I might be the only one who goes to Mexico darker than she leaves.

We love a bronzed look. Celebrities perpetuate this during award season, and models in the magazines we read.

But we can’t deny though that things DEFINITELY look better with a tan. What you might not know blog reader is that any kind of tan (from the sun) means damage to your skin (and also your DNA) which can cause an entire slew of problems down the road (cancer and wrinkles being among the top concerns).

If you booked as many skin cancer removals as I have (and having seen the wait list), and your mother having it: you would be pretty nervous about skin damage too. In lieu of it being Skin Cancer Awareness Month (read more here) I can think of no better time for us to have this chat.

The good news is that there are options! Although skin colors are beautiful in all shades sometimes you just want a little bit of a boost (especially when you’re wearing a bikini and you failed to do any sit ups while mainlining pizza and chips). 

Before heading to Mexico I stopped into the Summit Spa on Spring Garden on a miserably cold and wet day to get a St Tropez Full Body Skin Finishing Treatment and a Pedicure. It felt a little ironic given how awful the weather had been lately, but I was SUPER excited to get bronzed before heading to Mexxiiiiiiiiico.

I’d gotten mystic tans before where you stand in a booth, and you hope to God you keep your mouth closed and remember to turn around when it’s time (it’s a little stressful to be honest). The St Tropez Treatment is definitely a much more relaxing and modest way to get a tan application. From the dry exfoliant (which feels like a massage) to the strategic maneuvering of blankets: you never feel cold or exposed. If you’re super modest and you’re worried about your girlie parts (don’t worry) you’re provided with a disposable panty, and a towel to cover the girls. My esthetician (Amanda) was super sweet (love her to bits) offered me the option to do some parts myself (or she would do it for me if I preferred) which having these options (I thought) was very nice especially for the very modest ladies. 

When you’re as big a fan of sunscreen as I am (I literally wear it everyday on my face guys) you get pretty familiar with self tanning products. You don’t want to know how many different products I currently have in my bathroom. So clearly I’d done plenty of self tanning applications myself, but it’s always my back that’s really tricky to get. I mean I’m pretty flexible, but it’s so much easier to pop into the spa and have someone else effortlessly do it for you. If you’re the type of person who likes to get massages you would love this treatment. 

Now I’m sure you’re wondering about the color. St Tropez has a really cool technology that prevents the solution from getting any darker than you would normally go, so you won’t look freaky or like and umpa lumpa or anything. 

At least after you shower lol the solution is suggested to be worn on the body for at least 4 hours, so you literally could go into the spa the day before an event and shower before you go and look like you just got back from somewhere tropical. 

Because I was heading to Mexico I was advised not to swim in chlorine, but given that the beach had a red flag for the first three days (stupid wind) this wasn’t really an option. I mean it was 30+ degrees in Mexico, and I wasn’t mad at it, but I definitely needed to cool off! So against orders I swam in the pool, but I was pretty surprised with how my tan help up considering. I got the St Tropez Full Body Skin Finishing Treatment about a week before the wedding, and I still had some color the day of the wedding despite swimming all day everyday for about 4 days leading up to the wedding. I did add a little bit a wash off product from Fake Bake the day off to help blend out some strap marks from wearing a triangle bathing suit (I tan really easily even despite wearing SPF 50, and applying it like crazy).  

If you want to keep your tan you want to moisturize your skin because once it slofs off it’s gonzo. When you’re moisturizing just make sure to avoid any products with essential oils because they will strip your tan! I didn’t know this, so naturally when I got home I read ALL my body lotions like a maniac to ensure I wasn’t accidentally moisturizing off my tan! 

If nothing else the St Tropez tan gave me a huge boost of confidence I felt a thousand times better in my bikini. When the weather slowly warms up you kind of get used to wearing less clothing over a gradual period of time, and by the time summer comes you’re a little more okay with it. But when you go straight from wearing a ton of layers to nearly naked it can be a little jarring; the tan definitely helped.

And what better way to show off a tan than with some cute coral tootsies!  When you’re going to be in a beach wedding and toes are out in the world it’s definitely a good idea to get a pedicure (by a professional). The girls at The Summit are super great, and I don’t know what they do differently than me at home, but man the polish seems to last a lot longer! Even after being beat up at the beach my toes still looked great! They definitely survived the trip.

So if you’re looking to get a little sun kissed, and you’re not really sure how to go about it yourself I would TOTALLY recommend the St Tropez Treatment. Major thanks to The Summit Spa for not only getting me beach ready, but getting me wedding ready too! It might have just been a tanning application, but what it did for my confidence was priceless. 

Apologies for the image quality here, but I’ll be getting the images back from the photographer very soon! :):) Hope you found this review helpful; if you have any questions please do not hesitate to comment below, tweet me @shortpresents or email me info@shortpresents.com