A BURNING ISSUE? Alexandra Friend on why she quit sunbathing

Experts say there’s no such thing as a safe tan, even if you don’t burn. Senior beauty editor Alexandra Friend explains what made her quit sunbathing for good – and why her skin will thank her for it

I’m looking Tom Ogden in the eye. ‘Do you tan?’ I ask him. As the European ‘face’ of Alpha-h, an Australian skincare brand with common sense at its core, Tom is the poster boy for scrupulous, non-negotiable sun protection. But Tom is also my friend; yes, we meet at work events, where he keeps me up to speed on the latest skincare formulations, but also at weddings and barbecues, so I expect Tom to tell me the truth. His answer, unwaveringly, is ‘no’.

Reader, sometimes beauty people fib. I know some editors who smoke, and skincare gurus who don’t wear sunscreen (though they’d never admit it in public). But Tom’s skin is as glossy as butter and just as soft. No creeping pigmentation for him, and no more creases around the eyes than you’d see on someone 10 years younger (he’s a puckish 40-something). Tom, I decide, genuinely does not tan.

HOT TOPIC

We know that sunbathing is bad for us. But resistance can melt faster than an ice cream in the sun when faced with the delight of pulling a bikini strap aside and comparing last week’s milky skin with today’s café au lait – or wherever your own tanning trajectory takes you.

The standard beauty drill has long been that, while there’s no such thing as a ‘safe’ tan, if you take it slowly and don’t burn, it’s okay. But here’s the thing: there’s no such thing as a safe tan. Full stop.

Any change in skin colour caused by sun exposure indicates cellular damage, which can ultimately lead to skin cancer. And while UVB rays burn the surface of the skin, UVA rays penetrate deeper to cause damage deep in the dermis without leaving any clues on the surface. Bad things could be happening down there and you’d never know – until later.

AFTER SUN

I quit sunbathing five years ago. It was my pigmentation that was bothering me: I go brown at the drop of a hat, but the older I get (I’m 45), the muddier my face looks, particularly around my nose and mouth. When a tan fades, I’m left with patches that even the strongest vitamin C can’t shift, the skin on my décolleté looks thickened and I don’t even recognise the skin around my eyes.

Tom likens the effect of sun damage on the skin to letting air out of a balloon, such is the deterioration of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid. At London’s Medicetics skin clinics, Dr Vicky Dondos won’t treat anyone who deliberately puts their face in the sun. ‘No judgement, but it’s a complete waste of money,’ she says. ‘Sunscreen is the best anti-ageing product out there. Needles are just the cherry on the cake.’

Does Dr Dondos tan? ‘The sun will never directly hit my face,’ she says. ‘If I’m on holiday and swimming, there might be a bit of bounce from the sea but that’s it.’ As for the body, Dr Dondos will turn a blind eye to the lightest holiday glow, pointing out that if you’re spending two weeks in the Med, it’s impossible not to pick up a bit of colour, even when not actively sunbathing.

She’s right. Once I’d committed to a sun-free face, it seemed odd not to treat my body accordingly. But even sitting in the shade and applying factor 30+ when (briefly) venturing into the sun, I pick up some colour every summer. Nothing that would register as a tan, and never on my face – I wear a hat and huge sunglasses; research suggests that when the retina registers high levels of UVA, the body produces melanin, even in the shade.

SUNNY OUTLOOK

I’ve since found that holidays are much nicer by swapping hours by the pool (so sweaty, so squinty!) with reading a book under a beach umbrella. Even on a sunny day in the UK, I’m just as careful. Facial sunscreen mists let me layer up without smooshing my make-up (I love Kate Somerville Uncomplikated SPF50 Soft Focus Makeup Setting Spray, £32, and Soleil Toujours Extrème Face + Scalp Sunscreen Mist SPF50, £34).

It’s worked – my skin looks clearer and more luminous than it did in my 30s, and the actives in my skincare don’t have to work as hard to slow pigmentation.

GLOWING REPORT

Changes on the beauty landscape tell me we’ll soon witness the demise of the suntan. Even bronzing make-up isn’t quite so bronze any more: Chanel’s annual Les Beiges collection gives skin more glow than colour, and MAC’S latest bronzers are light and luminous.

Terry Barber, MAC’S director of make-up artistry, says he hasn’t done an ‘ultra-tan’ on the catwalk in years. ‘I’m more likely to pop an outdoorsy sort of blush on to the cheeks,’ he explains, ‘or do a honey-coloured tint rather than completely change the colour of the skin, so the look is sunny, not tanned.’

Elsewhere on the GH beauty desk, Gillian (naturally freckled and Titian-haired) doesn’t try to tan because she quite simply can’t. Eve basks in the sun like a cat (though not for hours on end, she’s keen to point out, and always with SPF50 on her face), while Medina favours a dreamily pale complexion, so protects her olive skin with SPF50 all year round, even indoors.

A poll of the GH fashion department, however, revealed that returning with a tan is a key driver in planning holidays, so I pass on this wisdom from Dr Marko Lens, authority in premature ageing and skin cancer: ‘Sunscreen exists so you can play with your children on the beach for 40 minutes without risking melanoma,’ he says. ‘Not so you can bake in the sun all day.’ Advice they’ll hate, but they will be better for it.