3 Products To Try From Madara - Fake It Natural Self Tan Milk, Cosmic Drops Buildable Highlighter & Glossy Venom Hydrating Lip Gloss - Review & Swatches

 

Madara is one of those amazing green beauty brands which has a massive range of products, from organic skincare to makeup and everything in between! I wanted to focus on three of their hidden gems which I don't see many bloggers talking about; the Fake It Natural Self Tan Milk, Cosmic Drops Buildable Highlighter and Glossy Venom Hydrating Lip Gloss.

Madara Fake It Self Tan Milk* (150ml, £27, link)

After an unseasonably warm weekend with lots of sunshine, Spring most definitely feels like it is on its way, so I've been switching up some of my regular body lotions with gradual self-tanning formulas. These products are a super-easy way to add some much-needed colour and glow to my skin after such a long winter, and they're brilliant for people who find traditional self-tanning products a bit daunting, or perhaps only want a hint of sunkissed colour because it's virtually impossible to go wrong with them.

Madara's Fake It Self Tan Milk gives a beautiful non-streaky, healthy-looking glow to the skin and is recommended for light to medium skin tones which is perfect for me. It looks and feels like a normal body lotion and has a lovely hydrating formula thanks to added Hyaluronic Acid and Jojoba Oil that makes this ideal to use if you have dry skin. 

As with all gradual self-tanners, you'll see the best results by applying a generous amount with a tanning mitt to freshly exfoliated skin so I always do this after a shower. Massage in well, enjoy the fresh scent and by the morning, you'll see a subtle, natural-looking tan with no orangey undertones.

Madara Cosmic Drops Buildable Highlighter in Naked Chromosphere* (13.5ml, £25, link)

If you've only used skincare from Madara, you're really missing out because their range of organic makeup most definitely deserves a spot on your vanity table. Perhaps one of the most underrated of all of their products is the incredible Cosmic Drops Buildable Highlighter which is available in three different shades. 

This gorgeous liquid highlighter is vegan-friendly and certified natural and organic by ECOCERT. Not only is the packaging very sleek with a long dropper applicator, but the formula of this highlighter is like pure liquid gold as it's crafted from a blend of ultra-fine minerals and a silky Hyaluronic Acid and Aloe based serum.

Best of all, it's so easy to work with as you can customise it to exactly what you want thanks to its buildable nature. For a subtle glow, add a drop directly to your moisturiser or foundation, or for a more 'hey, look at me!' megawatt finish, use a beauty sponge or your fingers to dab it directly onto the tops of the cheekbones for a stronger highlight. The golden shade you can see above is called Naked Chromosphere and I will be literally covering myself in it come Summer!

Madara Glossy Venom Hydrating Lip Gloss in Scandal 76* (4ml, £19, link)

I couldn't resist trying out one of Madara's Glossy Venom Hydrating Lip Glosses, and again, I feel this is such a hidden little gem in their organic makeup range. More natural based lip glosses can struggle against their mainstream counterparts, but Madara has managed to tick all the boxes with theirs and this product is very similar to lip glosses that I own from Ilia. 

Like the liquid highlighter above, this Glossy Venom Hydrating Lip Gloss does what it says on the label. It delivers a high-shine, ultra-glossy finish which doesn't feel sticky/tacky and it's wonderfully hydrating, so another good choice for those who have dry lips. It's worth remembering that this is obviously a lip gloss and not a liquid lipstick so you'll only get a wash of pigment here (as shown above), but when layered over a lipstick, it really does add a desirable vinyl-like slick of extra colour so it's very versatile. 

Available in a wide range of vegan-friendly shades, I love the vampy blackened purple hue of Scandal 76 for those times when you want to dare to be different and come out of your comfort zone.

Do you have any favourites from Madara?

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Bank Holiday Beauty Buys: Footner, SOSU Lashes and Sunkissed Tan

Get ready for Spring with these Bank Holiday Beauty Buys from Footner, SOSU Lashes and Sunkissed Tan!

Treat Your Feet: Footner Exfoliating Socks* (1 pair, £19.99, link)

After months of hiding your feet away in socks and boots, it's time to take everything off and let your tootsies enjoy the warmer weather! Being able to slip on a pair of sandals or flipflops is when Spring truly starts for me, and there's nothing easier to prep your feet with than a pair of exfoliating socks. Lots of different brands do these and I've recently been trying out a pair from Footner. 

