I am one of those girls who are born with fair skin with a mix of pink and yellow undertones. A frustrated J-Lo wanna be who would do anything to get that gorgeous golden tanned skin.


In 2006, I achieved this skin after spending a week in Boracay wearing nothing but a bikini all day long (yes, I kinda had the body for it. Well, compared to the present at least) and I sported golden skin, for at least a month. Tops.


So. That being said. I avoided whitening products like the plague. As a 26 year old girl who wasn't afraid of the sun, I would use tanning oils and lotion instead of sun block.

But now at a glowing age of 33 (cough cough...), I woke up one morning with uneven skin tone (I swear! They appeared overnight! *in denial), and saw that I had tan marks all over my body. My left arm was darker than my right arm (because of driving), my feet had flip flop marks that looked burned instead of tanned, I had t-shirt lines because of long exposure to the sun when I would shoot outdoors.

I stood in front of the mirror and assessed my skin. It was dark, uneven, and looked muddy. (Gross, I know.)

I was in Landmark doing groceries last month and spent twice the usual amount of time in the beauty aisle and saw they had a Buy 1 Take 1 promo for Garnier Light Extra Whitening Repair Lotion. I have always loved the scent of their stuff (smelling of fresh lemons and sunshine) so I took the leap and bought myself a pair.

Making a promise to myself that I will give it a try religiously, I remember starting my regime on a Monday using the lotion after shower in the morning, and again at night.

It made me feel sticky at first but it goes away a few minutes after. So getting dressed in the morning had to be adjusted by 10 minutes. Well Anyway -

Fast forward to exactly 14 days later, I stood in front of the same full length mirror with the same exact lighting and did another assessment. True to its word, my skin was even-steven. My tan lines disappeared and a certain glow to my skin was restored. Not only the color of my skin evened out, but even the skin tone was obviously even. It was easier for me to look for the right foundation. I used this lotion together with their facial moisturizer (I didn't want to have a floating head effect so I had to use a lightening moisturizer as well.

Of course people didn't notice my now obvious lighter skin because I had always been fair. But people did notice that my skin was glowing and was so even. Now I am afraid to get out in the sun! This lotion made me take care of my skin more.

Definitely a 2 thumbs up, with matching big toes up!

NOW...