We all know the dangers of the sun, and those with fair skin (like myself), tend to avoid it at all costs to reduce the risk of sunburn. Sometimes, no matter how much SPF you apply and how often, fair skin becomes burned skin. Thanks to the improvements with sunless tanning, a healthy glow can be achieved all year round without ever stepping foot on the beach... Don't bake: fake! There are lots of effective fake tan products that you can use at home. You don’t need an appointment and it’s far less expensive than a salon visit; all you have to do is leave plenty of time and gather the equipment you’ll need. Be guided by your true coloring and select a product that won’t make you look as though you’ve been dip-dyed! Test it on a hidden area to make sure you don’t have an adverse reaction and prepare your skin before you apply any of the tanning products. Preparation Smooth, moisturized skin will take the product better, leaving you with a more professional-looking finish that will last longer and be much easier to achieve. You should exfoliate before you do anything else, paying particular attention to the roughest and driest areas, such as elbows and knees; you’ll know your own worst areas, though, so you can eliminate potential problems wherever they’re likely to arise. After exfoliating, apply moisturizer over your whole body, but wait until it has been completely absorbed by your skin before beginning the tanning process. Equipment and approach In addition to your self-tanning product, you will need at least one application mitt, a long-handled applicator, some plastic or latex gloves, something to protect your hair, petroleum jelly, cotton buds, a hand mirror and access to a static mirror. You must keep your hair tied up and, if possible, covered up and you should also apply a small amount of petroleum jelly to your hairline and your eyebrows. To make sure that you don’t miss any spots, use a systematic approach, beginning with your face and moving to your torso, followed by your limbs and, finally, your hands and feet. Pay careful attention to areas such as the back of your neck, under your chin and behind your ears, where it would be very easy to leave gaps or streaks. Use the hand mirror and the static mirror to keep track of hard-to-see places as you go along. Finishing off Use small to medium circular motions, blending as you go and be careful not to leave any hard edges, such as at the jawline and where your wrists join your hands. Using a second mitt with less lotion on it to ‘buff’ streaky areas can give you a smoother look. If you notice excessive amounts of lotion in creases, such as by your nose, or where you have small scars, use the cotton buds to buff in the same way as before for a streak-free finish. Protect your handiwork by refraining from putting on clothes until you’re sure it’s all dry; try to avoid dressing up for at least 20 minutes, then, once you are happy that the full color has developed, shower and exfoliate again. Just because you can’t lie out in the sun, it doesn’t mean you can’t look gorgeous! Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! for more beauty reviews! Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram and G+. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too! Shannon on G+ *Disclosure

The holiday season is fast approaching and menu ideas are being finalized. You don’t want to have to sacrifice great skin for great food. Glowing skin and delish foods can be mutually exclusive. Dr. David E. Bank, director and founder of The Center for Dermatology, Cosmetic & Laser Surgery, reveals the five best foods you can eat this holiday season that not only are delicious, but are great for your skin. From diminishing wrinkles to helping dry skin, Dr. Bank sheds light on surprising foods that will keep your skin glowing and healthy through the holiday season.

HOLIDAY FOODS FOR GLOWING SKIN

KALE

This green veggie is the at top of the list when it comes to beauty foods. Kale is full of antioxidants that are a great way of reducing wrinkles because they slow down the ageing process. Kale also contains Vitamin A, which is essential for the health of your skin. It has been proven to be helpful in averting a host of skin diseases as well. Kale is a very good cleanser for your skin because it detoxifies your body leaving you with healthy, glowing skin outside.

PUMPKIN

The vibrant orange color of this squash indicates that it’s loaded with beta carotene, a powerful antioxidant. This gets converted to Vitamin A which helps prevent wrinkles and keep your skin youthful and moisturized. This is the perfect food if you are experiencing dry skin because of the cold weather. Pumpkin is also loaded with Vitamin C, another antioxidant that protects collagen and boosts our immune systems.

SWEET POTATOES

In just one sweet potato you will find more than 200% of the recommended daily value of Vitamin A. Vitamin A is important for having amazing skin, because it promotes the growth of new skin cells and increases the rate at which this happens, which leaves you with vibrant skin. Also, from a sweet potato, you’ll get three grams of fiber which keeps your digestive tract healthy and functioning properly during the season of eating. A healthy and functioning digestive track can help keep your breakouts to a minimum.

CARROTS

Carrots are not only good for your eyes but that are also amazing for smooth skin. Our skin is up against a lot of environmental factors every day like sun radiation and toxins, which combined with stress, leads to weakened defense against damaging free radicals that attack our skin. Carotenoids, found in carrots, are your protection from these everyday pollutants and will prevent wrinkles.

