Nivea Sun-Kissed Beautiful Legs Shave Minimizing Gradual Tan Daily Lotion

Although I primarily use high-end skincare and makeup, there are a handful of drugstore products that I couldn't imagine life without.  Nivea's Sun-Kissed Beautiful Legs Shave Minimizing Gradual Tan Daily Lotion for Fair to Medium Skin ($9.99/6.8 fl oz) is one of my staples.

I've previously bemoaned the issues that us alabaster beauties face when it comes to summer and self-tanner. Most high-end products are geared to medium-dark complexions and look fake or orange on me.  That's not what I'm looking for in terms of a self-tanner.

My requirements for a self-tanner?

• Not very deep
• No orange tint
• Idiot-proof
• Not too stinky
• Buildable, so I can control the shade

 If I'm not looking to look like I just spent the weekend at the beach (c'mon, everyone can immediately tell that I burn just thinking about the sun), then why use self-tanner?

I have one main motivation: I don't want to wear pantyhose in the office all summer, but I also don't want my legs to blind everyone.  I am seeking a soft glow that's not distracting and would disguise some of the imperfections visible with my (admittedly) translucent skintone.  As for wearing shorts, I couldn't care less what the general public thinks about my legs. It's about being more comfortable in the office yet still looking put together.  To achieve that, I use a combination of this self-tanner and a shimmer lotion (my latest favorite is the Clarins Shimmer Oil I talked about earlier this month).

While I have some doubts about the Shave Minimizing claims, this product ticks all of my boxes. It's incredibly light and therefore buildable. It dries quickly when spread thinly, but the lotion texture allows you to control application for probably up to 5 minutes- making it idiot-proof.  There is a self-tanner smell, but it dissipates within a couple of hours. In the summers, I tend to shower immediately after getting home to wash away the heat and sweat of summer, and then apply self-tanners in the evening.  I get about a month's worth of applications from this tube.

Are there better overall self-tanners out there? Probably.  But this works well for my purposes, and I wanted to take a moment to show a drugstore product that I love since I routinely rave about luxuries like $50 lipsticks.

Clarins Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster

I hate fakes. I despise fakes. I think that it's always better to go with the original, and if you can't afford the designer bag, find one within your p-rice point rather than supporting fakes.

Aside from sun.  I only get my tan in the fake sense.  It's a matter of health, people!

I've been testing Clarins Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster for the last month, and I'm sold. This is my best experience with high-end self-tanners to date.

First, let me make this clear: You cannot use this self-tanner without a moisturizer of your choice. Did everyone get that?  It's the consistency of soy sauce and will do some serious damage to your skin and your perfect fake glow.

Clarins Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster is unique in that you can use it with your moisturizer of choice. In theory, you can wear this during the day, but I highly recommend only using this at night.  You start to notice a distinct self-tanner smell after a few hours.

I've been using this with Sephora Collection Instant Moisturizer, to great success. I purposely found the most basic moisturizer that I could so that the self-tanner didn't interact with any retinoids or other active ingredients. In this review, you're getting a mini 2 for 1- I haven't noticed any negative impacts from swapping my regular moisturizer out for the Sephora Collection Instant Moisturizer. It actually reminds me of an old favorite Boots Sensitive Moisturizer that isn't available in the US (I actually bought my last bottle in Dubai). My sensitive skin agrees with the Sephora Collection Instant Moisturizer, and at $12 for the smaller 1.0oz squeeze tube (perfect to mix with the Golden Glow Booster), it's very affordable.

Overall, the effects from Clarins Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster last 3-5 days, and are buildable. Since it's early in the season, I've been using it about every 4th day just to keep a slightly sun-kissed look. Once we transition into June, July, and, August, I'll be using it daily until I achieve my optimal shade, then every 2nd or 3rd day to maintain. That said, my optimal tan is much paler than most people even start the season!

One of the things that I struggle with as a porcelain beauty is finding that balance between a healthy glow as someone who works in an office and avoids the sun and a fake orange or deep tan.  I appreciate self-tanners like the Clarins Golden Glow Booster that allow for customization of a light tan.  The Clarins representative said that this is designed to be "5 minutes of sun." That's plenty for me!

Bottom Line: This is a must-have, safe self-tanner for us pale beauties. I can't speak to the efficacy on medium and deep complexions, but there are a multitude of other self-tanners that are designed for those beauties.