h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If you want to 'keep young & beautiful' then there's one really easy thing you can do - stay out of the sun. While some sunshine & fresh air is undoubtedly good for you, suntans are ageing and are actually skin damage. I don't know where the fallacy that being brown = healthy came from but it is wrong. Tanning - it's no coincidence the same word can be used to describe the process for skin or leather - too much sun exposure / damage will leave you looking like a handbag in later life, no matter how much water you drink or how often you moisturise. Brown is not healthy, it's yucky especially if you decide to take the quick route via sunburn (which has even more health hazards attached to it - some of them fatal). This myth of brown = healthy really annoys me, especially when people go on at me when I get back from my holidays about how white I am - that's what I want / that's why people regularly guess my age as 5-10 years younger than I actually am. Oh & it means you can wear any top without having stupid strap marks showing.

If you really want to be outdoors, be sure to wear a good sunscreen (SPF15 at a minimum, SPF30 and above would be better). Wear it every day, even when it's overcast - some ultraviolet rays can get through the cloud cover. You should also wear a hat to protect your scalp. And don't forget sunglasses to protect your eyes: there is evidence that ultraviolet light damages eyes and causes cataracts. Besides, you'll look cool.

If you can't stand that 'Whiter Shade of Pale' skin, you can use tinted moisturizers or sunless tanning creams on your face. The downside of these products is that they can stain light-colored clothing, and the stains may not wash out. You may also end up looking orange, not tanned.

God help poor ol' David Dickinson then!
Is that why suncreams make good moisturizers? Aren't they, or have I got something else wrong?

Plain ol' sunscreens aren't particularly good moisturizers, I don't think. I look for moisturizers with sunscreens in them and apply them liberally (with a trowel).

Er... were we talking about good grooming!? Skip the trowel then...

I agree about wearing a hat - though these days people tend to look at you funny. Does anyone have any recommendations for shops that sell nice sun-hats? Not 'wedding' hats and not tiny ugly 'beach' hats? Just a nice everyday sort of hat. I had a design I liked from River Island so I bought four of them but they were made of paper and have now worn out. Any UK / internet suggestions would be great.

I usually try to be careful about using sunscreen, but I'm not always consistent, and often the UV gets through due to my negligence. Mostly because wearing sunscreen is such a chore that I'm loath to use it -- it's greasy and smelly and feels terrible on your skin and hands.

Finally, though, I've found a brand that actually feels good on my skin and has only a slight scent -- Neutrogena UltraSheer dry-touch sunblock (SPF 45). (I'm in the US, but I would imagine that it's distributed overseas.) The downside -- as with most Neutrogena products, it's quite expensive, costing almost twice as much as other brands, with a 3 oz tube going for about $10. But if you are repulsed by the idea of applying icky sunscreen and would rather burn, you might want to give this stuff a try.

-- Bluewyvern