First off, let me apologize for being an absolute shit blogger these last two weeks. My life is insanity, so it happens. And I'm sorry that I've failed at my New Year's Resolution for this blog but hey, new week and we're back on track. Now on to the real post....

When you're as pale as a ghost (I've only mentioned it about 500 times, right?), fake tanning is really your only option to catch up with those who actually have pigment in their skin. I know last summer I raved about the Banana Boat spray tan option, but I recently picked up a new choice and we'll see how it goes. In the meantime while we wait on my evaluation of that, I'll give you the rundown on my full fake tanning routine.

PREP
    Well let's just start with the obvious here: I always shower before applying a fresh tan. I know some people like to wait, but I'm a morning shower person, thus this gives my tan ample time to develop before I wash it off the next day. I also like to exfoliate for a couple days leading up to tanning, and usually shave my legs the day of because (1) I'm super lazy when it comes to shaving my legs, (2) your tan will fade the next time you shave and (3) it's an extra step of exfoliation to ensure that my skin is fully prepared to take on a spray tan. My current go-to exfoliator is Soap & Glory's Scrub of Your Life - it's foaming so it's not too harsh, but still delivers great results. Not to mention it smells really good. I've also been a fan of Tree Hut's offerings in the past. [Soap & Glory Scrub of Your Life not pictured, because I am a terrible blogger].

SPRAY
     I don't know how much detail I need to go into here. It's pretty self evident I think. My all-time holy grail spray tan is Banana Boat Summer Color Self Tanning Mist. My only complaint about this product is the smell, it says citrus but it's not great and it also lingers around for a while. Other than that it delivers great color and I've never had a single problem with streaking. However, a new one caught my eye when I went to pick up a new bottle for the upcoming season (because I'm realizing that my skin is as white as my Vans and it's not a cute look). I mostly bought it because it said it compares to St. Tropez, which I've somehow held off trying thus far. Anyway, it's Equate's (Walmart) version of their spray tan, but they also offer a mousse and a lotion, which may be tested later depending on how well I like this stuff.

MAINTAIN
     Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. I can't say it enough. If you want your tan to last, the best way to maintain it is to moisturize, and not exfoliate but I think that goes without saying. I'm the laziest person when it comes to moisturizing, so it takes a lot for me to actually follow through with this step on a daily basis. Some of my favorite in my line up are Soap & Glory's The Righteous Body Butter, Jergen's Original Formula in the cherry almond scent, and pretty much anything from Bath & Body Works.

If you have any recommendations, I'm definitely open to them. Do you have a tanning routine? What's in your line up?

xx

Tessa

We all know what big fans we are of neutral colors here at FBG, so I figured I'd share some of my favorite nudes with you - from eyeshadows to nail polish. Plus, I'm pretty sure there's not a better palette to transition from winter to spring (which we're still desperately waiting for here).

From top to bottom: WOS, Naked 2, Nudist, Nude, Subtly Sunkissed

EYES
So it's no secret that my go-to eyeshadow favs are all brown, neutral tones. My favorite nudes are some of my holy grail all time favorites. I mentioned Urban Decay's Naked 2 in a post a couple weeks back, so I won't linger any longer there. My other favorite from the same palette is Walk of Shame (W.O.S.). It's a pale, skin tone matte shade. It's great for brightening up the eye area and especially good on no make up make up days. Lastly, my Rimmel London Scandal Eyes in Nude is a product that I probably couldn't go a day without using. It's the best eyeliner I've ever found. I love to use it in my waterline and it tends to do the trick to looking like I got that full 8 hours of sleep the night before.

LIPS
Now I've only got one tried and true to talk about here - Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker in Nudist. I heard about this from the lovely Fleur de Force, and after raving about it for quite sometime, Rachel got it for me for Christmas. This has a permanent home in my make up bag that I take with me every day. No matter what make up you're wearing this is the perfect lip product to tie it all together. The lasting power isn't as long as I'd like, but I have no complaints other than that.

