Interview: James Read - celebrity tanning expert

Jul 25 2009 by Liz Lamb, The Journal

Celebrity tanner James Read has the enviable job of working with some of the world’s most beautiful women. On his first visit to the North East he shares some beauty secrets with LIZ LAMB and reveals the new look for summer.

“The celebs also love our spray which you can spray on and get instant colour and then it develops into a darker colour throughout the day.

“It goes on light and doesn’t transfer on to your clothes.”

James was visiting the North East to divulge a few secrets to achieving the perfect tan at a St Tropez roadshow at Debenhams in the MetroCentre.

To anyone who has ever woken up looking orange or with streaky legs, advice from an expert like James is a godsend.

“It’s all about preparation,” he says.

“It’s about having the perfect base to work with and exfoliating the night before.

“On the day you are doing your tan you need to moisturise on areas like hands, feet, elbows, underarms.

“When you do the tan, do your feet and hands last.

“The good thing about St Tropez is it works with all skin tones.”

St Tropez has been the market leader in fake tanning for the past 13 years and recently re-branded the line, introducing new products and coming up with innovative ways to develop a more natural looking tan.

It includes a tan intensifier, gradual tan spray, body butter, shower cream, gradual tan mousse and everyday perfect legs.

Karen Heras-Kelly, of St Tropez, explains: “It’s become more accessible for people.

“Our mousse was our best seller for years and we came up with a gradual mousse tan, it goes on lightly and builds up colour.

“We’ve also made huge developments with the smell. We have been working on it for two years and it’s a world-first.”

That unmistakable fake tan smell, which is caused by the action of DHA on the skin, can be off-putting, but St Tropez has developed Aromaguard™, a fresh, light fragrance that doesn’t just mask the smell.

The ground-breaking technology claims to see off that distinctive aroma , reducing the smell by a minimum of 70% and replacing it with a subtle fragrance that works in harmony with the skin.

Karen says: “It’s amazing and is available in all our new look self tan and Everyday products.”

Another top tip from James is to exfoliate three to four days after you have tanned before re-applying any colour.

He says: “A lot of people don’t want to do this as they think it will take off all their colour, but if they don’t then the colour will just build up and go patchy.

“It really is all about preparation.”

It’s not just women who are wanting a perfect colour too as Take That and Hugh Jackman prove.

“It’s become more unisex,” says James

“Male grooming has gone up 40%. Men get face creams now and they like to have a tan.

“They want to look great and feel great too.”

And with that James is off to see his speed-dial favourite Lady GaGa.

“She did an interview recently saying I’d seen her intimately,” he laughs. See, nothing fazes James!

* To find out more about St Tropez go to www.st-tropez.com

TOP TIPS

James's top tips to tanning are:

1) Preparation of the skin

2) Leave product on for eight hours before showering

3)To actively prolong the tan exfoliate after three days and moisturise to make it last longer