tried and true: best sunless tanners and tanning strategies

There are countless self-tanners on the market, and dozens that you'll see when you walk into pretty much any store right now. It's that season - everyone's showing off their beach bodies! The sun has started to shine again, and clothes are coming off...

I strongly believe that a good, healthy tan is one of the best ways to improve your look for the summer (or any time!). A golden tan helps make your skin look more firm and healthy, and will increase muscle definition. Who doesn't want that bronzed, fresh-out-of-the sunshine look for the summer?

However, spending too much time directly in the sun can be harmful to your skin. And tanning beds are definitely not good! I have spent many years trying to perfect the art of tanning, indoors and out, and am passing on the things I've learned through much experimentation and studying.

OUTDOOR TANNING is an art that needs to be practised with care. At least, that's the way I look at it. But this doesn't mean that you have to put a ton of effort into getting a beautiful, even outdoor tan! The key to a strong, long-lasting sun tan is regularly building with protection. I recommend spending time in the sun every day, an hour or less, with a lower-level SPF sunscreen (I use 30 SPF) with broad spectrum protection. An all-natural sunscreen option to consider is coconut oil, though limit your exposure even further if you choose this. It also helps to exfoliate beforehand, so the skin you are trying to tan is new and won't slough off for a while.

Though it will be difficult to get colour while wearing sunscreen, when you earn your tan after careful daily exposure, it will be more healthy, deep, and will last far longer than the burn you get after spending a whole day outdoors without any protection. This strategy may sound counter-intuitive, because sunscreen is supposed to stop the sun from getting to your skin. However, the sunscreen will let enough sun through to tan your skin (without burning!) if you do this on a regular basis. If you expose your skin with no protection, it will burn, killing and removing the layers that you are trying to tan! It's damaging those cells and after your burn peels off, you'll have to start from scratch. Tanning with a moderate amount of sunscreen will protect your skin enough to build a truly deep, long-lasting tan.

It is also very important to moisturise after exposure! Keeping your skin moisturised and nourished (even when you aren't burnt) will lock in and preserve your tan, and you will avoid dry and brittle skin. Make sure to avoid mineral oil in your tanning and moisturising products: it will strip away the colour you've been building up. Australian Gold Moisture Lock is my favourite after-sun moisturiser: this tan extender is soothing and mineral oil-free.

INDOOR TANNING should always be done in a bathroom, not in a bed! The risks of tannings beds are too high to justify using them, and there are so many safer options. Sunless tanning lotions and sprays are safe and easy to apply: I highly recommend this option instead! I feel like I've tried almost every sunless tanning lotion and spray out there, and I'll describe my favourites here.

Cheaper: Australian Gold is my favourite cheap-ish tanning brand. Their products can usually be found in drugstores, and their Self Tanning Lotion sells for $8.99 online. Several of their sunscreens also include a light self-tanner, and I feel that their products offer a more natural colour than others at this price range. Several friends of mine (who prefer a spray-on option) use Tanwise Tanning Spray, which looks very natural and can be applied smoothly. You can get a light to medium-dark tan with this spray, depending on how often you use it, and it's $9.00 a can.

Middle Budget: I use Mary Kay Subtle Tanning Lotion every day in the winter, and it gives me just enough colour that I don't look like a vampire, but not enough to look fake. This is a great, natural-looking daily bronzer for light colour. It sells for $16.00 on Mary Kay's website, and $14.00 on Amazon.

Higher Budget: St. Tropez is frequently rated as the best luxury line of suncare products. They have a very extensive range of lotions, mousses, and sprays, from a Gradual Tan Lotion (with anti-ageing and firming options too!), Self Tan Bronzing Mousse, and Self Tan Dark Mousse.  Their mousse products are a great streak-free alternative to lotion. The gradual tan and self tan products allow for very natural, light-to-medium colour. In the summer I use the dark mousse, and the unique thing about this lotion is its olive tint. Many dark self tanners tend to just be a darker shade of gold or orange, which never looks good, but the St. Tropez dark range has an olive tone that will look much more natural. Since this shade is so dark, I usually blend it with a dab of my daily moisturiser to soften the colour. You will also definitely want to use gloves when you apply this one (unless you opt for the spray) - they have an Applicator Mitt on their website, but I usually just use latex gloves from the drugstore. However, this beautiful dark tan will cost you - the St. Tropez products run between $30-44 per bottle.

