Well, it was announced last week that all under-18s will be banned from sunbed salons.  Great move me thinks, and I reckon those UV human sandwich toasters should be outlawed anyway.

I used one once, an upright jobby, 10 minutes stood in my pants with two sticky silver discs over my eyes....(attractive). But, this was swiftly followed by a half-an-hour spell in the chilled section in Tesco, well it was the only place to ease the resulting inferno.

Never again, and since, without doubt I have been a faker. And , this weekend I chose to take away the chewing gum winter skin tone with a bit of the fake stuff. Now, it might seem the wrong time of year,  but for us gals, party season is fast approaching and as my pale limbs have been in hibernation under tights and layers,  I know a dash  (or bucket) of colour might just be the thing to take off the white-blue hue.

Oh, to be one of those girlies that looks good without make up?

But gents, I don't want to exclude you, are you one of the growing group day-glo fake tanned lads? Well it seems this little sector of the population is on the up, with more and more men reaching for the San Tropez like they would for their shaving foam.

Although I kinda think fake tan on a bloke is a bit naff, I am a full supporter of all things healthy and anything that protects you from those harmful rays gets my vote. So chaps if you are thinking of becoming a bronzed boy instead of a lily white lad, here are a few tips...

1.       Check your colour charts - yup fake tans come in shades and a going too deep will be a dead giveaway, before you know it you'll look in the mirror and David Dickinson will be looking back at you (what a horrible thought...)

2.       If asked tell the truth - If anyone asks you if you've slapped on the fake bake - come clean. No matter how hard you try to convince people you got your Barbados glow after a weekend in windy Weymouth, they won't believe you - they will just laugh harder.

3.       Exfoliate - that means buffing up all your dry bits so you don't get a Dalmatian effect. Oh, and watch your hairline - this is the most important part of your body and prone to those telltale tan tide marks, so be careful.