Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Glow Pads and Hourglass Solar Tan Self-Tanning Primer

Over the past couple of weeks it's been tradition to talk about self tanners on Sunday, I could call it Self Tanner Sunday! Today I have two really innovative products that I would definitely love to give a try.

First up is Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Glow Pads. Has everyone tried Alpha Beta Peels by Dr. Dennis Gross? OMG they are seriously the most amazing thing to happen to skin in a long time. You swipe one pad over your face to exfoliate chemically and another to neutralize the solution and prevent irritation. Your face is left feeling baby bottom soft and with the Glow version you're left with a self tan. Sounds amazing to me. Skincare + a nice SAFE tan, what more could you ask for. I do find these to be exorbitantly priced at $32/20 but there is also an $18 pack of ten now available and they definitely do make your skin feel amazing.

The second product is one that I find COMPLETELY genius. You probably know how much of a fan of makeup primers I am, I completely love them. Though I mainly use them for special occasions where I need my makeup to last all day, they are perfect for the summer. They keep foundation in place and prevent your face from melting off in the sweltering heat.

Hourglass somehow found a way to make primers even better with Solar Tan Self-Tan Primer. This $60 primer is expensive as hell but it acts as a self tanner for the face. I know good self tanners are hard to come by, especially for delicate facial skin. You can't go too dark too quickly and you can't have anything that is going to clog the pores or make you break out. I think Hourglass is onto something with this one. If you work somewhere that requires you to deal with the public and you're working long hours you should probably wear a primer to begin with so why not add a little color to your face throughout your workday? It promises to leave your face moisturized with glycerin and vitamins A & E. What more could you ask for? Plus, it does it all with less odor than typical self tanners.

Hourglass Film Noir Mascara

I have to admit I'd never heard too much about Hourglass cosmetics when I first got this mascara in the Sephora LashStash Deluxe Sampler but since then (last November) the blogosphere has been raving about their products. I really put this one to the test last week when I routinely sneezed 10 times in a row while wearing it without so much as one streak down my face, that in itself almost justifies the $28 price tag. I sneezed all the time and when I wasn't convulsing from the achoo-ing my eyes were still running and itchy. Even rubbing them didn't leave me with raccoon eyes and I love it.

Hourglass Film Noir Mascara has a one of a kind hourglass shaped brush, although I have to say it's much more subtle than I expected and it's pretty hard to see in the picture. I do think that it helped me apply mascara perfectly on my right eye but made things a little tricky on my left. You see, I usually keep the brush in the same direction for both eyes instead of flipping it around when I do my left eye. Sometimes, when I'm thinking about it, I make the switch and it makes a world of difference. This time I accidentally swept all my lashes towards my nose on my first coat due to the brush shape but upon flipping it for coat #2 I had gorgeous lashes. It's an easy switch, something I would be doing anyway if I could just remember.

This mascara really fattens up my lashes on the first coat, lengthening them and making them look like they were curled even when they weren't. Honestly, with all the coats I applied I still didn't look like I was trying too hard and even though my lashes should have weighed a ton, they were weightless. I would highly recommend this mascara to anyone who applies coat after coat and doesn't want to carry all that weight around with them all day.

The only thing that I thought would be an issue with this mascara is the color. Even though it's called Onyx I found the shade more of a dark charcoal gray on the wand but it applied dark on my lashes and ended up being no problem at all.

What I wanna know is what other Hourglass Cosmetics am I missing out on? Have you tried any? Let me know in the comments.