FASHION Magazine

Summer means lots of things: barbecues, pool parties, pedicures, and a whole lot of skin exposure. Without the camouflaging comfort of jeans, suddenly ashy, scaly legs require some immediate attention. Ditto for limbs and other areas that could benefit from a bit of glow. With a mix of superstar new products hitting shelves and a […]

The post 9 Body Products For Glowing, Gleaming Summertime Skin appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

The journey to a streak-free self-tanning solution has been a long and winding road, one featuring unfortunate streaks, unpleasant scents, dyed-orange palms, and plenty of stained bathroom counters. But the latest developments make the wait worth it. Mists, waters and mousses that go on clear and develop gradually, over a few hours after application, make […]

The post These Self-Tanning Products are <em>Literally</em> Foolproof appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

How can I counteract brassy tones in my (bottle) blonde hair? If your blonde hair is looking a little lacklustre and not quite the same flaxen tone you were when you first committed to the bottle, you’re more or less a victim of colour theory. When you colour your hair, there are blue, yellow and […]

The post Beauty Fix: The perfect Spring shades for your hair, lips and skin appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

We could all stand to punch in some more hours when it comes to beauty sleep. From hours spent staring at your phone screen, to nights out spent with friends, a helping hand in the form of overnight beauty products are in order. The sad truth is that those late nights and early mornings can […]

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See our favourite self-tanners »

Growing up in my family, tanning was pastime, pleasure and competitive sport. Pale was pejorative. My parents, both great tanners in their youth, lived in East Africa in the early ’70s, before I was born. That time in their lives seemed to me fabulously glamorous—never mind the fact that my sister, a baby then, contracted malaria and nearly died—because for two years, they were tanned. Deeply tanned. Not the amateur-hour suntan you might obtain after a week in Fort Lauderdale, the kind of profound, layered tan that makes you look like another person—an exceptionally well-leisured one.

I remember the four of us in the ’80s, lying on a quartet of loungers and passing the Hawaiian Tropic SPF 4 down the line like a familial baton. If my friends enjoyed splashing around in swimming pools and lakes, I liked lying down next to them, and nowhere in the vicinity of a sun-blocking parasol. Parasols were meant for other people, the ones who took long luncheons in the shade during prime UV time. (I preferred to feast on rays.)

When my sister and I had a productive tanning day, we’d high-five each other as the sun sank into the horizon and our freckles settled into our still-warm cheeks. A tan, like the travel that furnished it, was an escape from our regular selves, a gilded (if short-lived) costume.