I’m nicely bronze when we’re in Florida. Not burned, not dried out, just nicely tanned. I love the look and even my dermatologist said we do something right, so I would love to keep that look twelve months a year.

For most of my life, I have lived in Michigan. Pasty white was the color of all skin ten months out of the year. We would tan a little in July and August before the tan started fading and we went back to no-color.

Now that John and I spend our winters in Florida and live in the pool, we are both a lovely, healthy tan at least six months of the year. I use sunscreen to avoid burning, I never lay out in the sun, but instead we stay in the shade and let the reflected sun tan us gently.

But after listening to all the discussions on TV about the dangers to skin of even being just moderately tan, I’ve decided to try using a “self-tanner.” It supposed to be a chemical alternative to the sun but your skin is supposed to look naturally tan without the possibility of sun damage.

Although I haven’t tried it all that long (about 10 days), I can’t see any difference. I don’t look gloriously healthy, and I don’t really like the smell.

I’ll keep trying. I spent my $$$’s to buy this product so I’ll give it a fair trial, but it doesn’t seem to work. I use it every day, often twice a day, on my face. The rest of my body is still nicely tanned from our time in Florida, so it doesn’t need the extra color, but since I have always used a SPF 30 in my daily face make-up regime, my face is totally untanned. The rest of me may look bronzed, but my face is “Michigan white.”

So I’m trying to match face to body. I read the reviews and Jergens seemed to have a reliable, relatively inexpensive product, but it has failed me. My face is still pasty Great Lakes no-color.