OLIVE OIL

Olive oil contains four major antioxidants which allow it to work as a cleanser and moisturizer. Among these antioxidants are Vitamin A and Vitamin E, Vitamin E accounts for anti- aging benefits because it helps restore skin elasticity. Try: A Girl's Gotta Spa! olive oil body lotion Olive oil penetrates into the skin without clogging pores. Another benefit of this cooking aid is that it is useful as an exfoliator when mixed with sea salt and rubbed into the body. The mild abrasive qualities of the sea salt, combined with the deep, penetrating action of the oil, will remove dead skin cells and leave the skin looking renewed and glowing. So, you now have our permission to indulge (for the sake of your skin!) Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! for more beauty reviews! Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram.

I love a good DIY scrub to help detox and cleanse your skin.  Inspired by a treatment offered in Six Senses Laamu in the Maldives (a destination on my spa bucket list), this scrub leaves skin hydrated and smooth.   All ingredients are found on the islands of the Maldives and luckily for us, also most supermarkets. Maldivian Scrub (Based off of the treatment Laamu Bliss) Combine the following ingredients in equal parts into a paste:

• Nutmeg
• Turmeric
• Ginger
• Rice powder
• Cinnamon
• Clove

Add hot water gradually into it forms into a paste-like texture. Apply whenever desired on the body and leave on skin for 15 minutes or until skin begins to warm. When time is up, wash paste off to reveal glowing skin. Fight the drying effects on winter’s chill with this scrub! Smells delicious and a nourishing treat for your skin. Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! for more beauty reviews! Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram and G+. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too! Shannon on G+

I LOVE brands that stand for something beautiful, the type of beauty that envelopes the essence of love, joy, and hope. The kind that gives and quietly supports the unspoken interdependence we each need at some level in our lives. When I look to review a brand I not only want to know how the product will work for the caregiver and busy woman, I want to know what the brand stands for, and if they will multiply the blessing of success to pass it on to others. In other words, what are they doing with what they have to produce positive community impact? Sarah McNamara's Miracle Skin Transformer beauty line stands for all the above. She states, "Making other people's lives better simply makes sense. Women want powerful, multi-purpose products, designed to transform their skin and simplify their beauty routine." With over 15 years of experience in the business, I guess Sarah heard us loud and clear. She spent over a year doing extensive research with lead chemists to help produce such a product line, furthermore the Miracle Transformer products rendered from this research are produced using all- natural, ethically-obtained ingredients. Oh and wait, just when you think Sarah can't knock it up a notch, in support of Children's Action Network's efforts to find loving families for waiting foster children, $5 from the sale of every Lip Rewind in the shade LOVE will be donated to the charity. If any of you have followed me enough to know at least a portion of our families story you might know how near and dear this is to my heart, as my husband and I adopted 3 of our 7 children. I knew from our foster care workers, and previously having worked in the mental health system, that there are TONS of kids in need of a home in this country. According to The Children’s Action Network there are 107,000 foster children in the United States in need of a loving family. Way to go Sarah for supporting such a beautiful and much needed charity! Indeed these children need loving homes and indeed a loving home makes all the difference in creating a better world for them and all of us. The scoop on Miracle Skin Transformer Lip Rewind is simple, but it has several unique aspects that I feel set it apart from your average gloss. First, one of the things I noticed is that it did not produce that burning feeling I have experienced in other products with lip plumping-type properties. Second, I was impressed with the long period needed between re-application; I’d have to estimate about an hour or two…pretty awesome for a gloss. Three, it's multi-faceted in its duties, which as you know saves us time and money. Besides giving you supple gorgeous looking lips, it has awesome anti-aging and protective qualities, such as the ability to repair daily damage, boost volume and moisture content, protect from UVA/UVB sun damage, and it improves the definition of the lip contour and shape. What's not great about enhancing our pout with a gloss filled with youthful peptides, all-natural, ethically-obtained ingredients, and supporting an awesome cause? Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! for more beauty reviews! Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram and G+. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too! Courtney on G+. *Disclosure

