Beauty Find: Elizabeth Grant Tinted Leg Lotion

Let’s put something out on the table. I’m pale. Year-round, unless I am recovering from a painful sunburn, any healthy glow I may have is courtesy of Cover Girl and a fluffy blush brush. I’m also not a fan of leather-face a la Rachel Zoe, so I’ve become quite intimate with the self-tan aisles of various department and beauty stores.

But there’s a problem with most self-tanners I’ve tried. And that problem is that they suck, in various degrees and respects.

I had high hopes for Jergen’s Natural Glow, the daily moisturizer that gives you gradual, but the color was so “gradual” that I gave up my daily application routine after a week of no results. I decided to try Mark bronzing self-tanner and spent the next day furiously scrubbing it off after looking like my tan was applied by a child painting with watercolors.

And Victoria’s Secret must be that she moonlights as an exotic dancer, because the only glow VS Bare Bronze gave me was that orange “my work uniform consists of 4-inch clear heels and glitter” glow.

I’d been mourning the loss of my summer tan on a daily basis since the beginning of the semester, until I came upon Elizabeth Grant Soleil Smart tinted leg lotion. And after a week of slathering it on, I’m just about ready to bathe in it.

I was a little dubious at first of their website’s claim that Soleil Smart “improves the appearance of irregular skin tone and gives the legs a more shapely and smooth look”—hey, it’s taken me months of running to achieve what’s still a far cry from “shapely” legs—but I decided to give it a shot.

It goes on with a lot of color, so you’re not left with splotchy spots, but the result is natural and sexy. And it’s perfect for lazy gals like me; the golden glow is instant, so you can lay it on right before that big date. In fact, that’s exactly what I did last night.

The result? I swear he’s straight, but my new boy-toy actually said “Wow, you’re not wearing stockings? You have really nice skin tone!” Seriously now—I don’t even get that reaction when I am wearing stockings.

Best of all? Soleil Smart doesn’t rub off on white sheets and leave a nasty brown body-outline when you wake up in the morning, so slap some of it on those ghostly gams of yours and let him take a closer look.