FACE
I'll keep it short and sweet here considering how much I've talked about this product. I got inspired after watching a Chelsea Wears video in which she talked about how much she loved wearing brown blush. Strange concept, but literally the next day I tried it and my make up routine has never been the same. If I'm wearing a blush at all, 9 times out of 10 it's probably Pixi's Bronzer in Subtly Sunkissed. You can see in the swatch how it's barely there, but when on the face it adds a nice glow.

NAILS
The newest addition to my nail collection is this beauty. I was on the hunt for a perfect nude and I found it. Being pale, most "nudes" are about 20 shades darker than me. This is the exact right shade though. I love how easy it is considering you can pair it with anything and never have to worry about your nail polish clashing with whatever you're wearing. It doesn't hurt that it's the only option for a good transition from winter to spring, if you ask me at least. And it's budget friendly at around $4 for a bottle.

What are your favorite nudes?

xx
Tessa

I'll be honest - I spend a lot more of my time laying in bed watching Netflix than I do just about anything else. Working is probably the only thing that rivals it. Seriously - if I can do it from my bed I will. So naturally there's a few products I keep bedside.. Mostly because I'm too lazy to move, but whatever.

Soap & Glory Hand Food
This one I am 1000% blaming on Tori. She got me a Soap & Glory gift set for Christmas and boy am I hooked. This hand cream hasn't left my bedside table and I honestly apply it at least 5 times a day. It smells absolutely wonderful, isn't greasy and is ridiculously hydrating and moisturizing. If you're on the market for a good hand cream, look no further because this is it. I'm probably going to purchase the full size to keep at home and throw this travel one in my bag. Even though I have about 50 other lotions I should use up first.

Avon Moisture Boost Eye Cream for Normal Skin & Yes to Blueberries Age Refresh Deep Wrinkle Night Cream
This is a new addition. Once again, I'm lazy. So I've started keeping my night cream and night eye cream by my bedside. This is also partly because I've added in a new toner to my skin care routine, and I like to let it sink in a little bit before finishing up my skin care routine. So after I apply my toner, I usually come to bed and check e-mails, twitter, etc, and then apply my night cream and eye cream before turning back to Netflix. I realize how lazy and boring this makes me sound, but kind of genius, no?

Nail File
I have a serious problem with hoarding nail files. Pretty sure there are about 10 in a bathroom drawer, at least one in my purse, and who knows how many more elsewhere. I don't have an obsession with filing my nails, it just seems that they always come in gift sets for some reason so I now own a disgusting amount of them. This is also a new addition as I've started to take better care of my nails, so filing is a must. I usually keep my nails pretty short but of course the occasional snag comes up that I need to file out.

Now for the boring basics...

Water Bottle
I stopped drinking pop nearly a year and a half ago (I've fallen into a bad habit lately of grabbing one at my internship every so often, really need to discipline myself better), so I always have a water bottle with me anyway. Lucky for me, I'm also one of the people who wakes up in the middle of the night dying of thirst for some reason, so if I don't have this I may die. Also, I don't just take a glass of water because I'm not responsible enough for that. Every time I've tried that I end up spilling all over myself, so water bottles are my best friend. Namely my Camelback aka lifesaver.

Glasses Case/Contact Case
I'm blind as a bat, so these are here for obvious reasons. I usually don't wear my glasses unless I'm just hanging around the house, so they pretty much live in their case until I get home from work. I keep my contact case next to my bed to for nights I get home later and can't be bothered to walk the 3 feet it would require to stand up in my bathroom and take them out there.

Pen and Notebook
It always seems that my best ideas hit me when I'm laying in bed, so I keep my blogging notebook (matching with Rachel, btw, because we're cute friends like that) next to my bed along with my favorite pen from a local advertising agency. Weird I know but have you come to expect anything else?

Phone Charger
This is a no brainer. I charge my phone overnight and since it also serves as my alarm, it's only logical to keep my phone charger on my bedside table. Mostly so I can hit snooze 500 times the second my alarm goes off in the morning. If you didn't already know, I'm not a morning person.

So there you have it, my bedside essentials - boring and not so boring. And I now have revealed my true life to all of the internet. So that's fun.

xx

Tessa

So, I decided to a do little video for you guys this week! It's not much, but hope you enjoy.




See you all next week!

Kayson xo
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