For self tanning, it's all in the prep work! Exfoliate and moisturize with Alyria, Soap and Glory and St. Ives.

You may remember from my bronzer post, that I am on a campaign to be less pale this summer.  With the face taken care of, I knew the rest of me needed to match and since boiled lobster is not a good look on me - I decided a fake bake was the way to go.  It's been many, many years since I did the self tan thing and I remember the products as being less then easy to use and the colour result, immensely unflattering (unless you were a pumpkin) so I knew a lot of reading and investigation was in order before I even attempted it this time.  My self tan products post will be coming up soon but what I found in my reading was that the key to a beautiful, natural looking self tan was perfectly smooth and moisturized skin - as this would make the entire tanning process much easier - it made sense to me so of course I needed to find the perfect products to achieve this - here are my faves:

Alyria Resurfacing Body Care - 150ml - $65 - 15% Glycolic Acid and Vitamin E - sloughs off dead skin cells on the surface of dry and rough areas of the entire body, revealing silky-smooth, moisturized skin.  If you aren't normally a fan of AHA because you find they irritate your skin you'll want to check this out.  The AHA's in this product are contained in a patented controlled release technology which slows the release of glycolic acid.  The potential irritation of an AHA formula is primarily due to the rapid penetration of AHA free acid molecules into the skin.  By controlling the release of the glycolic acid, the skin will tolerate a higher concentration, resulting in a faster exfoliation.  I have been using it for several weeks now paying special attention to my knees, elbows and feet which were all a big dry mess and I feel like a snake, I'm shedding so much skin!  It is a very thin lotion so you wouldn't think that it would do a good job moisturizing but it does!  You can go here to find out where you can get it near you, if you are in Toronto, Dr. Torgerson, among others, carries it.

If you prefer to do your moisturizing and exfoliating separately, these are worth a gander:

Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter - 300ml - $14.99 - how thrilled was I when Shoppers Drug Mart finally started carrying the Soap & Glory line?!  I can't decide if it's the pink packaging, retro looking models or the quirky copy that I like best about it!  Of course what I really like is the product itself - it's thick, it's creamy and it smells heavenly!  For any bits of you that are dry, that will no longer be an issue once you introduce yourself to this stuff - just bear in mind that Soap & Glory is an addictive line and you'll soon be seeing a lot of pink containers in your bathroom...

St. Ives Body Polish - 226g - $9.99 - with oatmeal and shea butter - I think I am one of the few people in the world that do not love their apricot scrub - I find it hard and scratchy and not the least bit pleasant, so I must admit I was a bit leary of trying this new scrub.  So totally different it's like day and night!  It exfoliates with oatmeal and sugar crystals which offer just the right amount of exfoliation to scrub off your rough parts without also scrubbing off the skin you were planning on keeping!

Now that you're all moist and smooth, stay tuned for my self tanner post next week!

- Lisamarie -