What you need to know about fake tan
By Kirstie McDermott
Copyright Evening Herald

Wednesday May 27 2009

It's a truth often acknowledged that we Irish are a tad fond of the old fake tan.

Unusually in Dublin, there's no north/south divide either: the Yummy Drummies of the south county are as unnaturally bronzed as their northside cousins, and God knows, the majority of them really need to tone it down a notch or five. Okay, make that 10.

It's fair to say, then, that we're particularly guilty in this country of laying it on a bit thick, and I'm not talking about our story telling abilities. In a way, you can't blame us: we live in a fairly miserable climate, we haven't had a decent summer in years, and a wan complexion can be instantly -- and relatively cheaply -- fixed with a bit of sunless tanner.

While it's a fact that everyone looks healthy with some colour on their face, we tend to go to extremes. So is there anything we do right with regards to tanning? Surprisingly, yes. If you're not getting your glow via the more natural approach -- the sun -- then you're not getting damage from UV rays that age skin and can cause cancers