Ask Merle!
So, you may have noticed that there was a chance to ‘Ask Merle‘ on the 5pm Health and Beauty Facebook page last month. This will be a regular thing, every month, so if you have any beauty questions you want answered, then please do look out for the Ask Merle FB post, and get asking!
This month’s question came from Liz who asked “I can never tan my legs properly, and I’m going abroad soon! Any tips?”
I think Liz was asking about that age-old problem where our legs never seem to tan quite as much as the rest of our body. The simple answer to this is that they don’t see the sun as much, therefore the melanin (the stuff that makes our skin change pigment/colour, and is actually creating a tan to protect our skin from the sun) production isnt as high as, say, our arms or decollete area, which are more often exposed to sunlight.
What I do NOT recommend is slapping your legs in baby oil and sticking them in the sun to see if they will tan quickly. They won’t. There is no real solution here, you just have to get them out more – take off the tights, loose the trousers, and get those pins exposed to some sunlight! BUT – always wear a sunscreen – particularly on areas not often exposed. The last thing you want is to burn. It is unsightly, and more than anything very, very dangerous.
If there is a summer like the one we’ve had this year every year, your legs will eventually get used to being in the sunlight,and the melanin production will pick up. But remember that it all depends on our genetic structure in the skin – some of us just won’t ever ‘take a tan’, so we have to get used to it!
And…that’s where fake tan comes in. The best way to help your legs catch up with other bits of your body is to fake it! Try a salon tan if you want an all-over glow, or just target your legs with a fake tan, a gradual tan, or a wash-off tan. Here are a few of my favourites:
1. Melvita ProSun Gradual Self Tanning Moisturizing Gel-Cream (£22, melvita.co.uk)
This is my mum’s absolute favourite! It develops gradually over a week or so into a lovely, light, golden tan. It really doesn’t smell -there is no DHA, and it moisturises as well as tans.
2. Model Co One Night Tan Wash Off Instant Bronze Mousse (£6, boots.com)
This is an excellent wash-off tan – easy to apply, using a mitt, gives a lovely light, buildable colour, so you could apply more to the paler parts to ‘even things out’. It doesn’t feel sticky, it has no nasty smell and it washes off easily.
3. Vita Liberata Phenomenal 2-3 Week Tan Mousse (£37.50, debenhams.com)
The biggest plus point with this tan is it has no horrible smell. Everything else about it is fab as well. It’s so easy to use the mousse formula, it dries quickly and it develops quickly. It lasts for a long time, thanks to the groundbreaking technology which allows the active tanning ingredient DHA to releases slowly onto the skin, extending the tan, and keeping the strong ‘fake tan’ smell at bay. It comes in three shades – Fair, Medium and Dark, so there is a tan for every skintype.
Don’t forget to keep an eye on the Facebook page this week for the next ‘Ask Merle’, or e mail marketing@5pm.co.uk, to ask me any beauty question you like, and I will do my best to answer!
