Bronzing Ball - Madame La La

At the Amazing Blog we are fans of the bronzed look, and that’s why we were really excited to try the new Bronzing Ball from Madame La La.

What we like the most about this product is how easy it is to apply on to your face. The 180° dome applicator and its creamy texture allows you to effortlessly glide the ball along all the places where the sun would normally hit your skin.  This way, you won't need make-up brushes to bronze, contour, strobe or highlight your face, just use your fingertips to blend in the product. The Bronzing Ball also is the ideal travel size to carry around with you, so perfect for whenever you feel like adding a little touch of the 'LA glow' to your look.

This vegan multi-tasking bronzer will not dry your skin out as sometimes happens with other bronzing powders. Your skin will feel hydrated and smooth when using it. This is due to its formula infused with Vitamin E, an antioxidant that protects and repairs dry skin, and coco water, known for its hydrating and moisturising properties. As for the colour, you can build it up depending on the shade of sunkissed tan that you wish to achieve.

For your Bronzing Ball at £14.00, see here to get that special holiday bronzed glow.

Friday Favourites - Tanning Feature

Here at The Amazing Blog, we love to have a sun kissed glow all year round. We also know it’s important for it not to look like it’s come out of a bottle. Sunless tanning has come a long way over the last few years, but it’s not just about the tanning product. The preparation and maintenance is key to achieving a good look. We’ve selected a few of our favourite tanning products that will give you a sun-kissed glow without the tell-tale signs.

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The perfect pre-tan exfoliator is Cocoa Brown’s Tough Stuff. This award-winning exfoliator is a bit thicker than other brands, making it really effective on the problem areas: elbows, knees and hands. You can even use the formula on dry skin if you need a deeper exfoliation. Skin is left silky smooth and tan ready.  Cocoa Brown has another fabulous product called Chocolate Whip. It's oil free, it smells lovely and leaves skin really soft without stripping your tan. The products just start at £2.50 and you can find them all here.

One of our favourite self-tanning mousses is the Rapid Mousse from Sunkissed Bronzing. This lightweight formula is easy to apply and smells OK too. We recommend applying the product with a tanning mitt for an even finish. Make sure you give the bottle a shake before you apply so it’s mixed properly. It dries almost immediately, while key ingredients such as Aloe Vera and Vitamin E work to moisturise your skin. Your tan will be completely set and ready to rock in 60 minutes. The best part is that it retails for only £4.99 and you can find it here.

A common issue with a DIY tan is its tendency to ruin your clothes and those nice Egyptian cotton sheets.  Fear no more, the clever team at Tan Guard have created The Original Tansie. The bright pink onesie is made with a unique material that allows skin to breathe while your tan sets, so you won’t sweat which prevents streaks and stains. We found it to be lightweight and very comfortable, so we felt safe and free to relax while our tan set. The tansie is a disposable product, so use it once or a few times before purchasing a new one, no washing required.  You can buy it online here for just £5.

Our final favourite is the West Coast Bronzing Face Serum from Madame LA LA.  We are already huge fans of their self-tan, but this latest addition is our new obsession.  It gives you a beautiful, instant glow while a gorgeous tan develops underneath. The formula has plenty of skin-loving ingredients – coconut water, aloe, green tea and Vitamin E – which will keep your skin hydrated. Dewy, fresh-faced skin was all over the SS15 catwalks and West Coast’s finish is absolutely on-trend. It’s so good, I don't even wear foundation on top.  Madame LA LA is sold in Urban Outfitters and Fenwicks across the UK, but you can also pick it up online here.

Fridays Favourites - Tanning Feature

Here at The Amazing Blog, we know important staying safe in the sun is. However, we also don’t want to spend summer hiding in the shade and not getting that tan that makes all our friends a tiny bit jealous. So when a couple of products came to light which offered us super safe sun protection but also enhanced that healthy glow we all love and crave, we were so excited to try them out.

First of was the Green People Tan Accelerator. We love Green People here at The Amazing Blog, having featured them a few months ago here. Green People never test on animals, use no harsh chemicals (82% of ingredients are organic) and 10% of all profits are donated to charity, making them an ethical powerhouse. The Tan Accelerator is kind on skin, and is ideal for sensitive skin as it is suitable for eczema and psoriasis sufferers. It only has a 15 spf factor and a medium coverage rating, but it's wide UV spectrum allows for a healthy tan whilst blocking the super strong rays. At only £18.95 from the Green People website it’s a reasonable price compared to some alternatives and does a whole lot of good at the same time!

