Summer glow

Summer has finally arrived here in Britain.  After such a long, cold winter it's a real relief waking up to blue sunny skies with the promise of a long lazy day in the park to look forward to.


The advent of summer does bring with it certain perils, not least of which is the thought of baring one's pasty white winter body in light summery clothes.  This year I decided to be clever and prepare and bought myself a bottle of Dove Summer Glow.

Image courtesy of lunch.com

The bottle promises moisturiser with a hint of self tanning agents gradually builds a light tan.  Naively I thought that this was just a matter of applying it like a regular moisturiser and within a week I'd have a Jennifer Aniston-esque natural looking tan. 

Ha! Wrong!

Somehow I've ended up looking like a cross between an inverse tiger, (orange and white as opposed to orange and black, geddit?) and well, frankly bizarre.   

Here's a picture to show you what I mean.

That 'shadow' between my fingers is no shadow...  The 'moisturiser/tanning agent' has ended up between my fingers and stained them a bright orange!  It really does make me look like I have webbed fingers.

There's also a very definite line up the back of my leg.  I have no idea how that happened because I certainly apply it evenly all over.

Before you ask, yes, I did all the things they advise before tanning - exfoliating, moisturising...

I'm now frantically scrubbing myself trying to get rid of my fetching mottled orange appearance.

If anyone has any hints or tips or how to use this damn stuff, I'd be interested to find out what they are.  I've had a lot of compliments on how 'healthy' I'm looking, ( I just try to hide my webbed hands and not stand in direct sunlight so as not to highlight my inverse tiger look, ha, ha) so I'd like to know how to use this properly.

If you know how to apply it and want to take the plunge, you can buy it in the UK here.  I couldn't seem to find anywhere that sold it in the US.

Thank you!

It was with great excitement that I got home from work on Friday to find a package from the lovely Ines of All I am - a redhead waiting for me.  I'd won samples of Puredistance in a giveaway on her blog and she'd very kindly sent them along with loads of other perfume samples to try.  The last time I won anything, I was about 11 and I won a book token at school for creative writing, so it was very exciting to receive this.  I can't wait to try them. xx


Here's a picture of spring daffodils I took about a month ago by way of thank you.

On growing old.

There's been a lot of fuss here in Britain lately about the recent election and the hung parliament but the biggest shock, for me, came when I realized that David Cameron, the new Prime Minister is younger than me!  I'm... erm... 44 (and some months)  and David Cameron is 43 years and 7 months old.  I had to retire to a darkened room and fan myself to try and recover from the news, I tell you.

Whippersnapper

Image courtesy of thesun.co.uk

After I'd came to terms with such outrageous news, I got to thinking about age and wisdom.  


Somehow I've always felt that there'd come a point as you grow older that you'd accumulate such knowledge and such wisdom that the questions of the universe would suddenly become clear and you'd just know what to do in any given situation.  How to behave at a dinner party?  Ask me, I'm an old person.  Should I take the job?  I know the answer to this, I'm old.  Budget deficit?  Easy, I know what to do, I'm old.  


But now that I'm officially... erm... mature, I realize that I'm just as confused as I was when I was eighteen.  The only difference now is, I just know how to bluff better.  All my contemporaries are the same - making it up as we go with no real clue as to whether we're doing the right thing.  This makes me think that our erstwhile leaders must be the same - bumbling along, desperately hoping they've made the right decision.  Scary stuff.

Christina Aguilera perfume - the lowdown

Image courtesy of slapiton.tv

I'm most definitely not a fan of anything celebrity endorsed, so when I was given a sample of Christina Aguilera perfume, I must confess, I did approach it with suspicion.


My first impression, when I dabbed it liberally on both wrists was warm & sweet and somehow it reminded me of my grandma.  I really don't like sweet perfumes but as time wore on, the sweetness subsided and just the warmth remained.  Pleasant enough, if you like that sort of thing...  


It was only when I read the fragrance notes that I realized why it reminded me of my grandma.  The top note is vanilla - my grandma loved baking!!


Overall, I think it's a safe, uncomplicated perfume for teenage girls who think that 'sexy' is nothing more complicated than wearing a short skirt and glittery make up.