Protecting your skin over the summer should be a top priority. Whether you go about it by wearing a light, daily sunscreen or using an indoor tanning product, make sure you take care of your health first!! It is very possible to have beautiful, bronzed, and safe skin this summer. Happy tanning!

affordable and unique favours for a natural wedding

My baby (well, no longer baby!) sister is getting married this summer, and there are suddenly thousands of opportunities for creative little crafts. My sister wants her wedding to be very natural, with a particular herb/lavender theme. So many wonderful possibilities! One of my tasks over the past month has been to come up with wedding favour ideas, and I found these five options from various sources. They are all DIY, but are very simple and will add a more personal and unique touch to the wedding. I love the fact that they can be used everyday, by anyone, but are still items that the recipient might not have already.

The best part: they're relatively cheap to make! Each favour can be made for around $2 a piece; for my sister's wedding (where the guest list is close to 250!), one of these options will cost less than $500 for the entire event.

The trickiest part of these favours is the packaging. Several require a glass bottle, which can be expensive, but buying small 2-oz. bottles from wholesale sellers online is actually quite affordable. I looked at SpecialtyBottle.com and SKS Bottle and Packaging, and both have options for small glass bottles under $0.70 a piece.

Favour ideas:

Herb-Infused Sea Salt from Martha Stewart Weddings: Use rosemary, lavender, or Herbs de Provence for this long-lasting and useful favour. All you need is kosher sea salt, dried herbs, and an airtight container - combine, warm over the stove for a few minutes, cool, and you're ready to go. I found bulk sea salt for less than $2.50/lb. at SaltWorks and natural herbs at Frontier Co-Op.

Lavender Honey from The Herb Gardener: Another simple recipe: just infuse the honey with dried lavender, heat, and cool. Honey can be expensive, but I found natural clover honey for less than $5/lb at Anna's Honey.

Herb-Infused Olive Oil from Martha Stewart Weddings: Like the other favours, this is a useful gift that will last some time and can be used by anyone. Add a few snips of some dried rosemary (or your favourite herb mixture) to olive oil, and you're done! This looks beautiful in the bottle too.

Homemade Tea Favours: Creating your own unique tea blend for your wedding (or a bridal shower!) is a wonderful option for a different and special gift. You can buy bulk, whole-leaf black, green, or white tea and dried herbs from grocery stores, or online sellers (Mountain Rose Herbs, Mighty Leaf, and Frontier Co-Op, to name a few). Try a lavender-infused Earl Grey tea, green tea with mint, or a rose white tea. Then bind up the mixture in loose-leaf disposable tea bags (you can find many bulk options on Ebay and Amazon) and tie with string and a cute label. Voila!

Mini Potted Plant Favours: This is such a precious and unique idea for a natural wedding. I'd recommend picking a type of cactus, since they're pretty much indestructible, even if the new owner doesn't have time to take care of a plant. You can get mini cactuses and plants from sellers like Cactus Limon or SanPedroCactus on Etsy for less than $1.50 a piece. Pot the little plant in either a tiny glass jar or terrarium, or come up with another unique method (wrapping the roots in a mini burlap sack and tying with twine, planting in a mini pot and wrapping with brown paper, etc.). Another great idea for this favour is to also use it as a place or escort card at the reception: label each plant with the guest's name and table number, and then they can take it home as a favour after the event!

fresh-picked strawberry and mint lemonade

Now that the weather is warm enough, the height of berry picking season has arrived! This morning, my three little sisters went strawberry picking at a little local farm. They came back with boxes of sweet strawberries, and now it's my turn to think of unique ways to use them (not that just biting into one isn't good enough!). We have new mint growing out on our porch, so I made a delicious, lightly sweet sweet strawberry lemonade, and added mint to create a perfectly refreshing summer drink!

If you find yourself with some irresistible strawberries this summer, try out my method for this lemonade!

To make a pitcher, you will need:

- About a cup of lemon juice (I squeezed my own at home, but you can also buy it premade in the store... at home, you'll need at least six lemons)
- Several handfulls of strawberries (preferably fresh-picked!)
- Two or three stalks of fresh mint
- Sweetener of some kind (I used liquid Stevia to make a healthier lemonade, but you can use any sweetener of your choice: agave nectar, honey, or a simple syrup made from mixing equal parts granulated sugar and hot water)


My method:

If you're opting for fresh juice, cut the lemons in half and then squeeze the juice a bowl. Strain to get the seeds out and pour into your pitcher. Fill the pitcher at least halfway with water, depending on how diluted you like your lemonade!

