I don’t know about you, ladies (and gents!), but when I’m back in the comfort of my own locale, keeping to a regular rhythm and schedule, I take special care not to stay out in the sun for too long. I’ve worked out that a tan isn’t very complementary to my skintone, plus that also means sun damage of course.
But when I’m away on holiday, I tend to be more lax. Yes, I slather on the sunscreen on face and body and I wear a hat or carry an umbrella, but I’m always out and about even if it means walking for miles and miles under the hot sun. I think its also partly to do with feeling “kiasu” * and making sure I see and do everything I possibly can while in a foreign locale 😀 Get my money’s worth y’know? 😉
So after my recent jaunt to Shanghai in a hot hot end of summer, I returned home a little tanned. Not much, but enough to raise comment. 2 weeks after coming home, I seem to have lost it! Having to be holed up in the office in the day does help of course, but I thought it quite interesting. This isn’t very unusual to me. Ever since school days, when I used to be recruited into the marchpast for school sports day (I was a lousy sportswoman and couldn’t do any other sport) I’d be tanned by the sun during practice, but about a month after that, I’d lose the tan. Same with hitting the beach. 2 weeks is about all the time a tan will last on me.
I recently discovered this bottle of Garnier Body Light Extra Whitening Repairing Milk Lotion in my cupboard, so I’ve also been using it off and on in the evenings before bed. To be honest, I don’t know if it helps. My personal history has proven that I lose a tan quite quickly with or without help. But I quite like this lotion 🙂
This Garnier Body lotion claims claims to not only moisturise your skin, but also to lighten dark spots and illuminate your skin tone <- their words! It also contains pure lemon essence which does the whole whitening and illuminating thing, which is also what you’d find in the Garnier face care.
As promised, the lotion has a light texture and does absorb quickly into my skin without feeling sticky or icky. Don’t challenge the use of the word “icky” as a proper description! 😉 I like how this leaves my skin feeling smooth which is sort of nice before bed. You just want to feel comforted and clean and not icky under the covers.
I do have a little problem with this one though. The scent. It smells like lemon infused tea. Now, none of us would be surprised at the lemon bit, because it does proclaim that it contains lemon essence and its in a bright yellow bottle. But I get that green tea scent too, and I personally find it a little strong and sweet.
To be fair, using it in the night means I can go to bed and not notice the smell as I sleep. No, I don’t dream of walking in a lemon orchard while sipping green tea. But I can’t use it in the day, because I’d keep smelling it, and while it isn’t horrible, its just a bit sweet for me.
Did it help me lose my tan? I don’t know. But at least it kept my skin feeling well moisturised as I sleep.
Here’s the ingredient list.
In a nutshell
An affordable lightweight body lotion that absorbs quickly into the skin and isn’t sticky. It leaves skin feeling soft and smooth and is supposed to help lighten and brighten the skintone on the body. I cannot prove this. The scent is quite strong which might be a consideration for some.
Pros: Affordable, Light texture, Absorbs quickly into the skin
Cons: Scent is a bit strong and sweet for me
Speaking of tans, I’m curious to know if I’m the only one around who sheds a tan this quickly? Granted, I wasn’t very tanned. I’d say maybe a shade or so darker? But I’m now back to the way I was – makes me happy because I like myself in a lighter skintone, but if I had preferred to be more tanned, I think I’d be really pissed! 😀
Might you have tried this body lotion before? Its really affordable and easily spotted in most pharmacies. I think this is a new incarnation of the Garnier Bodylight lotion which was launched, and then disappeared quite quickly. I did like the body scrub from that one but I’m not sure if they brought it back.
* kiasu = lit. afraid to lose (hokkien dialect) a condition suffered by many people in this region yours truly included 😛
Paris B
Garnier Body Light Extra Whitening Repairing Milk Lotion retails at RM9.90/120ml, RM16.90/250ml and RM22.90/400ml and easily available at most pharmacies and supermarkets.
