn't too wet or too sticky, and it dried really quickly.

This mousse is described as instant and it did give a nice light golden colour when it was first applied - you can hopefully see that in these befores and afters (ignore the hideous bruise if you can please ;)

Before

Straight After Application

I also did my familiar one leg challenge for you, so you can see pale and pasty versus tanned and golden  - in case you can't tell I've only fake tanned my left leg ;)

Straight After Application

Roughly 24 Hours Later 

As you can see I really didn't have anything to be scared of, yes it is a shade or two darker than the original mousse, but it's not too much or scary. I have to say I was really impressed with the colour - it actually looked pretty natural, there were barely any streaks, and my skin felt pretty smooth and not too dry. I can even say that the traditional self tan, digestive pong wasn't too bad with this one - this is a definite winner for me and I would be scared to try the Dark shade again.

St Moriz Ultra Moisturising Body Lotion

If you want beautiful skin the key is to keep moisturised. Nothing looks worse than dry, grey, flaky skin. As well as keeping your body hydrated from the inside , the majority of us should also apply a body moisturiser to keep our skin soft and supple on the outside. If your a fake tanner or if your lucky enough to have got a real tan you'll know how important moisturising is to keep your tan looking it best and for making it last longer, so it's no surprise that the St Moriz Mini Bronzing Collection also contains a body lotion.

I'm probably telling you something that you already know here but you shouldn't moisturise your face or you body just before you use fake tan. The lotion or cream can dilute the fake tan and make it go patchy - not what you want, but it's important to keep you skin hydrated before you fake tan to avoid the dry, streaky bits, and it's important to moisturise after you've tanned in order to make your tan look fresh, and to keep it even and lasting longer. St Moriz advise that you apply this lotion after your tan has dried morning and evening. I have to be honest and say I left it till the next day before I moisturised just to be sure that my colour developed evenly.

It has the same aquatic, bubblegum type fragrance as the body scrub. St Moriz describe this as a lotion but it's not a runny lotion or a milk, it actually more like a lightweight cream. It feels almost cooling and soothing on the skin. It's very easy to massage in and it absorbs quite quickly, leaving the skin feeling quite soft.

This is actually a really nice product - I'm not really in love with the smell but this is a decent body lotion that did the job.

This is a great kit if your going on holiday or if your new to self tanning. The kit gives everything you need bar an applicator to prepare, create and maintain the perfect fake tan. I don't know whether it was the combination of these products specifically but my St Moriz tan this time lasted longer, and faded more evenly than what is has in the past. I'm not a 100% sure I would buy the scrub and lotion again but I have to say the Instant Self Tan Mousse is pretty good if you want a golden glow on a budget. The St Moriz Mini Bronzing Collection retails at around £6.99. For stockist details and more information on St Moriz please check out their official website x Have you ever tried St Moriz ? let me know in the comments, and let me know if you've attacked the faux glow or if you've embraced the pale this summer xx

(St Moriz Mini Bronzing Collection Was Provided For Review Purposes)

Au Revoir To August

Well that's another month gone, we're officially into the last quarter of the year now, summers gone and autumn is on it's way with a vengeance - it was actually frosty the other night!!!!! Life wise after a tricky few weeks things at last seem to be heading in the right direction. My godmother has had her surgery and she's now recovering at home - they removed all the cancer cells so she's been given the all clear. She's still having to learn to swallow again which is proving a bit scary and she's had a few nasty choking fits but she's heading in the right direction. Things have been thrown a bit in the air with me health wise but I can and will get through this one way or another - I'd just like to thank everyone for their kind words on here, Facebook and on twitter - you've really kept my going through some rough spells in the past month or so x

As per usual I've done the Louise trick and spent more money than I intended too this month because I've been a bit stressed - I haven't counted my Kindle as I'm paying for that on a monthly basis but even so I've still spent more than my monthly limit - eek!

Next Sale Haul - £52.00

Silver Tone and Turquoise Heart Bangle - ebay - £1.70

Silver Tone Magnetic Clasps - ebay - £2.48

Purple Kindle Touch Case - ebay - £4.99

Gold Tone Magnetic Clasps - ebay - £1.88

Silver Tone and Turquoise Bracelet - ebay -£1.88

4 Earring Set x 2 - ebay - £2.00

Penguin Mobile Phone Cover - ebay - £1.73

Gold Tone 4 Lead Clover Bracelet - ebay - £1.66

Magazines - £7.60

Pound World - Nail Buffer and Ped Egg - £2.00

Home Bargains - Storage Box and Nail Polish Remover - £2.84

Total - £82.76

£42.76 Over

Yes there are lots of sale, and bargain basement purchases but I've still gone over my limit - I'm not proud but again I made some money back through ebay and blog sales so I'm not going to beat myself up over it, I'll just move on to next month and vow to try harder. Speaking of ebay - don't forget to keep checking out my listings I have some bits finishing this weekend and some bits to go up next week including some BNWT AX Paris, Next, Mango, Dorothy Perkins, George and more, plus lots of new and used goodies from Miu Miu, French Connection, ASOS, Per Una and more x You can check out my listings here x

So my monthly spends was a bit of a fail but something I am making progress with trimming my stash, I'm trying to stop buying smellies and bath things, and instead I'm trying to attack my stash and use up what I've got. I didn't do badly this month and finished 9 items.

The Body Shop Rich Plum Shower Gel 250ml

Bliss Plum Plum Firming Body Balm 180g

Korres Watermelon Body Scrub 150ml

The Body Shop Vanilla Spice Body Butter 50ml

Philosophy Spicy Gumdrop Shampoo, Shower Gel and Bubble Bath 118.3ml

Boots Botanics Soothing Eye Make Up Remover 150ml

Yes To Cucumbers Soothing Natural Glow Facial Towelettes x 30

The Body Shop Divine Calm Serenity Milk Bath Powder 180g

Boots No7 Skin Defence Loose Powder 40g in 01 Translucent

Total - 9 Items

I finished a nice mix of stuff including some bath and body items, some skincare and a make up item. I'm 3 items down on Project 10 Pan Round and I've got another couple which are just about on the edge. I can see my beauty stash gradually going down and it's a good feeling.

I've really got my blogging mojo back as the month went on, and I'm back and raring to go, I have loads of review posts planned for September, a few food posts, and maybe some clothing posts, so I hope you'll stick around. Oh and I've also started making You Tube videos again so don't forget to check out my channel here, I'll be uploading a favourites post in the next day or so. I hope you all had a fabulous August despite the rotten weather, let me know in the comments what you got up to, and I'll see you tomorrow with a review post xx