Do you ever find yourself sticking with something you don’t really like just because you don’t think there is anything better out there?

My senior year of college I dated a guy named…let’s call him Pete.  Pete was hot. Seriously, couldn’t believe my luck, made me weak in the knees to even hear his voice; H.O.T.  He was even occasionally considerate and romantic. Never mind that he still lived at home with his parents, had trouble keeping plans, and was constantly disappointing me, thus causing me to wonder if he actually cared about me or if I was just a convenience to him.  We broke up more than a few times, but every time he would call me with some version of “I know you deserve better than me, but it’s just too hard not to be with you.” And so it went, with hardly a flutter of hesitation on my part, we would fall back together. Did I know that it would never work? Deep down, I did.  Did I, on a daily basis, attempt to convince myself that he could be “the one” if only he could see what I saw? Yep.

Why did I let this go on for so long? Aside from his being hot, some part of me doubted that “the one” could really be out there. He also had just enough redeeming qualities that I felt justified in putting up with his behavior, despite how often it was completely unacceptable.  If we don’t believe that there is someone or something better for us out there, something that is attainable, we tend to tell ourselves “well, it’s better than nothing.” Of course, we would be wrong.

I tell you this in order to illustrate how, if I was able to put up with a person like that, how much easier it is for me to put up with particular products. Specifically, I’ve had a very similar relationship with sunless tanners. I want to love them, I really, truly do, but they always seem to disappoint. They make grand promises: an easy, perfect, natural looking glow. Sometimes they even come close to making good on them. At least, they come close enough to keep me coming back for a while. They possess their own, beauty product equivalent of “hotness.”

Recently, as I did years ago with Pete, I was finally able to take a stand. No more sunless tanners. No more chemicals and promises broken. No more slathering myself in products that have negligible benefits aside from a moderately aesthetic one. No more feeling like a little streaking here and there is simply part of the trade-off for a golden, summer glow. No more stickiness, weird smells, parabens, petroleum-derived ingredients, fragrances, plasticizers, or dyes.  I deserve better. We all do.  Sure, I was sad to imagine that I would now live a life where I would slowly become paler and paler, where my cutest cocktail dresses would pack a little less punch competing with my visible spider veins. I would never again feel quite as comfortable wearing shorts or a bathing suit. Or would I?

Chocolate Sun

Enter: Chocolate Sun: Cocoa Glow Sunless Tanning Cream For The Body. It was love at first sight, so much so that upon its arrival I did the equivalent of hopping a plane to Vegas to elope. I made a commitment that could not easily be undone and applied it the morning of the grand opening of my store.  Just short of applying itself, it is perfect. It is the sunless tanner I always imagined might be out there. It is 100% natural, 92% organic and first and foremost good for the skin. With DHA (dihydroxyacetone-the tanning ingredient) derived naturally from sugar beets, it develops in about 5 hours into a completely natural-looking tan. Its base of sunflower, sweet almond and coconut oils plus shea butter, aloe, camellia, green tea and jojoba left my skin moisturized, but not sticky, and also made it a breeze to apply. It dried quickly, and the icing on the cake was that I smelled just faintly of cocoa all day.

Getting rid of what didn’t work opened up my life. Only a few months after leaving Pete and moving home from college, I started dating a wonderful guy. I also found a sunless tanner that exceeded all of my expectations. What I learned is when we are able to let go of what isn’t right for us, we make room in our lives for what we are really looking for. Pete would always tell me that he knew one day I was going to take off and be great and that he didn’t want to hold me back. Only now do I finally understand he was right.

Do you have a beauty question or your own personal “The One” story?  I wanna hear from you!  Comment below or send questions to The Beauty Chick, email Shayna@ModernHippieMag.com.

More cool stuff and a surprise ending coming up in Part II of our Last Blast of  Summer posting later today, so check back!

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