Avoid the Burn

Wear clothes made from tightly woven fabric and a hat.

Stay out of the sun between 11am and 3pm when it is at its strongest.

If you’re not sure if it’s safe, do the shadow test to make an on-the-spot UV estimate. Just look at your shadow: if you can’t se it at all, dangerous UV rays are reaching you. If your shadow is shorter than you are, you’re in high-UV territory. If it extends way out beyond you, you’re somewhat safer from UVB rays, UVA rays remain in effect all day, everyday.

Make sure that you buy a sunscreen which offers "broad spectrum" protection to ward off both UVA and UVB rays.

Dermatologists recommend at least SPF15. Don’t be fooled by SPF30. It does not give you double the protection of SPF15: it gives you 3% more.

Chuck out last year’s sun screen dregs as a sun screen’s properties can change with time, especially in extreme heat.

Wear protective sunglasses as UV rays can cause cataracts.

Tan History 101

Long before sun-tan lotions were invented - in fact, before the Industrial Revolution - bronzed bodies belonged to manual laborers. To be brown in those days was a symbol of low social class. Pale, porcelain skin was in vogue - mainly because rich people stayed indoors. But as machines began to appear, the working classes left the fields for the factories. As they turned a whiter shade of pale, the rich turned progressively browner: sporting a tan meant you had money and could afford a leisurely outdoor life.

By the early 1920's, heliotherapy was all the rage. Daily exposure to sunlight was touted as a cure for everything from acne to tuberculosis. But it wasn’t until Choco Chanel charlestoned back from the Mediterranean with a deep golden tan, that bronzed skin became a truly desirable item. By the 30's the sun tan stood for health, wealth and style. Before long skimpy swimwear appeared, with slim shoulder straps which could be lowered to keep an even tan. And then in the 40's sun-tan lotion hit the market. At that time, it was designed to assist with the basting and the roasting, not to protect from the sun. Within ten years ,the bikini had arrived on the scene, allowing women’s bodies close to total exposure. Then in the 60's the sun lamp brought the Tenerife tan to your living room - even in the middle of winter.

Through the 70's and 80's, the fashion press promoted the sun tan as something to make you look and feel healthier and younger, in the face of a growing body of scientific evidence that it not only leads to deeper-etched wrinkles, but reduces life expectancy too. Increasing awareness of the link between exposure to the sun and skin cancer crept in slowly - aided by growing concern over