I confess, I can’t help wanting a suntan, much as I know that it’s about the worst thing I can do for my skin. I don’t bake, but really feel so much better if I have a gentle bronze going on. I took Institut Esthederm to Las Vegas a few weeks ago, having tried it last year and loved it. The concept behind the brand is actually quite hard to understand and I’ve dithered about posting this because I’m struggling to explain it. What I mostly like about Institut Esthederm though is the Adaptasun technology that boosts melanin production and, if used prior to sun exposure, means that you start to tan straight away as the cells are more to the surface. It’s great for those who don’t have 3 weeks lounging by the sea, but have to ‘speed tan’ like me. It also uses ‘UV incellium technology’ that strengthens the skin’s own defences against the sun. At the same time as that and the boost, patent sun filters block harmful UVA and UVB. Confusingly, there is no SPF rating (IE consider them misleading); instead the range is split into star ratings (i.e. * for gentle sun through to *** for extreme or tropical sun). There are lots of different products in the range, but my impression is that it’s all about not ageing your skin but still being able to go in the sun. I really liked it; didn’t come home with any extra crinkles or freckles (I do love freckles though!) and although we didn’t have the best weather, came home looking brown. Yep, it was the desert, and it rained! More importantly maybe, the consistency of the creams is light and fluid, meaning it’s no kind of chore to put it on and it was very moisturising to boot. It’s really not the cheap tanning option, at over 30 pounds for body care, but I felt that this kind of sunscreen upgrade was well worth it for me.

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