Rinse and take the tops off the strawberries. You have two options here: you can either blend them in a food processor or blender if you have one for a smoother lemonade, or mash them for a more chunky, fresh texture. Your choice! Either way, put a few mint leaves in with the strawberries when you puree or mash them, to release some of the oils in the mint and make sure you get some fresh mint flavour. Add the strawberry mixture to the pitcher to taste. The strawberries will add a lot of sweetness, so use as much as you want to get the desired strawberry/lemon balance.

Mix with a wooden spoon and sweeten to taste. I used about an teaspoon of Stevia and that was plenty for me. Whatever your method, adding a liquid sweetener will be easier to mix than just sugar, so try simple syrup or agave nectar instead!

Crush the rest of the mint leaves with your fingers and add to the lemonade. I like putting the whole leaves in because they'll continue to steep in the lemonade, and look beautiful when your pour the drink into a glass jar. You can leave them in or scoop them out after a day.

Mix again, and pour over ice. Sit outside in the sun and enjoy a relaxing summer afternoon!!

6 wow-your-friends desserts

I’ve always been amazed by fancy desserts – in shop windows, at restaurants, wherever. Some of the creations that chocolatiers come up with just completely blow my mind. Zab and I are going to be in Paris in a couple months, and we can’t wait to visit famous pâtisseries like La pâtisserie des rêves and Hugo et Victor. The only downside is that all of these unbelievable creations seem impossible for the plebeian chef. But no longer! Below is a collection of impressive desserts which are actually relatively easy to create! Keep it a secret that you put very little effort into these, and you’re sure to wow your friends with this array of unique and mouth-watering treats!  Enjoy!

Chocolate-Champagne Truffles by Martha Stewart | Pinata Cake from A Subtle Revelry | ZoomYummy’s Summer Mini Fruit Tarts

Martha Stewart‘s Chocolate Souffle | Martha Stewart's Baked Alaska with Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Ice Cream | German Chocolate Bombes from Fine Cooking

links of the week: travelling the world

Eli here. Sorry Zab and I have been MIA, but she is currently planning her sister's wedding and I am interning at Yale University Press, so we're currently 1000 miles apart and super busy. Doesn't stop us from our daily habit of surfing the web for news updates, popular culture, and completely random StumbleUpon-esque discoveries. I thought we might start a recurring chain of posts where we just share the particularly fascinating morsels we come across in our WiFi travels... The theme word of the week is EXOTIC...

Did you know there is a Buddhist temple in Thailand where monks live peacefully with ten wild Bengal tigers?? Check out this documentary on Vimeo.

This National Geographic article about tribal Europe is so unbelievably weird. Photographer Charles Fréger travelled through 19 European countries and chronicled the strange costumes that symbolize mythical monsters and beasts that have graced the festivals and stories of these societies for hundreds of years. Even in contemporary Europe, tradition is kept alive through these eerie manifestations of nightmarish beings. You can skip straight to the photo gallery here.

Apparently you can spend the night underwater at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island hotel, where the restaurant Ithaa sits in a glass-domed room beneath the Indian Ocean. Typically restaurant space, the hotel apparently will convert it into a suite for honeymoon bookings.

While we're discussing exotic getaways, check out the incredible Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort. I'd totally go here for my honeymoon. You can stay in gorgeously-designed tents that are pure luxury, and right outside your door elephants just wander the grounds freely. I'm assuming it costs a fortune, but you can go elephant-riding and learn the skills of the mahout (elephant-riders). How cool is that?

Speaking of Thailand, I learned recently that there is a place in the world where they recreate the lantern scene from Tangled every year. In the Lanna region of northern Thailand, they're called "floating lanterns" (โคมลอย, khom loi) and are released on one special festival, called Lanna Yi Peng. There are a lot of cool pics and more info here.

One more link of the week: I found this really awesome travel article in the NYTimes about a girl who took a 2890-mile roadtrip from Seattle, Washington, all the way to the Arctic Circle! It's really incredible, and you can read it here.

summer reads: eli's picks

Reading outside is best done in the summer months, and there's nothing so refreshing as lying in the shade of a tree with an engrossing paperback. As the school year winds down (or comes to a complete end, as is the case for most college seniors like us), it's finally time to kick back on a lazy hot day with that book you've been eyeing longingly for the past school year.

1. With My Body by Nikki Gemmell. Beginning with the dreary daily existence of a suffocating British housewife, the majority of this novel is composed of this woman's memories of her youth in Australia, particularly the summer of her sexual awakening. Her brief but exhilarating love affair with an English writer in an isolated old house is hauntingly beautiful, and the lessons about love and relationships that this novel offers make it a piece of astounding emotional weight.

