Spray Tanning at Home and Discovering No Make-Up Make-Up...

This week the beauty desk have been...

THE TAN: Try though I may to deny it, a tan* just makes me look better (the denial bit, in case you were wondering, comes from dermatologists constantly telling me that a sun tan is the result of damage and also as a result of my skin's predilection to pigment up when given the least opportunity). 

Having eschewed tanning in the sun on account of the above, I last week turned to the spray tan for a little warming up before a friend's wedding. The process: embarrassment itself - the unflappable team at CitySwish erected a tent in my sitting room, instructed me to strip off inside and then hosed me down with Sienna X's finest shade of bronze. Halfway through my standing arms aloft with the spray colouring the region around my naval, my husband came in. Thankfully, he was entirely unphased by yet another beauty experiment taking place in our house and blithely went about chopping up vegetables for dinner.

My conclusion: despite the toe-curling cringiness of having a beautician spritz your crevices with a hand held tanning gun, I'd highly recommend it. Never has my tan looked as convincing - streak-free and of a uniformly warm, beautiful golden hue, I'll be booking in again.

* By tan, I of course mean of the honeyed filter variety to take the edge off paleness, not the orangey drying sort I had so many memorable episodes with during the early days of the fake tan.

THE CLEANSERS: Two, indeed: one that would work magic on a slightly congested complexion, the other for dry skin in need of constant cosseting. The first is courtesy of Tata Harper, who makes natural products with textures, scents and performances that compete with synthetic counterparts. Her Regenerating Cleanser provides gentle exfoliation and deep cleansing without any stripping. Nude's Perfect Cleanse Omega Jelly contains essential fatty acids and emulsifies into a milk when mixed with water, so won't leave skin feeling tight or squeaky after cleansing.

THE NO MAKE-UP MAKE-UP: Having long championed Perricone MDs skincare, I was pleased to see a full range of make-up designed to look natural and infuse the skin with Perricone's skin-nourishing ingredients come out this week. Start with the No Bronzer Bronzer, which epitomises the brand's approach to make-up (you'll look better, but without the appearance of being 'made up'), then work your way through the rest of the range.

THE SILK EYE MASK: I recently wrote about the skincare benefits of sleeping on a silk pillow. Holistic Silk, who make both excellent silk pillowcases and eye masks, have fused the two and made an 'anti-ageing' eye mask that blocks out all light, is made from 100% silk and comes scented with natural lavender. Get yours at www.holisticsilk.com.

THE EYE BALM: During the summer when a little too much Pimm's and much too little sleep is all too common, a soothing and cooling eye balm is your best bet at making you look like you've had a good night's sleep. Elemis are launching their Pro-Radiance Illuminating Eye Balm, £34, containing arnica and chamomile, in August and, trust me, if you get the usual under-eye darkness and puffiness after a good night out, you'll want to be patting this on before your concealer in the morning.