Let's Glow Girls!

The shelves are glowing at Target, awash in daily moisturizers that also have self-tanners in them.

And I can't get enough!

Over the last few weeks I've been obsessed (you could call it my new hobby) with trying the different types.

Here are my very unscientific thoughts on three of them.


Neutrogena Summer Glow
Me and Neutrogena Summer Glow are like peas and carrots. Like peanut butter and chocolate. Thickern thieves we are.
It was the package that attracted me yet made me question how effective it could be. How could a product advertising itself as a moisturizer with self tanner not be copper or bronze like all the other lotions with tanner?
Didn't Neutrogena do focus groups and product testing with the public to realize that people only associate self tanners with bronze packaging? Apparently not.
But I bought it anyway, doubting my decision all the way through the checkout line. But I love it!
The smell is subtle (a big plus), and is a bit like baby powder. The lotion is fast drying so you're not still sticky after it dries and it leaves a subtle yet noticable amount of color. I've been using it the last few days on my face, and not to brag or anything, but I've gotten several compliments. (Ok the compliments were from girls, but girls notice stuff like that.) The color would likely be too subtle for someone with darker skin, but for fair and medium tones, Summer Glow is where it's at.


L'Oreal Sublime Glow
Before Neutrogena Summer Glow came into my life, I was singing the praises of Sublime Glow. But it was one of those things where you fall in love fast, ignoring the irritating things, then you realize that something is amiss. Sublime Glow smells nice enough, a kind of a sweet, thick smell, but what I kind of hate about it but didn't notice at first is the way it sticks to your skin long after you've rubbed it in and it has dried. I feel like I'm salve collecting dust and small insects when I'm wearing it, and it feels like my clothes are sticking to me.
The color is great, though, which is why I ignored the faults at first. It's a natural color, not orange or streaky, and aside from a few blotches around my knees and elbows, it developed pretty evenly.
I used it one day last week and let it dry several minutes before dressing to see if the stickiness lessened, but no. After about an hour or so, though, I either forgot about it or it absored enough into my skin that the stickiness went away.
Either way, I still use it and am a pretty big fan. I've been using both Neutrogena Summer Glow and L'Oreal Sublime Glow back and forth and can't decide if Sublime Glow gives me more color or if that's just my perception because I used it first and had such good results or if it's because the packaging is bronze and therefore I think it makes me darker. (Ahhh packaging.)


Jergens Natural Glow
Jergens Natural Blow is more like it. This one came out last year and launched lotion tanning boom. The tan with this one was fine, a light, non-orange type tan, but I could not get get over the smell. At first I thought it was OK, but then it really started stinking like regular self-tanner and I couldn't wait to wash off. I felt like I was walking around emanating that tannic, self-tanner smell. Because I was.
If you can handle the smell, by all means. Otherwise, leave this one the shelf.