2. The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. Heller's premier novel will whisk you off to the wilderness of Colorado, where protagonist Hig tries to maintain a sense of normalcy in a post-apocalyptic world where government no longer exists and most of the population has been wiped out by flu. While running regular surveillance flights with his dog Jasper in a 1956 Cessna, he hears a faint radio broadcast that sends him on a journey past his fuel point of no return.

3. The Ramayana by Valmiki. One of the most epic love stories, this sacred epic of India charts the love story of god Rama and Sita, who is kidnapped by the demon Ravana. Rama's epic quest to rescue his beloved with the help of Hanuman the monkey-god and others is a timeless classic and transports you to the beauty of India through its imagery and Hindu iconography.

4. Chéri by Colette. A charming classic from Belle Époque France, this short novel charts the affair of retired courtesan Léa de Lonval and young Fred Peloux, who is engaged to another, the young beauty Edmée. If you like the book you should see the film also, starring Michelle Pfeiffer.

5. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. We actually recommend the entire Gemma Doyle Trilogy, but this first book in the series is incredible. Set in Victorian England, four misfit girls meet at the eerie Spence Academy for Young Ladies. One of them, Gemma Doyle, has a secret: she has visions of another world which she alone can open the door to. A darkly magical, absolutely addictive book - you won't be able to put it down!

6. That Was Then, This is Now by S. E. Hinton. All of S. E. Hinton's books were my personal favorites as a young teen, but in my opinion this one is even better than The Outsiders. It's a coming-of-age story of Mark and Bryon, whose small-town lives provide some inspiring lessons about life, family, and friendship.

7. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen. One of the best books ever written on what it's like to be a teenager. A treatise on young love and friendship.

8. The Queen's Lover by Francine du Plessix-Gray. While I'm not a huge history buff, this biography of Marie Antoinette told through the eyes of her lover, the Swedish Count Axel von Fersen, is absolutely incredible. It sucks you into the decadence and gossip of the late 1700s, and provides a startling intimate look at the Queen during the darkest parts of the Revolution.

9. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. This book will break your heart. Whether or not you liked the movie, the book is better. Set in the Chicago area, it chronicles the unusual love story of a normal woman and a man who has strange epileptic attacks where he travels backwards or forwards in the timeline of his own life.

10. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. This is the one book in this list which I haven't yet finished - it's my summer 2013 reading. This story spans lifetimes and years of wars, slowly weaving together the lives of its brilliant characters.

Feel free to submit your own recommendations for summer reading! We'd love to know!

exclusive reader offer: residence hall linens

Hello, dearest readers! As summer gets rolling, we have a special offer for college students who read Zabelieth: $25 off at Residence Hall Linens!

Feel like changing the look of your dorm room next year? Decorations and furniture are everything, from bordering the ceiling in small Christmas lights to covering the walls with your favorite posters and photos. If you're allowed to put in shelves, those are also a great way to break up a bare ugly cinderblock wall and give the room some character. Getting a rug or adding curtains also immediately disguises a dorm room and makes it more homey.

When it comes to bedding and towels, RHL has a thorough assortment of all your college linens. You can get everything in the form of their Value Packs, which include bedding and bath linens in the color scheme of your choice (we're a fan of "Deep Pink Paris"). Residence Hall Linens also sells storage and organization items such as trunks and hanging garment organizers. They also offer a selection of wall decals, rugs, and other decorations.

To get the exclusive discount provided through the Her Campus Blogger Network, just use this discount code: "MAYSAVE25RHL" which takes $25 off Value Packs ONLY.

7 reasons grad school in Europe is a good idea

Hey, everyone! Sorry we didn't post last week - Zab and I have been so busy with finals! This was my last semester at William & Mary, so I have also been dealing with graduation! This fall I'm moving on to grad school with an MA program in Peace and Conflict Studies at Uppsala University in Sweden. Can't wait! Also, Zab is trying out the UK with a summer program at London School of Economics! We are both so excited to be travelling to Europe for the first time and exploring these prestigious universities. We have done a lot of research on grad school in Europe at this point, and have realized time and time again that it's a pretty sweet deal...

1. You don't have to take the GRE. Instead, applications are heavily made up of your undergraduate research, which European schools place a lot more emphasis on. This is something I really give European universities a lot of credit for: taking the time to closely examine the research and work you've already done as an undergraduate. In sharp contrast, American schools tend to focus on your resume/CV, transcript, and GRE scores. With the exception of personal statements, applicants to American colleges aren't really given a chance to showcase their material academic achievements and illustrate where their passions lie. The European applications seem more concerned with the scholar as individual, than with standardized assessments such as GRE scores.

