Shit Product? Or Nah?

Equate Beauty (Walmart's brand) Self Tan Foaming Mousse Comparable to St. Tropez Self Tan Bronzing Mousse. The claims written on the bottle are, "for an all over even tan," "golden color, never orange" and "instant color." You get 4 fl oz and I paid $7.99 for this product in store. Walmart also offers a lotion version of this and a product that was for legs and seemed that it was their comparison to Sally Hansen's Airbrush Legs. They were all under $10.

Let me start this first impression by saying I'm not a brand snob, if something works for me I don't care where it came from. Although I typically use Million Dollar Tan Cabana Tan Extreme (Ya Ya,YouTube beauty guru's made me buy it) which is a lotion and comes out white and the color develops over the next few hours. I love that shit, but you have to order it online and it's about $35 for a bottle. Haute Look does feature it quite a bit and you can score it there for about $23 and that's when I'll get it. So when I learned about this product, I was actually pretty excited. It's cheap and I can buy it in Walmart. I have never encountered any other drug store self tanner that came in mousse form before this product. I don't even like self tan that comes in mousse form but I thought for $7.99 I'll give it a try. I take a shower and exfoliate my right arm, I didn't tan my left so I could compare the color. My hopes are still extremely high at this point by the way. I pump the mousse into my hand and it's a very dark, greenish gray mousse. I pumped out quite a bit so I dot it on my upper arm and started working on my lower half. Once I start rubbing this into my skin the hopes I once held for this product are violently shot down, this was such a dry formula it made the hair on my arms brown and was so hard to rub in. I moved on to the blob I left on my upper arm (I'll admit, looking back I shouldn't have left that blob sit there for 15+ seconds) I start to rub that blob in but there is a blob stain on my arm. My skin is now incredibly dry, the hair on my arm looks brown but my skin looks gray ish, and my hand looks like this (I didn't have the glove to apply it, I thought about going to Sephora to pick up the St. Tropez one, but that won't make this product any better I guarantee it).

This one was taken inside after two applications

Taken outside after a THIRD application of this shit. Yeah I'm nuts.

Here is what the tan looked like after I applied two layers...

This is about 20 minutes after I applied it and the color wasn't so horrifying anymore, it did turn into a golden tan and like the bottle said, it wasn't orange. But my skin felt really dry. I bent my arm at the elbow after I thought my arm was dry and I had a huge white spot there from the product rubbing off. So why the hell not try a third layer...

Here is me applying a third application

You can see the mousse is a green color which does prevent the tan from being orange on the skin and St. Tropez has a green tint to it as well. 

This is after the third application, not much of a difference from the second. And really, the color doesn't look that bad.

I went inside to scrub the tan off my hand and looked at my arm in the mirror for a few minutes and it started looking so bad, my skin looked dirty. The inside of my arm looked so bad and I was completely over it but on the bottle it says to wait at least 4 hours before showering, then shower for that golden tan you desire. Okay I thought, I'll wait and take a shower and perhaps it will get better. P.S. IT DOESN'T GET BETTER. I took a shower 5 hours later just to play it safe and the second my arm got wet it all washed off, with no effort at all which confused me because it didn't come off my palm as easily earlier. Just washed right off. Once I got out and dried off you would have no idea I even had it on except what I discovered the next day. I don't have sensitive skin on my arms, I don't get rashes at all from anything. So when I read, "Warning: We recommend a patch test is carried out at least 24 hours prior to use. If there are any adverse reactions, do not continue to use" I didn't think anything of it because I thought there was no way in hell that would happen to me. But the next day I discover this:

My arm broke out in a rash. I got a rash from this. It warned me though, I'll give them that but I have pretty tough skin.  

List of ingredients, I don't know what 99% of that is but it didn't agree with my skin. The rash is starting to fade, almost 48 hours after I washed it off. I got online to read some reviews of this to see if anyone else developed a rash but they hadn't. There aren't many reviews on Walmart's website but they are all negative except one person raved about this...wut. I looked on Amazon as well, not many reviews but all negative.

The moral of this blog is that this product is shit. Yeah it's cheap, yeah you don't turn the color of an orange but it doesn't withstand water after 5 hours and if you so much as bend your arm and get a little sweaty in there it's going to come off. It's not worth it, I don't know how this product could work for anyone. Save your $7.99 and skip this the next time you're in Walmart. 

My Current Skin Care Routine

The first and only product I use in the morning is the prescription wash. It is by Acella and the dermatologist prescribed it to me (about $5 with insurance).  On the bottle it says that it is a sodium sulfacetamide sulfur cleanser.  I know that  sulfur is good for combating acne which I do have acne prone skin. I've found that this has been helping my skin, the acne scars on my cheeks are also fading after using this for a few months. My dermatologist  recommend that I leave this on my face for about 10 minutes every morning like a mask so it really gets into my skin and then rinse it off. My face feels soft and smooth after I use it, but I think after this bottle I may try a different cleanser in the morning but I will go back to this if I start to break out.

