How to deal with a fading tan, and Melanie Sykes and Javier Bardem in their underwear!

It’s that time of year when our summer tans start to fade … and it doesn’t always look great. Instead of hiding away in maxi dresses and cover-ups, use our tips to help you go from bronzed to pale and interesting without a difficult in-between stage.

First, if you want to lose a bad tan line, perhaps from a swimsuit or bikini that distracts from your lingerie, try this system:

1. Exfoliate the area at night and again in the morning, for at least two days, using a shop bought product or half a mug of brown sugar with a teaspoon of almond oil massaged onto the skin. Rinse thoroughly. After each exfoliation moisturise well.
2. When the skin is smooth and well fed gently tap some self tan onto the area that is lighter and allow to dry for around ten minutes.
3. Examine the tan line to see if you’ve got a nice blend, and if there’s still a difference, use a spray tan, the kind that washes off, to blend the two lines together with a small brush – a blusher brush works well for this as it blurs the margin of the two tans well.
4. If you have any streaky areas, use a hair remover (depilatory) cream designed for sensitive skin which will fade the fake colour almost instantly. Leave on the skin for just two minutes, rinse off, and start again.
5. Finish off with your blusher brush touching up the whole area with a little bronzing powder – hey presto! Perfect blend.

But if your whole tan is fading and you want to be rid of it, buy a body wash and make up remover containing alpha-hydroxy acid (AHA) which is a natural exfoliant and skin rejuvenator, but remember that some sensitive skins don’t cope well with AHA. Use these treatments every day to speed up your tan’s disappearance. If you’re really in a hurry, mix several tablespoons of baking soda (not baking powder) with cool water or yoghurt to form a thick paste, massage onto damp skin and then rinse in cool water – this exfoliates the skin and leaves it smooth and refreshed.

Javier Bardem

TV presenter Melanie Sykes has a long history of underwear modelling, she was a Berlei girl back at the beginning of her career. Now, aged 43, she’s starred in a new lingerie campaign for Adore Moi by Ultimo which shows off her washboard abs to best advantage! Melanie has had an amazing year, which has included marrying her younger lover Jack Cockings, who is 27 and whom she met on Twitter! Her wedding dress was pretty stunning too, being a jewelled peach gown on a corset body which made the most of Mel’s gorgeous curves.

And Javier Bardem stars in a promotional video for Agent Provocateur, which was directed by his wife, Penelope Cruz and features the L’Argent lingerie line also designed by Penelope and her sister Monica!