i have a beutiful purple bruise on my leg

[mumatron]

And an even better black one on the back of my other leg.

Any suggestions on how to cover them or should I just go for black opaques?

I'd rather not if possible as the dress I have for my xmas do would look so much better without.

Try Sally Hansen airbrush legs, it's basically spray foundation for legs

I was thinking of going for a spray tan and seeing if that helps.

May try that instead

A spray tan won't have the opacity to cover a bruise like that.

You will need to put make up on it. You can cover to a certain extent with body make up, like the Sally Hansen stuff recommended or MAC's Face & Body Foundation. If the bruise is really dark you may need to neutralise it with a full coverage concealer, first with a yellow neutraliser (yellow is the opposite to purple so will counteract it) and then with a colour to match your leg. If you have any Benefit "Lemon Aid" that might work as a neutraliser, if not I'd recommend Dermablend.

This rather depends on the style of dress you wanted to wear, but rather than boring opaque tights what about patterned ones? I've seen loads of lovely designs in M&S lately. Camouflage those bruises!

No to spray tan, not right 'heaviness'

Or yes, tights - Try Giles Deacon tights, or Pretty Polly as well - nice prints.

this is the dress. I dont think patterned tights are going to go. the dress is a very dark navy

black tights look ok, I just fancied being brave and going bare legged for once.

(btw, the dress looks crap there but I fill it better than the model I'm fatter )