The scenario: Your bank account gives you a firm NO to getting your next hair color done at your favorite salon, so you head down to your local drugstore and browse the home hair color aisle. All of the models on the package look amazing. You SO want hair color like that. You grab a few locks of your hair and try to find the perfect "before" match on the back of the box so that you can accurately predict what color your hair will likely ending up looking like "after." On occasion you find yourself asking complete strangers, "Do you think this hair color will look good on me?" To which they usually smile, nod and say, "Yes," only to quickly leave the aisle so that you won't ask them anymore questions that you'll expect them to be an expert at. Do you recognize yourself? If you do, then eSalon is for you. It's the perfect blend of salon grade hair coloring products, expert colorist guidance and having the ability to do your hair at home for a fraction of the cost. Intrigued? I was and had the opportunity to try it for myself. You begin at eSalon.com and create an account. To begin it asks you a series of questions and shows you different shades and hues of hair color to choose as your current hair color and with each click, it changes on the model. You then click the hair color you are aiming for. You can also upload a current photo of yourself with any additional information you wish to relay to the expert colorist assigned to you. I stated that I like to have a darker hair color during the colder months. Each order includes: Custom hair color, developer, hair color accessories, and personalized instructions (I liked that it had my name on the instructions showing that this was not a cookie-cutter hair kit.) After I submitted all of the details asked, I received an email that a colorist had reviewed what I selected and based on the picture I submitted, changed my order to meet my needs. I'll be honest, I was skeptical. I'm usually a good judge of hair color for myself. My kit arrived shortly after, which by the way, is only $19.99. There were some extras in the kit so that as a blogger I can relay to you how those products worked, however they are not typical for each order. The instructions were clear on how to use this kit, but seemed a little overwhelming at first (no, it's not as easy as slapping on gloves and putting the color in your hair.) First you apply their Stain Guard--which is a brilliant idea by the way--around your hair line, on the tips and outer part of your ears and along your neck line. The stain guard is a petroleum and oil (coconut, sunflower seed) and beeswax mix. To help you achieve the perfect at home hair color, they send you clips to section out your hair. After putting your hair into 4 sections, you go through and apply to the roots in each section and re-clip. You then mix a second bottle of hair color and apply to each section at a time using hand over hand application. Each portion is timed, and it comes with a timer to help you not over-process your hair. The final step was also unusual in that it requires you to get into the shower, add water to your second bottle (with the leftover hair color still in it), unclip all of your hair and then apply the remainder to your hair and massage in for about 2 minutes. You then rinse until the color runs clear, and then use the eSalon color-safe shampoo and conditioner. The kit also comes with a Stain Remover so that if you did get color on your skin, you can easily wipe it off. The Stain Guard worked for me, so I had nothing further to wipe away. When I first dried my hair, it looked the same to me (medium brown with golden highlights.) So I asked my husband to take a picture of me and to my surprise, and delight, my hair was the EXACT color I had hoped for: a nice dark, rich brown. I was so happy! Here is the picture I submitted to the colorist (and also my hair before) and then the picture of my hair after. Sorry that the picture is blurry, my camera was not cooperating that day. eSalon also offers you the opportunity to call in and speak to an expert colorist as well, which is great during a hair coloring emergency. They also have their own bottles of color-safe shampoo and conditioner, color enhancing treatment and an argan hair serum. I found that the clips served another purpose as well, it helps me to section my hair and dry it faster AND cut down on the frizz. I've been using them all of the time now. eSalon saves your custom color in your account making it easier to re-order. You can choose to subscribe to them sending you auto-shipments or simply do a one-time order. I am super excited about this and so thrilled with how my hair color turned out. Have you tried eSalon yet? Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram. *Disclosure press sample

Never did I thought I would see that day when I would be able to say I'm wearing red lip color. Friends would tell me, "Try this one, it's best!" or "This type of red is more your color," only to be greatly disappointed. I began to think red just wasn't for me and would instead would be green with envy over those who could pull it off. I'm just too pale, it brings out the ruddiness in my skin, it makes me look like a clown... believe me, I've given every excuse there is. Until AVON sent me their newest lip crayon for Fall. In two words: holy crap. OK, better words: stunning, vibrant, youth-enhancing, brilliant, powerful. The Ultra Color Lip Crayon ($8) in Reddy for Me, is truly the red for me. It is jumbo in size, glides on smooth and instantly brightens my face. It's not too bright, not too matte, and doesn't bring out the unevenness in my skin tone. While this new lip color is said to have moisturizing shea butter and Vitamin E, I did find it to be drying. Does it stop me from wearing it religiously? Nope. Without a lip pencil, the lip color does wear off (inner part of your lip first) after the usual eating/drinking. However, I found that if I use a nude lip liner and fill in my lips with it then apply the Ultra Color Lip Crayon over it, it has much better staying power. To combat the dryness, I just use my Beau Bain Mint Mojito Lip Scrub prior to application. The Ultra Color Lip Crayon does have mica for the sparkle. That's really the only thing I'm on the fence about. Sometimes the mica looks like large glitter on my lips, and at 39 years old, makes me feel childish. However, sometimes what I think and what people say are two different things and everyone continues to rave about how this red looks on me. Mica lips and all.

Have you found your perfect red?

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*Disclosure

Wondering which lip colors are on trend this Fall? Some of the top beauty bloggers (yes, including me!) decided to get on camera and dish about their favorites.

Yes, that's me standing in the woods! And how can you not be distracted watching Clumps of Mascara's gorgeous daughter trying to snag her lip gloss?