                                                                                

On the days where I have eye make up (mainly on weekends) 

I incorporate this step into my routine. I LOVE these wipes.

I've used the neutrogena wipes in the blue packaging, the target

brand up & up wipes in the white and purple packaging and so

many other make up wipes but none compare to these. I don't

wear waterproof mascara often so I'm not sure how these remove that

but these take off every inch of eye make up I put on and nights I go

out, that's a lot of make up to remove! I find them to be very wet, when

I open up a new package I always store them face down because I don't want the flap to come open and have them dry up. They are on the pricier  side of make up removers but sometimes you can find a deal. I got these for free when I bought a simple cleanser that I will show in this post. These are the basic wipes, I know they make an exfoliating wipe and one for oily skin but

these are the ones I always reach for!  

http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod4180779

This is also a product I use when I have make up on, either eye make up and face or just face make up. After watching loads of beauty guru's on YouTube use this product I decided to pick up some myself. This is a new bottle also, I have gone through this about 3 times and continue

to repurchase! This is a staple in my routine when I have make up on. It's marketed as removing make up from the face and you don't need much of it when washing your face. At the moment I almost finished with a 3oz bottle of this that I got in a holiday set, yes holiday set that I got in DECEMBER. It is may and I can still get a few more uses out of it. It will take me an eternity to get through this 8oz bottle! The 3oz bottles are sold at Ulta or Sephora for $10 and

this 8oz is $23. A bit pricey but if you have sensitive skin philosophy is a great brand to try out! 

http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod1490012

This product is fairly new in my skin care routine, I went to Austin a few weeks ago and somehow forgot to pack my purity. I ran into Target to pick up a cleanser and they had a deal going on where you purchased this you got a free pack of make up wipes and I was not about to pass that up so I picked it up and I have not been disappointed. It says moisturizing face wash on the bottle which scared me a little at first because my skin does tend to be more oily but I have had no issues with it causing more oil production. It leaves my skin feeling very soft. I use this after the Purity if I have make up on that day, if I am not wearing any make up this is the only cleanser I use. I add this extra step after the purity to ensure that all the make up is off.  I would sometimes have make up residue on the cotton round after using toner but after adding this step the cotton round is blank. I'm glad I picked this up on a whim because I will continue to repurchase!

http://www.drugstore.com/simple-moisturizing-facial-wash/qxp381074

After I am finished washing my face, I apply this Acne Stress Control toner by Neutrogena. I do this step whether I wore make up that day or not. I have been using this toner for about a year but to be honest I don't think it does much. I have been looking into a new toner to purchase because I feel that this one is average. Even though it's for acne, it is a little harsh. I don't have a rant or rave  about this product, it does remove any excess make up that I have on my face but other than that I find it to be blah. If you have a toner that you really like please comment and tell me!

http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod980018

This moisturizer by Philosophy is called Hope in A Jar and you have probably heard about this product. I've heard it advertised as a moisturizer for all skin types, for dry skin and for oily skin. I got this in a Philosophy holiday set and do quite enjoy it. I don't use it every night ( I know I should moisturize every night) it is quite expensive and I sometimes use my prescribed acne gel. My skin  does feel very silky after using this and I love that feeling. For as expensive that I do think it is ($42 for 2oz) and the sample I have is 0.5oz, I have not ruled out purchasing the full size jar when this one runs out unless there is a magical dupe to this out in the world! 

http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod1490044  

The final product in my skin care routine is also a prescription. My dermatologist prescribed me Epiduo gel and it has adapalene and benzoyl peroxide in it. I use this on any break outs or pimple that I have. I usually have about 2 or 3 active pimples on  my face at any given time (at the moment I have NONE) and I apply a thin layer of this gel on them. They do not disappear over night but after about 2 nights of using this it does look way better. I have been using this since January and my skin does look better. I still get break outs, it doesn't prevent them but this is handy to have when pimples do appear. I get coupons for this and they make this product $25. The dermatologist gave me a bunch of mini  samples in January and I used those up first before the larger bottle and have hardly made a dent in it. I don't use it every night, only when I have a pimple or break out.

This page will be up and running soon! I will be doing reviews on new makeup, new skin care, swatches and anything else that you would like me to do a review on! I think my first real beauty related post will be my skin care routine, what I use to remove my make up and wash my face! Be on the look out and please follow my blog if you would like to stay updated. My instagram username is kellyandmakeup please follow and feel free to leave requests there as well. I've got quite the sense of humor so this blog will probably not be for the serious. Stay tuned!!