Exfoliating Socks basically work by saturating your feet in a formula that contains AHAs (Alpha Hydroxy Acid) and this helps to kickstart the natural process of shedding dead skin cells. It's an easy and gentle method to remove any unwanted dry skin on your feet by slowly peeling it all away over 7-10 days - it sounds gross, but it works and it's actually quite satisfying to watch at the same time ;)

I slipped on this pair from Footner onto clean feet and left them on for 60 minutes, after which I took them off and rinsed my feet with warm water to remove any residue. Immediately afterwards, my feet felt very soft and moisturised and then around 6/7 days later, I started to see the peeling stage happen (don't be tempted to pick or pull at this dead skin - just let it do its own thing naturally so that you don't cause any damage to the healthy skin underneath). After 10 days, all the dry, hard, dead skin had completely peeled off and I had beautiful baby soft feet, ready for my favourite pair of flipflops!

N.B: These are single use but you only need to use a pair once every three months so they're a nice, luxury pampering treat for your feet.

For Special Occasions & Nights Out: SOSU Lashes* (from £5.95, link)

Bank holidays are a great time to meet up with friends and family, and if you have any evenings or nights out planned, why not use the occasion to try out some new false lashes? SOSU very kindly sent me these two designs to play with and I've been impressed by their overall quality. 

For a full-on glam look, SOSU Premium Lashes in Katie* have a beautifully textured flutter with lots of wispy drama that's surprisingly very easy to wear. They're handmade and feel lightweight on, adding full definition and volume - I love them! If you prefer something more natural looking instead, try the SOSU 7 Deadly Sins Sinful Lashes in Lust*. These synthetic, cruelty-free lashes are also handmade and are crafted from high-quality fibres that deliver a light and flexible finish for a gorgeous, fuller, longer and flirty look. Apply them with the SOSU GLU Eyelash Adhesive* which has a latex-free and waterproof formula, and you're good to go.

Sunkissed Professional Hydrating Jelly Tan in Light-Medium* (200ml, £13.99, link)

I always get excited when I come across a brand new self-tanning product and this one from Sunkissed arrived on my doorstep last month. Their Professional Hydrating Jelly Tan has a really interesting 'jelly' type texture, yet it's made from over 95% natural ingredients, is vegan-friendly, cruelty-free and free from parabens, sulphates, phthalates, silicones and alcohol. The bottle itself is partly made with recycled plastic and features a 'Bio Pe' label which is derived from sugar cane - how cool is that?!

The tan has a handy pump applicator which makes the jelly-like formula easy to dispense. Once applied, it soon transforms into a light gel that quickly absorbs into the skin without any stickiness. There's a bit of a fake tan scent, but it's not overpowering or anything. I left it on overnight to develop for the strongest colour and was pleased to see a streak-free, lightly golden, very natural tan looking colour come through the next morning. Even better, my skin didn't feel dry as it contains Hyaluronic Acid to keep it moisturised - clever stuff indeed.

Will you be doing any beauty shopping this weekend?

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Summer Beauty: Lavera Self-Tanning Body Lotion & Self-Tanning Face Cream review

Let's face it, the only healthy way to get a tan this Summer is to fake it, so I've been putting Lavera's Self-Tanning Lotions for Face and Body to the test.

Many of my regular readers will know that I love the popular German natural brand Lavera, but I didn't realise that they had a self-tanning range until recently. Now, my past experience with natural self-tanning products has been a little hit and miss, to say the least, but having loved pretty much everything else that I've tried from Lavera, I was keen to test these two out.

 Lavera Self-Tanning Body Lotion* (150ml, £14.90, link)

Most mainstream self-tanning products can be incredibly drying on the skin, but Lavera's Self-Tanning Body Lotion is completely different. Packed full of nourishing natural and certified organic ingredients, it features Macadamia Oil, Jojoba, Shea Butter, Calendula and Aloe Vera, so it feels lovely and hydrating. I found it easy to rub into the skin (it just feels like a regular non-sticky body lotion), and the colour developed in around 5-6 hours, with no streaks or staining the bedsheets issues. It has a scent, but it's not overpowering and doesn't smell like stale biscuits which is always a good thing! 

Colour-wise, it's certainly nowhere near as dark as some conventional tanning brands, but it gave me a light, even and subtle colour that looked very natural - more like a weekend away in Devon, rather than two weeks in the Bahamas if you get what I mean. This would be ideal for anyone who has pale skin as I feel you would get a much better result than what showed up on my light olive complexion, and it's perfect for those who are looking for a more natural tan colour with no orange in sight.

Lavera Self-Tanning Face Cream* (50ml, £11.90, link)

To complement the Self-Tanning Body Lotion, I also decided to try out the Self-Tanning Face Cream, which as you can guess, has been specially formulated so that you can use it on the face. Whenever I fake-tan, I always, always use a separate product for my face because I've experienced a lot of breakout issues with various brands in the past, so it's best to pick up a dedicated facial product like this one instead.

