We’re in Palm Beach for a few days, and one of our first stops was at a tanning salon to help us blend in with the natives. Lest you worry that we’re indulging in nasty, cancer-and-wrinkle-causing beds–fear not! Our indulgence was strictly of the spray kind. (The last thing we’re going to do is spend years slathering on anti-wrinkle lotions and potions, only to throw away the fountain of youth on a temporary bronzey glow. That’s what makeup is for!)

Read more here at The Fairest…

You’ve surely heard the beauty myth: “A base tan protects your skin.”  Lies!  My girls are too smart for that one, right? 

I know it…you know it…the whole damn world knows it: “it”, of course, being the fact that there’s no such thing as a safe tan.  Any amount of color is an indication that your skin has been damaged and is darkening in an inflammatory response to protect itself.  And yet…we persist! 

It’s summer…the sun feels so good…we all need Vitamin D…just a teensy bit of color won’t hurt…  Skin isn’t very democratic, so darker-skinned gals are luckier than fair-skinner ones: you’re at a dramatically lower risk for skin cancers like melanoma.  (You can burn, however, so don’t think you’re totally off the hook!)  As far as lighter-skinner gals–well, I don’t think any of us feel like enduring a lecture here, but suffice it to say you’ll be kicking yourself in a few years if you’re not doing something now to protect your skin.  (An ounce of prevention…)  Barring that, let me appeal to your vanity.  Wrinkles!  Oh, God…the wrinkles!

But here’s where it gets interesting.  There’s been a growing debate in recent years over the toxicity of sunscreen, with some of the more hardcore health-conscious (my mother was in this category, as are some personal health guru friends) advocating forgoing sunscreen altogether.  Their argument is that the potential cancer-causing damage from absorbing sunscreen through your skin far outweights the risks of cancer from wearing no sunscreen–are you still with me?–and so they go sunscreen-less, wearing hats and seeking shade whenever possible. 

As far as I know–or mainstream science has accepted–there’s still no conclusive proof regarding the Toxic Sunscreen debate, and I don’t have a crystal ball to forecast whether, in forty years, we’ll all be dropping dead of zinc oxide-and-Mexoryl-poisoning.  (If I were a betting woman, I’d wager that cell phone-, Diet Coke- and microwave-poisoning will probably get us first!)  But these are also not, it appears, the ravings of a fringe population…there does seem to be some truth behind it.  (Check out EWG for a report on “safer” sunscreens.)

I choose, with reservations, to apply sunscreen daily–my skin is fair and freckly, and skin cancer will doubtlessly seek me out if I’m not vigilant–avoiding chemical sunscreens when possible, and instead picking physical blockers with zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.  Whatever your choice (chemical-laden sunscreen to keep the wrinkles firmly at bay; physical blockers perfect for sensitive skin; a life of jumping from palm tree shade to palm tree shade under a wide-brim hat), at least choose something–just not the tanning bed, three unprotected hours on the beach or, yes, a “harmless” base tan!

Jennifer Aniston is a masterclass in casual sexiness:

1) Tousled honey blonde waves?  Check.
2) Subtle-yet-feature-defining natural makeup?  Check.
3) Tawny, toned limbs?  Check, and mate.

Well-played, Jennifer Aniston.  Well-played, indeed.

For a similar JeniAni year-’round glow, try my favorite new hint-of-self-tanner moisturizer: Jergens Natural Glow Express Body Moisturizer.  Like all “moisturizer plus self-tanner” products, it doesn’t moisturize as well as it could, but the slight kiss of color it provides is tops.

Always remember to exfoliate beforehand, and apply to clean, completely dry skin.  When applying an intensive tanner, I do it at night (and let my sheets pay the price, rather than my clothes).  A hint-of-tanner product, however, can be applied in the day and will dry quickly.

It’s one of the cruel beauty realities of life: the sun’s not good for your skin, but nearly everybody looks better with some color! Finding a great facial self-tanner can be tricky: the hue has to be the perfect shade of bronze while still looking natural and not-orangey, and anything that causes skin to break out goes straight into the reject pile.

After years of searching high and low (from department store to drugstore!), I’ve finally found a facial self-tanner I can throw my weight behind: Jergens Natural Glow Face Daily Moisturizer SPF20.  It’s subtle enough to be applied daily yet makes a noticable–and natural-looking–difference in your face color.  Plus, it has sunscreen, so you can avoid piling on the products.   And break outs?  Zero.  Zilch.  Nada.

The fact that it’s available at the drugstore for mere dollars only makes it sweeter!

I spent most the day at a TV shoot hanging out with Lorit Simon, co-creator (with Lindsay Lohan!) of the new self-tanning spray Sevin Nyne.  Sevin Nyne has received a ton of press recently–no doubt initially because of the Lindsay connection–but the big shocker here is that the spray not only works, but is fabulous!  If you’re like me, your biggest complaint about self-tanner is that is smells disgusting.  As a self-proclaimed self-tanning expert, I’ve managed to bypass streaks and orange palms (okay, most of the time!), but the gross-smell thing really trips me up.  Sure, I like to be bronzey as much as the next girl, but Eau de Sour Milk is so not my thing, and that’s what you get with pretty much everything on the market.  Sevin Nyne gets the full Jolie treatment because, hey, it’s 2009, and it’s high-time we had a caramel-scented tanner that won’t go rancid after two hours and–oh, yeah!–actually works.

I used to be skeptical about the spray concept–surely a lotion or cream works better, no?–but I’d long been converted to that, too.  The beauty of a spray is that you don’t have to rub it in.  So, after your first one or two inevitably messy sessions (steep learning curve here, people!), you’ll be speedily spritzing like a pro and can also get those hard-to-reach places on your back.  Of course, for some people, nothing less than Jergens Natural Glow or a light-as-air mousse will do–and that’s perfectly acceptable when you want light, barely-there color.  For a true summery-yet-still-natural-looking bronze, however, I seriously recommend Sevin Nyne.

Oh.  And did I mention that it smells amazing?  Because it smells amazing.  Check out my interview with Lorit Simon here!

Basic self-tanning tips:
- Always tan on clean, dry skin
- Moisture after tanning, not before
- Tan your hands and feet last, so you can control amount and strength
- Exfoliation will fade your tan, so keep that in mind while shaving or using body scrubs!
- Pay special attention to knees, elbows, ankles, feet and hands; all can be tell-tale areas of self-tanning

I’ve been using Jergens Natural Glow Foaming Daily Moisturizer for the past week, and I’m digging it.  It’s under $10, dries in seconds, and is easy to rub in lazily and haphazardly thanks to the foam formulation.  It bills itself as non-streaking, but the sunless tan marketers of the world have obviously never met yours truly.  (There’s not a “streak-free” self-tanner in existence that I can’t persuade to look a little wonky and runny on my legs or wrists!  It’s a gift!) 

Still, I like it–it’s pretty much goof proof, and the Fair to Medium shade is natural enough on my albino skin that I’ll forgive the curdled milk smell.  Hey, you win some, you lose some.  But seriously, beauty companies.  How hard is it to make a sunless tanner that doesn’t stink you up?  Let’s get some innovation going, people.  (Yes, yes, I know that plenty of tanners claim to smell like roses and angel breath, but I have a super sensitive nose, and they still smell like rotting corpses to me.  Yummy!)