Worse Than a Cockroach
In her book, beauty director Jean Godfrey-June writes of awakening, Kafka-like, with hair reminiscent of Bill Clinton or Naomi Wolf. While my hair is intriguingly consistent (the natural, air-dried look is long, blonde, quasi-ratty, Use Your Illusion II–era Axl Rose; when I blow-dry, it's glam, sleek-haired marrying-Stephanie-Seymour-in-the-"November-Rain"-video Axl Rose), my skin is hypersensitive, capricious, and inclined towards all types of dermatological helter-skelter.
The thing not to do with such skin is go to a tanning salon in New Jersey with an always-bronzed frenemy who tells you that you're too pale and convinces you to broil for eight minutes in a greasy light box of death. Which is precisely what I did—two days in a row. I looked cute and golden for about a week. Then, one morning, I woke up weathered, jowly, still vaguely orange, with a little extra discoloration around the mouth: Dina Lohan.
Immediately I thought of my sister—a reformed tanorexic who in many family photos appears to be a Cypriot exchange student—who swears that Kinerase products saved her from a life of spottiness and leatherface. The brand is all about repairing and protecting sun-damaged skin—the star ingredient is kinetin, an ultra-healing plant-based extract.
She recommended, specifically, Kinerase Lotion with SPF 30 and C6 Peptide Intensive Treatment—and she was right. I rarely call skincare products miraculous (consistency in regimen counts most), but these were hugely reparative and worked fast: Two weeks in, my face is restored: remarkably smoother, softer, and more even-toned. The products are pricey* but seriously worth it.
*Alternatively, not tanning is totally free and a wonderful way to avoid cancer. I'll never, ever go tanning again, and you shouldn't, either.
—Cat Marnell, beauty assistant
Glad to hear you've reformed from tanning, there is nothing worse!
funny! smart! let's have more cat, please.