They also give height without being in the least teetering.Bitter? Style Police? Not a bit of it Fashion editors don't dictate any more; they suggest. The proportions of this season's fashions, they have argued, demand a neat little heel to complement the cutesy, girlie twinsets and pedal pushers. The public, however, has chosen to overturn the fashion editor's decision and unanimously bulk buy the simple wedgie mule instead. The reason is simple. Show a London girl a "girlie" fashion, and it is her inborn instinct to dress it down.

In which case, you could legitimately position yourself as a member of the "old skool" (very a la mode) and go back to Seventie's sci fi on the sunbed. This is, after all, still the quickest and most affordable option if you're planning an extended family of wrinkles to keep you company in middle age.But our guess is that all you're looking for this summer is a smooth, safe tan. In which case, you can tell your local beautician to stick that Decleor fake tan where the sun don't shine.That is, all over.. Fashion editors know best - and the last word on the summer shoe is the kitten heel. So why are you still wearing your wedgies? DON'T YOU just love it when fashion is hauled up in front of a kangaroo court? This season, kitten heels and flatty, strappy sandals are in the dock They stand accused as summer shoe imposters. The fashion press, Style Police included, has been fawning over kitten heels for longer than we care to remember. It was "really relaxing" but didn't produce any significant results on her skin.

She was, however, invited back for another (free) treatment which proved more successful.Of course, you might feel that this whole lotion business is a waste of precious time. Enthusiastically buffed and buffeted like some sort of liced orphan, you emerge - if not quite Helena Christiensen-like - at least feeling tanned and refreshed.Still, if you think the money could be better spent, there.are cheaper options to tempt you. St Tropez offers a treatment which costs considerably less (pounds 45) and even boasts its own tanning helpline. Our willing tester (pale with auburn hair, burns easily), was extremely happy with the results, although the process was apparently less than elegant, with the administered goo looking rather disturbingly like Marmite.Another "tester" (dark hair, olive skin) tried out the pounds 40 Pier Auge treatment at Chelsea's Martyn Maxey salon, which took about an hour, with an exfoliation treatment included. If you think that your average massage these days costs pounds 40 plus, pounds 74 for four hours of careful pampering (vigorous brillo-padding, power shower, assorted lotions, careful tan applications) is bargain basement. At the end of this humiliation (I mean, did they have to be floral?), you end up with a tan which, just like self-application lotions, lasts only a couple of days before a reapplication is necessary.So while it's well worth the money if you have pale, sensitive skin and are worried about frazzling to a crisp in the Med, there has to be more on offer than a few extra days colour to justify the price at home.Luckily for Decleor, there is This treatment is actually a bit of a treat.