Robyn’s Nest

One of my chums has given me a bit of a ribbing because I started my sunbed campaign this week, as I do every summer, in a bid to be a bronzed beauty on the beach.

I’ve started early (holiday is in five weeks) because it’s safer to build your tan slowly and that’s why I hit the tanning towers little and often. My quest for colour isn’t all about vanity though, it’s also a safe way to avoid sunburn when I step out on foreign shores. I do tan well once the base tan has developed but if my skin hasn’t seen sunlight for the best part of a year (which is likely to happen in this country) then I will burn baby burn. And burning is bad.

I refuse to stay out of the sun on hols, that’s the main reason I go abroad and bikinis just don’t look as good when you’re milk bottle white or lobster red. And I feel it’s better to tan slowly over time using UK sunbeds than risk a roasting on the Costa Del Sol. That’s my justification and I’m sticking to it.

However, today I am a tad on the pink side and an ickle bit itchy. And I know the reason, so it’s my own fault. You’re not supposed to use sunbeds when you’re lathered in body lotions and potions because they make your skin more sensitive. I am an avid user of the God of all moisturisers - E45 cream- and this is no problem.

But last night I indulged in a full body hot stones massage and mini facial which meant me leaving the salon looking like I’d tripped over an oil slick. I was coated in all kinds of massage oils and creams and the sunbeds didn’t take kindly to it - or rather my skin hasn’t.

Anyway, it won’t deter my bid to be tantastic this summer, it’s just another lesson learned.