Make Believe with a Little White Lie

With the UK sunshine being as fickle as ever a girl needs a tan she can safely rely on - and no I don't mean a sunbed! Over the past few weeks I have been trying out a number of self tanning products from the Make Believe range and their little sister Little White Lie. Make Believe is a luxury, indulgent tanning range that is designed not only to give you a beautiful, natural glow, but also to care for your skin with it's blend of rainforest oils and anti-oxidants.

 While speaking to the creators of MB at a recent event I raised a few concerns I had relating to self tan - mainly the smell, application and the colour results. They assured me that MB was different! Being a brand that focuses on skincare as much as colour the range contains so many moisturising ingredients that application should be effortless - you don't even need to exfoliate (though I did just to be safe).

In addition MB products contain less DHA than other brands, which not only helps with reducing that all too obvious scent, but also makes the tan look more natural, giving everyone an individual colour. After all when you go to the beach with your friends you don't all come back the same colour and MB aims to work with your natural skintone, not against it. I thought this was a fantastic concept. When I apply fake tan I want to look like myself after a holiday, not orange, not a colour that would be completely unachievable for someone of my pallour, and not like everyone else that happens to use the same product as me!

I was really excited to try the products out and I was not disappointed.  One of my favourites is the Make Believe Airbrush Bronzer (200ml - £30). This super fine aerosol spray is easy to apply and dries instantly developing into a lovely tan within 4 hours.

 Before applying the tan I prepared my skin with the Little White Lie Exfoliator (£7.50), which was very gentle and easy to rinse off. I then used a mitt to blend the airbrush bronzer into my skin. The mist was very fine, with a pleasant fresh scent, and dried quickly. Overall application was pretty effortless, though I did find that a lot of the product fell at my feet, making them darker than the rest of me (eek!), so I would recommend spraying a little closer to the skin than the recommended 10 inches. With one full top to toe application I used approximately one third of the can, though I felt that quite a lot of the product was left on the floor, as is inevitable with a spray. I left the tan to develop overnight and was very pleased to see that I woke up to a natural, even tan with no staining on the sheets and no horrible smell. Of course it wasn't completely scent free, but it was nowhere near as potent as others I have tried!

A few weeks later I decided to test out Make Believe's little sister range Little White Lie - which is a more affordable range marketed at the younger girl who wants the same indulgent, high quality pamper of a Make Believe product, but at a lower price point. I chose to try the Little White Lie Tanning Mousse with Argan Oil (150ml - £17.50).

The colourless mousse has a pleasant light scent and is easy to apply using a mitt to blend. When using a mousse product I usually prefer one with a colour guide, just to be on the safe side, but I found this one light enough to build two layers, ensuring there were no gaps. The mousse dried quickly and developed overnight (with no staining) to give a light sun kissed glow. I really liked this product, as it looks so natural, but I can imagine tanaholics could be left disappointed by it's subtlety. However, if you are pale like me and want to build a natural tan, this would be perfect to start with as it's foolproof to apply with no streaking and no tell-tale smell.

Have you tried any products in the Make Believe range? What fake tan will you be wearing this Summer? xxx