It has similar ingredients to the Self-Tanning Body Lotion, but the DHA comes up slightly higher in the INCI and the naturally derived fragrance is much lower down in the list. It feels like a moisturising face cream, has a pleasant scent, and it's best applied to clean, dry skin (I would also recommend exfoliating beforehand too). The colour develops within 4-6 hours and you can apply a second layer afterwards if you want a darker tan. I really loved the results of this as it looked natural, but gave a much more sun-kissed glow to the skin. Definitely one to try for the Summer!

Have you tried either of these?

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Budget Beauty: Sunkissed Bronze Professional Once-a-Week Self-Tan Mousse & Moisturiser Spray Tan review

Lately, I've been testing out a bunch of budget-friendly self-tanning brands to recommend trying this Summer, and Sunkissed have been one of the first that I've tried out.

I hadn't heard of Sunkissed until an email popped into my inbox last month, but I've been wanting to try out some more affordable self-tanners for a while now. My favourite go-to tanning brands are either high-end (Vita Liberata, He-Shi, St. Tropez etc) or mid-market (Bondi Sands), so finding a fake tan that costs less than a tenner a bottle seemed too good to be true! Their products are also paraben and alcohol-free, so when these two products from Sunkissed arrived, I decided to hop straight into the bathroom to try them out.  

Just a heads up for all my budget beauty readers: these two products below are from Sunkissed's Bronze Professional range, but if you're on a really strict beauty budget, they also have an even cheaper range that's simply called Sunkissed which you may want to look into as they have prices starting from just £3.99. I haven't tried anything from the other range myself, but there are some positive reviews on the Superdrug website so by all means, check those out first if you're watching the pennies at the moment.

Sunkissed Bronze Professional Once-a-Week Self-Tan Mousse* (200ml, £8.49, link)

If you're new to self-tanning, I'd highly recommend opting for a mousse formula because they are, in my opinion, the easiest formula to apply and this one is great for beginners to try out. Designed to be a quick and convenient 'once-a-week' tan that lasts for up to 7 days, the mousse glides onto the skin and was easy to buff in with a tanning mitt. It dried quickly without any sticky or tacky feeling, and the tinted brown guideline colour ensured that I didn't miss any areas. There's a light coconut scent, but you do still get a little whiff of that biscuity fake tan smell with it, though it soon disappeared when I rinsed it off. You can leave the tan to develop for 1-4 hours - for review purposes, I've tried it for one hour (which gave me just a very light tan) and the full four hours (for a much more medium bronzed tan) - both ways gave me a lovely even and streak free finish.

This self-tan mousse contains a trademarked VitaTone complex which helps to give the appearance of smoother and more toned skin, and I must admit that I did notice that my skin looked a bit more toned than usual which I'm guessing is down to the VitaTone complex having some kind of clever blurring technology in the formula. Anything that makes me look slightly more toned gets a thumbs up from me, and I loved the natural looking tan colour. It lasted around 4-5 days before it started to go patchy, so not quite the 7 days but for a fake tan that costs less than a tenner, I have to say I'm really impressed with it. I'd definitely repurchase this in the future!

Sunkissed Bronze Professional Moisturiser Spray Tan* (150ml, £9.99, link)  

As tanning can be an incredibly drying process on the skin, I'm all for trying out anything that says 'moisturiser' in the title, and this one's infused with Argan Oil to offer some extra hydration. Sunkissed's Bronze Professional Moisturiser Spray tan also promises to be 100% transfer and stain-resistant and I'm happy to report that this didn't leave any mess on my bedsheets or clothes (though the mousse above didn't either). 

After I'd exfoliated and done all of my tanning prep, I spritzed this all over and buffed it in with a tanning mitt as instructed. It does go on clear so it was very difficult to check if I'd missed any areas. The spray dried very quickly in around 3 minutes, but it took longer than the hour stated to develop - it took around 3-4 hours instead to get a good level of colour. I rinsed it off and immediately saw several streaks which was incredibly disappointing. I've tried it a few times since which gave me much better results, and I'd strongly recommend applying two layers to make sure that you've got everywhere covered as it's so easy to miss a spot with the formula being clear. Although I liked the natural tan colour and that it lasted for 4-5 days before starting to fade, I think I'll be sticking with the mousse in the future because it's just easier to use and always gives me a streak-free finish.

Sunkissed is available exclusively from Superdrug - in stores nationwide and online at superdrug.com

What's your favourite budget fake tan?

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