Sunday, September 19, 2010

Chasing the Last Sunrays - Natural (Elemental Herbology) vs. Drug Store (Garnier) Self-Tan Lotions

Hello my dear bloggers & blog readers,

I've sadly come to the realization that Autumn isn't around the corner anymore - it most definitely has begun! Although this is a lovely season I can't quite give up on cozy summer dreams just yet... at least my hard-earned tan should remind me as long as possible of sandy beaches and hours-long outdoor barbecues :)



I usually get the Garnier Summer Body (for fair/normal skin- yes, thanks to the vampire hype my unintended pale look's finally become appropriate all year round). A big 400ml bottle costs only a couple of Euros and does its job quite well (the bottle in the picture shows German writing as I bought it in a German supermarket but the design looks the same everywhere). It has a fruity scent and sinks into the skin right away, leaving a soft feel for hours. It takes about 3 days until I notice the tanning effect. If I apply it daily, though, some areas can get yellow such as the shin bones. Luckily, I'm a lazy bum and do almost everything on an irregular basis, so I didn't have to care that much about any yellow streaks, lol ;-) For a list of ingredients please see codecheck.info. It contains silicons and parabens, which made me wanna try a new natural alternative... 

As I am finally riding my natural and organic wave ~ that I've believed in for years but hesitated to take action for too long ~ I purchased the UK-based Elemental Herbology Sun Kiss body hydrator with self-tan for all skin tones. This 200 ml bottle, though, costs 29 Euros/22.50 British Pounds!! The eco-cert quality of the ingredients justify this steep price for me at least for this time: organic and fair-trade watermelon seed oil, macadamia oil, lavendar oil, water lilly, aloe vera, and pomegranate extract - just to name a few (see full ingredients list at codecheck.info)! I can tell that the smell derives from the actual essential oils as opposed to an artificial fragrance. I can imagine that some people might need to get used to it, though. To me this is great! The consitency of the Sun Kiss is not as fluid as the Summer Body but my skin absorbs the lotion very well. The tan is more immediate and results in more of a brown shade than the Garnier one.

In sum:

I was very hesitant at first to try a natural product for tanning but I was proven wrong:
I like the Elemental Herbology Sun Kiss better because my skin darkens more into a brown shade (not yellow) and the ingredients are very natural BUT the difference in price is huge!! In consequence, I will probably end up buying the Sun Kiss and Summer Body on a rotating basis to save money.

What do you think of Elemental Herbology? Do you think it's worth the price? Do you guys self-tan at all?!

Much love,
ur gypsy Sam xx

4 comments:

  1. I don't like tan lotions because mostly all of the have horrible fake chemical smell, but.. stil im using it:) I have tried Garnier Summer Body lotion, it is good, but the smell... And I found in my country tan lotion, which smells great!!:) So it is my favourite tan lotion - I posted about it here:
    http://supremeliving-bysupergirl.blogspot.com/search/label/Kolastyna

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  2. Aww, your tan lotion sounds great but I'm afraid I can't get it here :( Thank you for telling me about this one, though! I'm gonna look out for it as I travel quite a bit! Cheers, Sam xx

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  3. I never tried those self tanners, I stopped my search when I found xen-tan... for me, they are perfect;)

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  4. Hi Marisa, I've read about xen-tan in a blog post before but never tried it. I'm very curious now - how do I best get my hands on those? Best, Sam xx

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