Fading creams which can be used to treat blotchy and spotty skin are available. However, before using such creams, it is wise to seek medical consultation from a skin specialist on the correct treatment for the complaint. You may be trying to fade not a simple sun spot but instead, a more serious skin problem. Lastly, no matter how hardy and resilient your skin seems to be right now, or how much you love a suntan, do -try and think ahead a few years. Repeated overexposure to the sun will inevitably increase your chances of looking prematurely aged. You have only to compare the complexion of a woman of 50 who has never been in the sun to someone of the same age - or even five to 10 years younger - who is a sun-worshiper to see that tanning rarely allows skin to age truly gracefully. Note those tell-tale areas of pigmentation, red veins, wrinkles, crew's feet that might otherwise have been avoided, then ask yourself if that's a price worth paying for just a few weeks of bronzed glamour every year.

What're the numbers for?

The numbers (called sun protection factors, or SPFs) which follow the name of the preparation indicate how much they shield you from the sun. For instance, with no sunscreen at all, the human skin rates a 1. That is, the skin burns in a set number of minutes (the first time) for each person. Now, if that same person, who burns, say in ten minutes on the year's first exposure, wears a number "8" sunscreening lotion, then he or she would have 'to stay out for 80 (10 X 8) minutes to get the same degree of burn. In other words, the higher the SPF number (up to the federally permitted maximum of 15), the higher the degree of protection.

Which number should I use?

A: The sunscreen manufacturers tell us that each person has to make up his or her own mind regarding the extent of protection needed. We are left to shift for ourselves in determining the amount of damage we want to risk! I personally believe that all people should give themselves the best possible shot at making it through life "skin cancerless." So use a 15-rated sunscreen every time you'll get significant sun exposure. You might as well take good care of that skin of yours. It may be the only one you'll ever get!

What's the best sunscreen for fair-skinned people? Sunscreens come in two major types. We're all familiar with the old parasol-and-bonnet concept. That's all our ancestors had to prevent themselves from wrinkling up like prunes in the hot sun. This type of sunscreen is the physical type. It includes long sleeves, and white, reflective clothing to shield the tender skin below. More recently, a new concept in sun protection has evolved th "parasols in a bottle," or chemical sunscreens. These agents are some of the most remarkable chemicals in human history. They are composed of molecules with a special affinity for sun-light. The thin, protective layer they put down can shield you from 99 percent of the sun's harmful rays, depending on the composition of the chemical sunscreen.

Nowadays everybody has the opportunity to tan safely and slowly without burning. Modern sunscreens really do cut out the most damaging wave-lengths of strong sunlight while conditioning and moisturizing the skin, and more companies are perfecting very powerful screens and blocking agents that offer almost 100 per cent protection from the sun. Sunscreen products are a rather sophisticated development in Australia. In the United States and Europe, sunscreens are graded on a cosmetic basis, ie. a protection factor sunscreen of PF 2 or 3 is suitable for dark skins while a higher PF numbered product offers more protection for fairer skinned people. However with Australia having the world's highest incidence of skin cancer going by this artificial grading alone is irrelevant. In sunscreen products. the SPF (sun protection factors) measures the sunburn protective properties filtering out the burning UVB rays. The SPF range varies in protection levels from a minimum of two to the maximum SPF of 15 +. This SPF measures protection against sunburn but is not a measurement of protection against skin cancer and other skin problems. Many people in Australia have the type of skin where they can get away without using a sunscreen or else one with a low SPF rating of 2 or 3. But such skin which easy tans without burning is like all other skin types in that it is not protected from the long-term damage caused by UVB and especially UV A solar rays. Long-term damage from these rays includes not only skin cancer and premature aging of the skin but also photo sensitivity due to commonly used drugs. Most dermatologists agree there is only one type of sunscreen to use for protection against both UV A and UVB rays. These sunscreens carry a SPF rating of I 5 + and a broad spectrum label. It is now acknowledged by the Standards Association of Australia that only sunscreens which filter out both UVA and UVB rays can offer total sun protection. Some sunscreen products contain special tan accelerators which sensitize the skin to the sun and therefore encourage it to go brown slightly faster than it normally would. These accelerating agents or psoralens - such as bergamot oil - should be used with extreme caution. Some doctors have expressed the fear that they may cause skin cancer, but as they have only been in use for two or three years their long-term effects are not yet known. However, more certainly. instead of turning you an even brown. they can lead to blotchy tans which will take some time to fade. The use of these products while tanning on a sun bed is also potentially hazardous, because it can rapidly cause the formation of dark blotches which are extremely difficult to remove.