"The First Must"

Ahh, its officially summer. As we all venture once again into the land of bare feet, barbecues and B.O. (did I say that?), I would like to take a moment to support a worthy cause - your health. In that vein, lets talk about the sun. The sun is nice and warm and makes us all tingly and happy. The sun makes pretty flowers grow. The sun can give us those natural blonde highlights we pay so much for during the rest of the year. Unfortunately, the sun, like a true Gemini, can turn on us and get quite nasty. Now more than ever it is imperative to protect your skin from the harmful effects of UV rays. The sad side effect of that self-protection can be the loss of the glorious summer glow we all desire - the glow that says its ok to bring out the white skirts and short shorts, the tank tops and bikinis. So how are we supposed to compensate for this loss?
There are a plethora of self-tanning lotions, creams, gels, sprays - you name it we've got it - on the market today. The question is which ones to choose that don't stink to high heaven or turn you those unnatural shades of fruit juice orange. The good news is that yours truly has tested some of those crazy creams FOR you so you don't have to risk the streaks and freakiness of a mis-matched product.

My new favorite? Kiehl's Sun-Free Self Tanning Formula. What I like about Kiehl's in general is that their price points are not too crazy, and that the shopping experience at their counters and stores is soooo pressure-free. At any given Kiehl's location you will not be harassed as soon as you are spotted even glancing in the direction of a product, nor are you followed around by some doting clerk who only has one goal in mind - to push the newest line. All of the Kiehl's clinicians are friendly and very knowledgeable about their products, and are also more than happy to offer customers a sample or three of the company's many products to take home and try on for size. On more than one occasion I have left a Kiehl's spot having spent zilch, but with a little bag full of freebies that I get to go home and test, and am then more than happy to come back and spend my hard-earned bucks on after making sure the product is what I want.


The good news about Kiehl's own self-tanning product is that it goes on smoothly, has minimal-to-no odor, and provides nice results within just a few hours. It also has good skin stuff in it like Vitamin E to nourish and condition as it tints. Genious. Very lightweight and effective, provides perfectly natural-looking color for people like us who hate skin cancer and/or spend so much time on the computer that they never quite make it to the beach. Available at Kiehls stores or through their website at www.kiehls.com.









(photo courtesy of Kiehls website)