It's been a real struggle all my life to put some colour into my pale skin. Most of the time I could pass for a vampire, with legs so pale they look almost blue – it's definitely not a sexy look. The brownest things about me are my freckles. It's annoying when you see beautiful tanned women in the media, looking healthy and natural. Whenever I've tried to get a tan the old-fashioned way, I ended up a very unnatural shade of scarlet.



Olive oil for tanning
I don't like the idea of putting loads of chemicals into my body, but I found out from a friend that she had used olive oil to help her tan, and it definitely showed. I decided to give it a try, and I've been really pleased with the results.

Cheap and efficient
In the bad old days, people would use tanning oils to accelerate their tans without worrying about the harmful effects of exposure their skin to the sun. Nowadays people are more aware of the risks and everyone uses sun tan cream instead. But olive oil can be used alongside sun tan cream to help the skin gain a good, long-lasting tan. The best thing about it is that it is so cheap – not at all like the expensive self-tanning lotions you see in pharmacies, and olive oil is completely natural. It's been used as a skin conditioner in Mediterranean countries for generations.

Olive oil contains Vitamin A
Olive oil contains Vitamin A, which is scientifically understood to bring colour to the skin, and it is very good for you. I'd never use it without applying sun tan lotion too, but I've found that when I cover my skin in olive oil after I've been sunbathing I can now look forward to a much deeper, sexy and long lasting tan.