No I am not advocating going out and baking your skin in the sun -anyone that knows me, knows I am all about sun safety – but I also know how much enjoyment people get from being in the sun and gaining that summer glow, so if you’re going to do it, do it as ‘skin-consciously’ as possible!

The main factor when it comes to skin ageing caused by the sun, is free-radical damage, which weakens collagen connective tissue and causes wrinkles. This is why skincare practitioners heavily advise using an antioxidant (a vitamin C based product) during the sunny months (or all year round preferably), the antioxidants help to neutralise oxidative damage.

*Without going too science-y, I thought it might help to explain that a little more clearly…. Free radicals are unpaired electrons, split by damage from, among other things, the sun. You may remember from your school science lessons that electrons like to be in pairs, so, the unpaired electron (free radical) seeks out other electrons to pair with, wreaking havoc and causing damage to cells, proteins and DNA in its wake. Antioxidants donate an electron to the free radical to neutralise it and prevent its damaging effects. Lesson over*

There are amazing topical antioxidants on the market (Skinceuticals are my favourite) and of course we can gain antioxidants from a healthy balanced diet and from supplements, but now, new from Beauty & Go, we have Summer Skin – a daily beauty drink, specifically targeted at sun exposure. Summer Skin is a macro-antioxidant drink with collagen, hyaluronic acid, beta-carotenes and a multi-vitamin complex that works intensely from the inside out, to protect from and repair sun damage. Meanwhile, the beta-carotene helps you to develop and maintain a beautiful tan, whilst green tea and Aloe Vera provide anti-inflammatory benefits to the skin.

These days, I am an spf50, large hat, sit under the parasol kinda gal as I try to un-do years of teenage/early 20s sun-worshipping, but I do miss lying in the sun and I often sneak my legs out from behind the shade of the umbrella or have a cheeky 10 mins  exposure as the sun is going down and despite very careful sun cream application, I have still been caught out on occasion (I actually think I am more prone to burning now that my skin has been exposed to the sun less). So, of course, I was very keen to try these drinks ahead of my summer holiday! You have 1 per day, 7 days prior to sun exposure – they are NOT a substitute for sun cream! They are very easy to fit into your day as there is no mixing involved and they taste great.

I was in scorching Cyprus, with temperatures hitting 31◦ or more every day (!!) and stuck to my usual freckle-fighting, spf50, big hat, under the parasol routine, but on the days when I did allow myself a teeny-tiny bit of sun, I didn’t burn, or end up looking like shrivelled prune, instead I got a lovely little (very little!) glow of a natural tan (only discovered when I scrubbed off the layers upon layers of fake tan).

I can’t say for definite that my little tan and soft skin was entirely down to Summer Skin, but it seems very likely to be, and it certainly hasn’t done any harm! I’m not an ‘avoid-at-all-costs’ sun person, I absolutely love the sun and the energy boost it gives me, but I am an ‘age-as-best-as-you-can’ type person and if Summer Skin gives me a little bit more insurance over the smidgen of sun I allow myself, them I am all for it!

Summer Skin £19.99 (7x 250ml bottles) www.mybeautyandgo.co.uk