I have recently come to revere the powers of wearing lots of fabric. Actually, I say recently but really the realisation that more clothes equals more comfort and therefore more confidence and what not has been dawning on me since my shivery twirls in the discos of Newcastle during mid-Winter at uni wearing a tiny RaRa skirt and backless top. Casting my mind back to that cold, dark time convinces me that I now have things right. Living comfortably has become paramount, and my body loves being wrapped in swathes of sumptuous fabric nowadays.
With this approach has come a relaxing of my beauty rules. I used to engage in the following bonkers routine when baring oodles of flesh: body brush, exfoliate, shave, moisturise, and add gloss/shimmering oil right before hitting the town. Now I stuff my happy, hairy legs into tights or jeans or, on particularly slovenly occasions, tracksuit bottoms, and nobody minds – least of all me.
But sometimes something comes over me, and I want to abandon comfort and ease and wear something plunging, or very short, or – on very rare occasions – backless. This flash of madness/inspiration usually happens on the morning before the night of flesh baring, so I have a bit of time. And I always reach for my infallible friend: subtle fake tan. By subtle, I mean not orange, nor streaky – but 100% there, like a visible but unfortunately not warm shield between my skin and the elements.
I use Ambre Solaire No Streaks Bronzer Medium Self Tan Body Mist and their face mist version because it is SO EASY. You bare your skin, hold your breath (not strictly necessary but I hate breathing in the fumes), and spray all over, as if you were spray painting a wall. Once you’re covered in an even coating of the mist, just waft back and forth until it’s dry, then dress. You can moisturise a couple of hours later, and exfoliate if you’re diligent, but this stuff is really good and I find looks even and glowing even without too much diligence. I most recently did this when wearing my Rodarte dream dress at my birthday do and, as you can see from the photo I inserted, my tan was even and streak-free. Deploy it like me when you need a bit of a glow. It works a treat.