after reading a book with my dad before bed, he'd tell me
stories about his childhood. mostly about his friends, brett and boo, who he would get into all sorts
of harmless trouble with; breaking their arms falling out of tree
houses and the like. think dennis the menace. he had many, many stories to share about growing up. friends, family, school. all entertaining enough to become bedtime stories.
one story that i remember: a boy from his school, in
preparation for a dance, used a [first generation?] self-tanner that turned his
skin orange. everyone laughed at him at the dance and, after countless requested story-repeats, so did i. every time. an orange boy? ha. just think, that self-tanner tale was so
memorable that my dad used it as a bedtime story, and i still remember it over 15 years later.
and still, i laugh,
because i [countless times] have had an orange hue. at the start of my job, i willingly tried every tanner that passed through the office doors. nobody else would. streaky skin and orange palms were just a part of the job. i am now more discerning, i swear. there were also the unseasonable [winter in vermont] spray tans from body le bronze in preparation for ultra-glamorous nights out in college. and i still get slightly nostalgic every time i smell some variant of that jergens gradual-tan moisturizer. i was champing at the bit to buy it as soon as it hit store shelves. oh and of course, sally hansen airbrush legs. clearly i am no stranger to an enhanced complexion.
but, i can not fail to mention my first dabble into the world of self tanning at age 11. bizarre to think that i even cared about tanned skin at that age, especially only years before i was laughing at the thought of changing your skin's tone. but, it was a purchase from [now defunct] limited too. they had just launched a collection of personal care products, va-va-vanilla shower gels and berrylicious body sprays, which oddly [since its target customer was more/less 10 and this was before the reign of paris hilton] included a self tanner. it came in a sky blue tube and had a yellow sun squiggled on the packaging. i remember using it several times, without any truly noticeable difference, before it remained untouched in a bathroom drawer for several years.
though i am no longer in search of the perfect faux glow, a hint of color is always nice and i can't get enough of dr. dennis gross skincare alpha beta glow pads. they provide a reasonable amount of warmth to winter's skin-sans-sun without the risk of leaving streaks or orange hands; and offers a dose of vitamin d. see? i am now discerning.
