Friday 13 September 2013

Sunscreen Story

I tell this story only because one of my missions is to save your beautiful skin.

So I was walking down Edinburgh's Rose Street, which is just for pedestrians, with a grocery bag in one hand and a Lakeland bag in the other, looking in vain for a shop with bright green shoe polish. And in a right-hand beauty shop, a Mediterranean-looking lady (from her accent, I'm guessing Greek) called me over while waving scratchcards.

The prize on my scratchcard, I now see, is a complimentary consultation, but I think I had it already for the lady peered searchingly at my face and told me my skin looked flawless. What was I using?

"MAC foundation for fair-skinned people," I said meekly.

"Is that it? Do you use moisturizer?" she asked.

"No," I said.

"How old are you?" she demanded.

Readers, I told her.

The Greek lady, who I think was in her 30s, or maybe in her late 20s after a youth spent roasting in the sun, took the name of Our Blessed Lord in vain. (I'll try to make up for that next Benediction.)

"Come back and see me when you're eighty," she said.

May the Lord bless her and keep her and let His light shine upon her. But as for the direct rays of the sun, girls: hats! sunglasses! sunscreen!

(And, if you need it, two drops of MAC Mineralize Moisture SPF 15 foundation.)

Update: Proper post of the day below.

5 comments:

Julia said...

Yeah, there are women in the Australian tropics who manage to age themselves by about 15 years by sunbaking etc. I grew up with the Slip-Slop-Slap advert campaign and also scary melanoma adverts though.

Renee said...

Hi Seraphic, have you ever tried Clinique foundation? I'm just wondering how it compares to MAC. Been using Clinique for years. I am also very fair-skinned. Always looking for the *best* or *better* product.

Seraphic said...

To be honest, this is my second bottle of really truly foundation ever. The first was some drug store brand that made me look like I was dying. So you can imagine that I am happy with the MAC!

Beth said...

Seraphic, I love ALL of your advice, but your wisdom on sunscreen has probably had the most profound effect on my life. Between your blog and an article I once read in Vogue, I've been motivated to wear sunscreen daily now for well over a year.

Seraphic said...

Yay! And thank you for mentioning me and Vogue in the same sentence! :-D