Do you, like us at The Amazing Blog, struggle with the beauty myth that is self tan? We have tried nearly every powder, mousse and liquid under the sun. Some have given us the flawless fresh of the beach look we desire. Others, however, have left us with carrot coloured legs that bring us to tears. When we heard about Caudalie, and the Bazaar Top 100 and Beauty Insiders Choice awards it won, we had to give it a try. The perfect solution for a ‘sun-free’ tan, the light, silky fluid sweeps on easy for a streak-less, sun kissed glow,which complemented my skin’s natural tanning tone. When applied to dry, clean skin, the one-tint suits all lotion melts on the skin and dries in a flash. The tan rinses off with water, so is perfect for one off events, or when in a hurry and the 92.8% natural origin ingredients make it super kind to skin and good for the environment! Caudalie is available here for £26.

Do you want that effortless, LA tan? Well, thanks to Madame LA LA you can now get it in a bottle. The Madame La La Tan provides an instant LA glow that develops in only 3 hours, making it one of the fastest acting tans on the market. The lightweight tinted mousse is a quick-dry ‘DD’ (dynamic do-all) Tan Perfector which infused with hydrating skincare benefits such as Coco Water, Aloe, Green Tea and Vitamin E. Coming in a ‘light’ shade as well as the standard tan, the innovative colour customising technology ensures your tan looks natural whilst adapting to your individual skin tone. Madame LA LA Tan Light lasts for up to 10 days meaning that constant re-application isn’t needed, and we felt like we had spent 2 weeks on Malibu Beach! Madame LaLa is available here from Feel Unique at £36 for 200ml.

We love finding new bronzers to complement our summer tans. When we received the Sun-Kissed powder from Couler Caramel we were immediately blown away by the super cute embossed floral pattern on the powder itself. This kind of thing is mainly only seen on high high end designer brands so it was lovely to see an organic brand doing the same. The powder’s unique texture ensures easy application, delivers a silky finish as well as long-lasting hold. It is designed to be blended as desired with the powder brush to create beautiful depth. Its iridescent and matte multi-shades deliver an instant healthy glow effect. The different tones in the powder itself make it multipurpose, and can be used as a bronzer, a blusher or a highlighter. With all the ingredients being from natural origin and 10% of the total ingredients are from Organic Farming, the chemicals and processed elements of other cosmetics just aren’t present here. Available in six shades, the Couleur Caramel’s Sun-Kissed Powder can be purchased here.

Skeyndor Tanning Control Cream

A new product type we are seeing in suncare, the ‘sun protection/tanning product’ has been adopted by Skeyndor as they present their Tanning Control Cream. It is an spf product which also has a medium protection SPF 20. Fresh from its Sun Expertise line, the cream is made with the best knowledge and expert ideas to create a powerful tanning cream that still protects the skin, especially in the face area to the overall aging.

The Sun Expertise by Skeyndor a range of specific sun protection products allows you to enjoy your daily dose of Vitamin D without fear of invisible consequences. With a combination of classical filters built in, Sun Expertise products protect you without burdening your skin with the slick, sticky feel of commercially available sunscreens & lotions.

Madame La La Tan

The tanning industry is an incredibly popular one, especially at the moment because none of us are going to get a tan in this frosty weather. At The Amazing Blog we would rather our bronzed glow come from tanning creams and sprays than exposing our skin to UV rays on a sun bed. In the run up to the Christmas party season we have been trying out self tanning products to make sure we are fearless when it comes to revealing a little flesh in our Christmas dresses. One product we all agree on is the Madame La La Tan, in fact, we love this tan so much, that our Executive Editor will be taking it away on holiday with her!

Madame La La Tan is a self-tanning DD mousse (Dynamic Do-all); it is lightweight and gently tinted to leave you with a natural looking glow without the risk of looking orange. It is perfect for any fake tan first timers out there as the mousse leaves a guide colour on the skin during application so you know exactly what you have covered which means you have even and streak free coverage. This guide colour also means that you are instantly tanned, which is perfect if you are in a rush. The tan will then take approximately 4 hours to develop into a sun kissed golden glow which lasts for up to 10 days, and it even fades naturally just like a real sun tan.

To use the Madame La La Tan, we recommend exfoliating your entire body before moisturising drier areas such as knees, elbows and ankles. Then pump the mousse directly onto a tanning mitt and smooth over the skin, taking care to ensure you have covered everything, then leave to dry for 5 minutes before dressing.

There is a delicious tropical coconut fragrance upon application so you are not left with a horrid biscuity smell that might giveaway your tan as fake. Unlike other tanning products we’ve used, it is not at all drying on the skin. The mousse contains Coco Water which is hydrating and smoothes the skin while preventing streaks. It also boasts anti-aging Aloe Vera and green tea leaf extracts which are also hydrating and repairing. 

The Madame La La Tan is now available in the UK and you can get your from their website where a 200ml bottle is £36.