It takes me a whole year to get back from my tan! Lucky you, PB! And now I have this weird tan on my feet because I wore gladiators to Vietnam and didn’t bother to slap sunscreen on them. The tan lines follow the patterns on the strap of my shoes, OMG!
Haha! That reminds me of the time I had the imprint of my swimsuit embedded into my skin of my back for at least a year! It takes longer when I burn or get very dark. But if its just a quick tan I shed it quickly.
I think I’m about the same as well. On an unrelated note, I use the similar body lotion here. It’s awesome and it’s the only one that’s not icky 😀 Without the whitening effects 😛
Yay! I don’t think this one does anything to whiten to be honest, but its a decent enough body lotion that’s cheap and light.
nope, body scrub was never brought back, much to my sister’s dismay
darn! I liked that! Wonder why it was discontinued so quickly 😛
I like to keep my skintone as it is now and I’m not afraid of hiding in shades! I think it’s more of an Asian thing to want to be fair. My Aussie friends and I were just discussing this the other day. They love to keep their tan while we try to lose it! One even confessed buying foundations shades darker to fake a tan! LOL!!
Lucky you though, losing it in 2 weeks. I think mine will take about 3 months…
Ah I’m a “Puteri Lilin” haha… Always have been. Not a conscious effort on my part, but since I do remain fair quite easily, people think I slather myself in whitening products LOL! I think people just want what they can’t have – human nature 🙂
You are lucky you don’t burn, Paris! For me it’s burn then probably go at the very most two shades darker and then I’m back to my normal skin tone after 2-3 weeks. I’m a fan of Garnier’s Intensive Body Lotions as they are cheap, always on offer and work quite well! 😀
Well so long as I slather on enough sunscreen, I’ll tan but not burn 🙂 That’s the other plus about using sunscreen. But you lose it quickly too so hey ho! When I was in the UK I was at least another shade lighter than I am now – darned the UK for having no sun LOL
Maybe your skin is fast in repairing itself? For me, everything like cuts, acne marks etc. is visible months or years later still. (Don’t know about tans since I’ve never tanned.)
I think you’re right Julia 🙂 Perhaps my skin sheds its cells quickly and has a good turnaround time which is great – I don’t scar very easily either *touch wood*!
OK, I’m heading straight to Carrefour when I get to Muscat and buying several bottles!
Haha! I’m not sure if it works Jamilla! But at least you’ll have an inexpensive non sticky body lotion on hand!
u r so lucky to be able to lose it in 2 wks 🙂 i’m a bit on the fairer side & i’m easily tanned. to lose my tan in 2 wks is impossible =p
Staying indoors a lot during the daylight hours help LOL! Like a vampire 😛
I’m one of those who don’t tan easily – mostly I just burn and go one shade darker and then go back to my usual shade again. But ever since working in SG and having to walk a fair bit, I think I’ve gone one shade darker. 🙁
I always pick up a little tan when I go to Singapore. Its definitely all that walking I do there, and sometimes in the sun too. Too luxurious not having to walk or go out in the sun while I’m at home 😉
I’ve tried 2 bottles before! The scent is strong but I think it works 😉 4 stars rating xoxo
4 stars! Must have really worked well for you Junni! 😀 I’m not sure if its working on me, but I like the texture and being asleep means the scent doesn’t bug me as much 😉
Jealous of you Paris… You lose a tan so fast? That is really fast… I used to lose a tan quite fast too during school days but now… it’s like there forever and it’s not going away 🙁 my foot still has the ‘Y’ that I had from 3 yrs ago standing under the sun queueing up to get into Sunway Lagoon for 5 hrs… and it has been there since 🙁
I did try scrubbing regularly but it still doesn’t work… 🙁 not getting sunlight gets me dark as well… so I am like torn between what I should do. Sunlight, no sunlight… blahhhhh….
Yeah, I do seem to lose a tan very quickly. I think my skin doesn’t have the propensity to tan but it does mark if I get acne grr… 😛