Bronzed Goddess Courtesy of Luminess Tan

Sun-kissed; bronzed goddess; and beach babe. File all of those under things I am not.

Pale; porcelain; goofy; fair; glow-in-the-dark; and pasty. Sadly, that is my reality.

I am blessed with skin that hates the sun. Give me half an hour in direct sunlight and my skin turns redder than a hothouse tomato. Given my penchant for burning and the fact that too much sun exposure is kinda/sorta bad for you, its no wonder I maintain my status as a porcelain princess.

Trying to change the color I was born with, I have tried to fake it via tanning wipes, sprays, creams, the works. Alas, my color always came out looking more Cheeto than whole wheat (that is more orange than brown for those who don’t speak foodie). With that, I gave up on fake tanners of all kinds for a very long time.

I accepted the fact that I would always be pale, and I made it work for me. Not expecting that something great was on the horizon, I had the pleasure of stumbling upon a booth at The Makeup Show that forever changed my views on the fake tan. I am now pleased to report that my days as the pale girl are over thanks to the Luminess Airbrush Tanning System.

Every beauty savvy person knows that the best way to achieve the faux tan is via airbrush, and spray tanning salons have literally sprouted up everywhere overnight. I have always wanted to try it, but the cost and lasting powder always turned me off. An airbrush tanning session in a salon can cost as much as $50, and only lasts about a week. Not good for this budget minded beauty blogger.

At the Makeup Show's blogger preview, Marc Harvey of Luminess demonstrated the airbrushing method. Luminess is the company known for bringing affordable airbrush systems into homes, and now they have extended their product range to include a larger scale application. Promising the benefits of a salon airbrush tan, Luminess Tan brings the airbrush salon to you.

The application device is pretty standard. You have an air compressor, airbrush stylus, and then of course the bottle of self tanning solution. The solution itself applies brown and after approximately 8 hours settles into the color your tan will be.

Excited to try this out, I embarked on my journey to find my inner bronze goddess. As per the directions, I made sure to shower and exfoliate before I got started. I donned my bathing suit and stepped into the tub with airbrush gun handy. I really felt like a professional using the stylus with attached bottle of tanning solution. I was surprised by how easily and evenly the color applied. The trick is to get the solution going first, and to hold it at least a foot away from the skin. If you can, definitely enlist the help of a friend to get to those hard to reach places (unless your name happens to be Gumby, getting to your back may be a problem). Once I got the hang of the application; within 15-20 minutes, I was covered and I allowed the solution to sink in.

Each bottle provides about 3-4 full body applications, making the kit a great deal in comparison to the price you would pay at a salon. I am also very impressed with my results. Given the ease of application, I can definitely see myself maintaining my new faux glow for the summer.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good full body shot in but I can show you my arm :) Also, I opted for a light application but you can go as dark as you like by going over the same area again.

Before:

After:

Now orange you glad it doesn't look orange? ;)

For those of you looking to add some color, definitely consider the Luminess Tan Airbrush System by clicking here: Luminess

Stay tuned for a review on the Luminess Air system for foundation and color cosmetics. Its going to be a good one!