Product Review: Lise Watier "Teint Bora Bora"

When I started this blog one of the things I intended to do was product reviews.  Part of my growing disillusionment with magazines is the degree to which the copy is influenced by advertisers, so ultimately the advice is unhelpful.  Anyway, while I have lots of products I love, I just hadn't gotten around to doing write ups yet.  However, I was jolted from this indifference recently when I bought some Lise Watier self-tanning gel the other day.

Anyone who knows me will be familiar with my slightly obsessive dedication to sunbathing.  While I 100% recognize how irresponsible this is (especially given the predominance of cancer in my family) I can never resist the draw of the sun, and I do love to get some colour.  Consequently my skin tone goes through dramatic changes.  For example, just a year ago during a check-up at the doctor's the doctor observed my pale skin and declared I looked anemic, proceeded to do blood tests which came back negative and so concluded I just looked unhealthily pale.  In contrast, during the summer my family introduces nicknames such a "Senorita Brown" and "Brown Town".  But I digress.  The point is, I am currently sitting at the "sickly-pale" end of the colour scale, and am desperately seeking colour despite the cloudy and uncooperative weather.

I have tried tinted moisturizers before, namely the stuff that Aveeno makes.  My experience was that you have to apply it every day, and even then it takes a while to build up some colour, it comes off on your clothes, and it pretty much disappears as soon as you shave or exfoliate.  The colour was alright, but unconvincing, especially in photos.  So, I wound up using it infrequently at best.

Then I saw the Lise Watier stuff on sale at London Drugs and figured I may as well try something new.  I also wanted to see if the more expensive stuff was any better than the cheap product.

Well, I couldn't be happier.  It was absolutely worth paying extra (Aveeno sells for around $15, Lise Watier is approximately $30 after tax)!  I followed the instructions and applied it all over after exfoliating, then repeated the process for the next two days.  Note: with all sunless-tanners you need to be careful about applying the product evenly and blending down your wrists and feet.  Anyway, After the first application I had a nice glow, by the second I had a sun-kissed golden tint, and by the third application I have the kind of golden-honey colouring usually reserved for mid-August.  The tan is 100% believable, doesn't come off on clothes and blends beautifully.  It works equally well on face and body (although I recommend using it extremely sparingly on your face) and it has lasted well.

I am delighted because now I can get the summer glow I so desperately crave without risking sun damage or skin cancer in the outdoors or in tanning beds (gross).  Anyway, I just thought I'd pass along the recommendation, hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I do!