Go for gold: For a convincing bronzed glow try the fake tan that's all natural

ON meeting Lorraine Mackie, owner of Edinburgh's Anthyllis, my first thought was: "I'll have whatever she's having".

Lorraine's radiant make-up-free complexion is a testament to the treatments she offers in her salon - which is more akin to a zen retreat than a typical beauty parlour.

When Lorraine discovered what a difference using a totally organic brand of product made to her own skin (she used to suffer from eczema) she decided to offer her clients the only brand she would use on herself - Dr Hauschka. That left her with a quandary - she wanted to continue offering a spray-tan experience to her customers but wasn't happy with the chemical ingredients that go into most self tanners. So after much searching she sourced the only tanner on the market that claims to be all natural and completely organic. Vani-T also professes to have the added bonus of being free from the usual tell-tale fake-tan reek of stale sweat and biscuits.

A natural-looking tan, containing no petro-chemicals, mineral oils, parabens or sickly odour? I was sold!

Getting a fake tan professionally applied is not for the self-conscious. There's no way around it - you're going to be standing in a variety of silly poses in your birthday suit (or your underwear if you choose) in front of a complete stranger.

Fortunately Lorraine was very good at making me feel less embarrassed than I ought to have been as she sprayed me down with several coats of tanner in the booth at the back of her shop.

I was a little nervous about having my face sprayed in case the colour turned out to be a horrible mistake, so Lorraine lightly misted my face and blended down to a slightly heavier application on my neck and shoulders.

After I had been completely coloured-in Lorraine told me it was safe to put my clothes on as soon as I was ready. I was expecting the indicator colour to be ghastly and muddy-looking (as I've experienced, previously with other tanners) but my skin looked pretty good immediately and I even felt up to a bit of late-night shopping, confident that I wouldn't be scaring passers by.

I was advised to shower the tan off after two hours, for a medium, natural-looking shade, but I forgot to keep an eye on the time and ended up showering it off after four hours. The result was utterly gorgeous: a very believable shade, without any streaking or an orange tinge. Unfortunately I could still detect a whiff of that odd smell, but it was a small price to pay to look like a tropical goddess rather than a desk-bound albino.

Anthyllis, 30-32 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh. Tel: [phone] or visit www.anthyllis.co.uk