How To Fake Great Legs

by POPSUGAR Beauty 9

This past weekend, it warmed up enough to wear shorts, and I'd already slipped into too-short cut-offs when I got a good look at myself in the mirror. After months of grizzly-like hibernation and total laziness, my legs needed some TLC. Luckily, until I can work exfoliation, intense moisturizing, and regular shaving (ahem) back into my regimen, there are plenty of easy ways to look good in those Daisy Dukes. So to join me in the ranks of those who fake it 'til they make it, just keep reading.

• Shave. If you have no time to get out the door, just shave. Your legs will look smoother, and the razor will exfoliate a little so you won't be as ashy.
• Get oily. The quickest save for scaly legs is a shave followed by a thick slathering of whatever oil you've got on hand, the thicker the better. Oil reflects light, so your legs look softer and smoother. Plus, ashy skin magically vanishes (at least for a little while), and even the most sallow legs look a little healthier.
• Glitz it up. Got some fine loose shimmer? This is the time to use it. With a light hand, dust down the front of your shin bones, the sides of your calves, the backs of your legs, and on top of your knee caps. Blend. The shimmer diffuses light, making your skin look more translucent and cared for and disguising discoloration and patchiness.
• Bronze it. If your legs are approximately the same shade as raw meringue, don't be too proud to pull that bronzer out of the drawer and put some on. Pale is beautiful, but we all know that pale and jaundiced-looking are two very different things. Bronzer is a friend to deeper skin tones as well, because it highlights and gives a warm glow to grayed-out or ashy spots.