Everyone has some great lip color picks! My favorite lip color for Fall is Three Custom Color's Lip Gloss Pot in Simply Beautiful. It looks brown-ish in the pot, but I assure you that it's a neutral color and looks great on all skin tones. I apply with a lip brush and you only need a small amount to make your lips pop. Three Custom also sells this color in a lipstick, gloss and even as a cream blush.

Watch the video below and a big thank you to Phyrra for putting this together!

Beauty Blogger's included:

Gouldylox Reviews Clumps of Mascara Beauty and Fashion Tech My Beauty Bunny Beauty Info Zone Raging Rouge Phyrra We Heart This A Girl's Gotta Spa!

Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram and G+. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too! Shannon on G+

My favorite smoothie is the one that I frequently have in the morning. It gives me the energy I need to start the day off right, I feel good that I've consumed something for breakfast and the ingredients in the smoothie contribute to radiant skin and hair.

A few different people have mentioned Mixed Chicks hair products to me on a number of occasions and I have honestly been meaning to try it, but just never got around to it until just recently.  After feeling like my regular shampoo and conditioner were no longer performing as well as they have in the past, I decided to try something new and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give Mixed Chicks a try.  I opted for the Sulfate Free Shampoo and Deep Conditioner as my naturally curly hair has been feeling really dry lately thanks to regular hot yoga attendance. The Sulfate Free Shampoo is supposed to mildly cleanse my hair without stripping my hair of its natural oils and the Deep Conditioner is supposed to penetrate, reconstruct and restore my dry hair.  After trying both for two weeks, I was pretty bummed that I didn't get around to trying them sooner. The Sulfate Free Shampoo actually felt pretty moisturizing for a shampoo, even though it did thoroughly clean my hair, my hair did not have that dried, stripped feeling it normally has after shampooing. I also really enjoyed the clean, pretty scent.  The Deep Conditioner is decadently moisturizing.  It's really thick and creamy and my hair felt soft, hydrated and absolutely pampered after using it. After using both of these products, my curls have more hold and definition and a lot less frizz.  Even when I blow dry my hair it just feels healthier.  I plan on purchasing the Leave In Conditioner as soon as possible so that I can define my curls, eliminate frizz and restore the health of my hair all at the same time.  I'm absolutely ecstatic that there is a product on the market that was created specifically for my hair type, I'm just so disappointed in myself that it took me so long to start using it. Have you tried Mixed Chicks? Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! for more beauty reviews! Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram and G+. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too! *Disclosure

Since I have been receiving frequent requests for how-to’s on my eye makeup looks (especially on Facebook), I decided to do a step-by-step picture post for my dedicated readers and those to come on a 2013 fall makeup look that I created. I like trends, but I also like to do my own thing, too. Today I opted to create a look that reminded me of a favorite past time of taking fall drives in my home state of RI on the back roads in the small town of Scituate. Just imagine listening to the crunching sound as your tires roll over old dirt roads while staring out at a beautiful reservoir surrounded by vast amounts of huge trees in the prime of fall filled with gold, orange, red, purple, and green leaves…some being whisked away by a gentle breeze. Are you all starting to get why I am in LOVE with fall, and all the more inspired by it? There was not one year in my childhood that went by that I did not take that drive with my mom and family, and then follow it up with apple picking and hot pie a la mode! Just writing about it makes me want to return home right now…but I will patiently wait until October to do that! To create this New England-inspired 2013 fall makeup look, I decided to use Smashbox’s 24K (lid and inner corner), Aveda’s 991/Antique Gold (brow bone and highlighter), Cargo’s Moreton Bay (center of my lid), and Aveda’s 990/Bronze Patina (outer corner and lower lid). I used Tarte’s Strike a Pose lash set, which included the Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara and the Lash curler. Cargo HD Picture Perfect Eye Shadow Primer was used as my base/enhancer to help the colors pop and Rimmel London’s Scandal Eyes Waterproof Gel Eyeliner was used for my liner to finish it off. *Quick tip: Blending is one of your most important elements for a nicely finished look. If you notice in the picture before I apply my mascara the colors are popping (but not yet blended), then look at the last picture. Do you see the difference blending makes? Also, don’t be afraid to blend and then lightly re-apply where it needs enhancing or contrast (and lightly blend again.) If you are new to applying eye makeup: practice, practice, practice…I promise that you will get it! I am still learning new things too! How many of you were able to figure out why I put the green (Aveda’s 990/Bronze Patina) in the outer corner of my eye instead and the deeper plum color (Cargo’s Moreton Bay) in the middle instead of vice versa? I'd love to know what you thought of this New England themed makeup look! Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! for more beauty reviews! Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram and G+. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too! Courtney on G+. *Disclosure