Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic

Welcome to our new weekly column on the YOU magazine website, www.you.co.uk  Below you will find the current question and our advice, with a list of where to source the products mentioned.  To look at past columns, click here. And for lots more solutions to your beauty dilemmas, visit Q&A, just click here.

March 29th, 2009:  Sunbed Risks

Q  I am really pale and about to go off on a beach holiday. I would like to book a course of sunbeds but a friend says they are risky. What's the truth please - and what's the best alternative?

A The safety concerns are very real. According to Cancer Research UK, 'sunbeds aren't a safe alternative to tanning outdoors. Like the sun, sunbeds give out harmful UV rays which damage the DNA in our skin cells. In fact, sunbeds are estimated to cause around 100 deaths from melanoma every year in the UK.

‘Using a sunbed once a month or so can increase your risk of skin cancer by more than half. When the tan fades, the damage remains. Sunbeds also cause premature skin ageing including dry, coarse skin tone and wrinkles.’

So our advice is don’t do it. Increasingly, the government is looking at legislation to regulate the sunbed industry. The bottom line is that whatever form of UV rays you expose yourself to, you are roasting your skin. Sound good? No, we don’t think so either.

If you can’t love your lily-white skin, then a good fake tan is the answer. And if you’re haunted by the days when they smelt of overcooked biscuit and delivered a stripey orange effect, forget it: technology has come on apace.

Remember, you don’t need to go copper-coloured to get an effect: a natural honey is just as flattering. We love the hint-of-a-tint body creams, known as ‘gradual tanners’,that build up a gentle believable colour over several days.

We . . .

Sêche Vite Secrets of the French Manicure mini kit, £23.95. A handy little zip-up pouch with all you need for instant nail transformation: a mini (gentle) nail file), plus teensy pots of Sêche’s classic base and fast-dry top coat, plus white (for tips) and the prettiest sheer ballerina pink. It’s official: there is now simply no need for nails ever to go un-groomed again.

WHERE TO FIND PRODUCTS:

Palmer’s Bronzing Gradual Tan, £4.89 for 250ml, has a lot of fans, both for the instant sunkissed glow and the almost edible smell of cocoa butter, which one fan described as ‘chocolate vanilla’.

Fake Bake Gradual Self Tanning Lotion. Fake Bake has developed a Gradual Self Tanning Lotion – Fair, £22.00 for 170ml, specifically for pale-skinned lovelies like you, which has also gathered a lot of fans.

Estée Lauder DayWear Plus Multi Protection Anti-Oxidant Moisturizer SPF15. For facial tinted moisturisers, we consider Estée Lauder DayWear Plus Multi Protection Anti-Oxidant Moisturizer SPF15, £28.38 for 50ml, a true beauty classic, morphing miraculously from an unlikely grey colour into a tint that perfectly matches individual skin tones.

A new arrival that we both like is Madara Sun Flower Tinted Moisturiser, £21.50 for 50ml (one shade only), featuring herbal extracts, algae and rose water, with the colour and shimmer coming from plant minerals and mica.

And, of course, when you are in the sun, please protect yourself with a good sun prep – at least SPF15 on your body, and SPF20 to 30 on your face. (Interestingly, Cancer Research UK says that the benefit of going above SPF30 is negligible.) The key is to put it on thickly, then reapply every two hours, and always after you’ve been in the water.

If you tend to have a sensitivity reaction to sun preps, look for ranges that use a physical barrier, eg zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, rather than chemical blocks, which are the type mostly linked to sensitivity.

Gamarde Natural Sunscreen SPF30, £15.69 for 40g. We go to www.lovelula.com for lovely natural sun preparations, including Gamarde Natural Sunscreen SPF30, £15.69 for 40g

Kimberly Sayer Ultra Light Organic Facial Moisturiser SPF25, £23.59 for 150ml. We also visit www.lovelula.com for Sarah’s favourite Kimberly Sayer Ultra Light Organic Facial Moisturiser – SPF25, £23.59 for 150ml (which lasts from spring to autumn).

Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic - Archive

March 29th, 2009 - Are Sunbeds Safe?
March 22nd, 2009 - Weak, Flaking Nails
March 15th, 2009 - Puffy Eyes
March 8th, 2009 - Camouflaging Red Cheeks
March 1st, 2009 - Hair Colouring in Pregnancy
February 22nd, 2009 - Thinning Eyebrows
February 15th, 2009 - Acne