I was delighted to hear that skincare giant Dermalogica were launching a factor 50 with matching aftersun. I was even more delighted when they popped on to my desk the other day.

As an extremely fair-skinned Northern Irelander, me and factor 50 have been the best of friends for a very long time. I have never, ever tanned unless it’s been out of a bottle. I have exactly seven freckles and I realised long ago that turning lobster red doesn’t leave me with a tan in the end. I’ve also done far too much research into melanomas. In short, for me it’s all about the sun protection.

 

 

And factor 50 it’s where it’s at, just. I tend to mix high factor with large umbrellas, hats, t-shirts and indoors. Me and the sun really aren’t friends – I still get burned.

It’s a pain, I would love to be able to stay in the sun for longer than ten minutes at a time and get a nice, gentle, toasted almond tan but it’s just not worth it. Instead, my holiday preparation begins with a long trawl looking for high factor and good after sun.

 

I’m not going to go into the merits of individual sun creams now but I am delighted to see Dermalogica throw their hat in the ring. It can often be difficult to find a high end factor 50. This one looks a beaut with 40 minutes of water resistance and a matching aftersun that contains camomile, cucumber and lavender.

 

 

Now we just need some sun to go with it…