Product Review- Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights

I've been using the Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights for a few years now, and I really love them.  I have both options in my kit, although I find that I use the Baked Stardust much more often than the Baked Starburst (pictured below).  They are very versatile products, because you can get a different color blend by rotating the compact so that you are blending three of the triangles of color at a time.  You can customize the color to your skintone, whether it's more fair or more tan.  I use these to highlight the skin, as they have a soft satiny shimmer to them and aren't frosty or glittery.

I had to take a photo with my iPad of the lighter one since I couldn't get an image for you online anywhere.  Sorry it's a bit crappy.  But you get an idea of the lighter tones it includes.

Baked Stardust:  This is the one I use most often since I deal primarily with lighter skinned clients.  Not sure why that is, but it just seems to be the people sitting in my chair aren't big sun worshipers or darker ethnicities.  But the colors on this compact are white, champagne, and pink tones, then a lighter bronze and a darker bronze if I do have a darker client.

Baked Starburst:  This one is best for those with darker skintones.  It's a variety of bronzey shades that really highlight and glow up the skin.  It's also great for a bronzing powder for lighter tones, too.
  
Disclaimer: As with all my product reviews, I was not paid by the cosmetic company to provide feedback or review/promote their products.  All the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

Product Review- Benefit Hoola Bronzer

If there's one thing that Benefit does right (and they do a LOT of things right) it's branding for their products.  From the adorable names to the super cute packaging, they make makeup shopping fun and ultra girly.  Their Hoola bronzer is no different.  It comes in a little box with it's own brush, and even the name conjures up images of lounging on a beach- exactly what a bronzer should do!  There's even a little mirror inside the lid so you can see where you're applying.  I like that the box is cardboard, so it's relatively lightweight and "crush" resistant.

For my skin tone, it's too dark to use as an all over bronzer without looking like I was outside making mud pies with my sons, but it does work really really well as a contouring shade.  I haven't had the opportunity to use in a dark skintone to see how well it shows up, but you can find tons of video reviews on YouTube featuring women of all ethnicities.

Copyright Benefit Cosmetics. Image from the Sephora website.

It's a really nice matte finish, which I love.  Bronzers with shimmer used all over the face can come across a bit disco-ball if you're trying for "color".  So as a contour product, it's right up there with my all time favorite- Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer.  If it smelled like the tropics, I'd almost rate it a #1 in my book.


Disclaimer: As with all my product reviews, I was not paid by the cosmetic company to provide feedback or review/promote their products.  All the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

When Bad Tans Happen to Good People

I had a bride last week who came to me for a spray tan the Thursday before her Saturday wedding.  She said she's mentioned to her bridesmaids that she was coming in for a tan and did they want to come to?  Well, one of them said she was going to go to an all-night tanning salon that night late after work, around 11.  My bride joked about the kind of person she was likely to run into doing the tanning at that time, and wouldn't you know it was some skeezy old guy.  So at my appointment with the bride I handed her my "When Bad Tans Happen to Good People" handout, a handout I printed out from the supplier of the tanning solution I use (and which I plan to turn into a good article here some time soon!).  She took it home and gave it to her friend who ended up seriously needing it.  Where's the lesson in all of this?  Just because a company has a franchise storefront and flashy ads and "convenient" all night hours doesn't mean that you are going to get quality either.  How many times have you loved a last minute haircut from a Quickie Cuts place?  With some places you pay for quality, some places you pay for convenience.  With my spray tanning, you pay for both.  But in a good way. 

Special offer for my blog readers!  Buy a 5 or 10 tan package and get a FREE "Tanning Day" tote and towel, a $35 value.  Offer expires July 31, 2010.

Check back often for more great deals and steals!  Email me at tan@suzanneminskey.com to book your appointment today or visit my new website http://www.mobilesunlesstans.com/ for more information on my mobile sunless tanning services.