2. European universities have been around a lot longer. Uppsala is the oldest university in northern Europe - founded in 1477. Cambridge was founded in 1209, and Oxford is so old that it's year of inception is unknown - definitely 1096 or earlier, making it the second-oldest surviving university in the world. All over Europe, universities are preserved in beautiful buildings which have been standing for hundreds of years. The presence of so much history, so many previous scholars and students... these are academic institutions which have withstood and born witness to countless eras!

3. MA programs are only one year. This isn't the case with all of them, but a lot of MA programs in Europe are only one year (check out the list of King's College MAs for loads of examples), whereas in the States the typical length is 2. The degrees are the same, but the time (and money!) you put in are less. Some universities even allow you to choose between a 1- or 2-year version of each masters program.

4. Tuition is cheaper, or even free. Grad school is so much cheaper in Europe (you just have to figure in living expenses, of course). In some countries (particularly Scandinavia) education is heavily or completely subsidized by the government, which means tuition is unbelievably low by US standards. In Norway, which is not part of the EU, the government COMPLETELY subsidizes education. This means that if you wanted to get your MA at the University of Oslo, even as an international graduate student, it won't cost you anything (except living expenses in Norway).

5. It opens up job opportunities abroad. Going to university in Europe gives you a fantastic leg up if you ever plan on living and/or working in Europe. Often after getting a degree in any foreign country there are additional perks, such as the ability to get a work visa more easily.

6. You interact with a truly "international" student body. In the European Union there's so much international connectivity and the universities really embrace this. Many European universities (Uppsala is no exception) have very large international student percentages to their student bodies, facilitating that constant cross-cultural discourse that is vital in today's world. So if you go to grad school in Italy, you won't just be hanging out with Italians. You won't even just be hanging out with Europeans! European universities are fantastic global microcosms, and your peers will truly come from all over the world.

7. Programs are often offered in English. Because of this emphasis on creating a multinational student body, universities in countries with languages that are not widely spoken (such as all the Nordic countries) offer programs in English. Of course, it's always a good idea to try to learn as much of the local language as possible when living in a foreign country, and building language skills is a vital CV-builder in today's world.

spoil yourself with these easy breakfast recipes

Photo: 101Cookbooks

They're all quick and easy enough to squeeze into any morning routine.

Taste of Home's Cherry-Brandy Baked Brie makes a truly mouth-watering spread for your morning croissant or baguette. You simply mix together 1/2-cup each of dried cherries and dried walnuts with 1/4-cup each of brown sugar and brandy, then spoon this mixture over a round of Brie cheese in a pie dish. Bake it at 350°F for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is softened.

101Cookbooks' Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa recipe is so healthy, and so delicious! Here are the necessary ingredients:

1 cup organic 1% low fat milk
1 cup water
1 cup organic quinoa, (hs note: rinse quinoa)
2 cups fresh blackberries, organic preferred
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted*
4 teaspoons organic agave nectar, such as Madhava brand

Combine milk, water and quinoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat; let stand covered 5 minutes. While the quinoa cooks, roast the pecans in a 350F degree toaster oven for 5 to 6 minutes or in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Stir in blackberries and cinnamon; transfer to four bowls and top with pecans. Drizzle 1 teaspoon agave nectar over each serving.

The next three recipes are courtesy of Women's Health Magazine. They're incredibly easy and incredibly delicious! For a Banana-Nut Waffle Sundae, first slice half a banana. Toast 2 whole-grain frozen waffles. Top with 1/4 cup of nonfat Greek yogurt, banana slices, and 2 tablespoons of toasted walnuts.

To make an Egg In a Nest, in a pan over medium-low heat, warm 1 tablespoon of oil. Place a slice of bread with a circle cut from the center in the pan. Crack 1 egg into the hole and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the egg is firm; add the cut-out bread circle to toast for the last 1 to 2 minutes (it'll be yummy when you remove it and eat it). Transfer everything to a plate and serve with avocado and tomato slices.

For Sweet and Spicy Quinoa Hash, in a skillet over medium heat, warm 1 teaspoon of coconut oil. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes and 1/2 cup cubed sweet potato, then saute for about 5 minutes. Stir in 1/3 cup of chopped kale, 1 clove of minced garlic, and a pinch of salt. Saute until kale has wilted, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (you'll have to do this beforehand or separately) and heat through.