LADIES, brace yourselves for a beauty revelation that is so huge that it will knock your bronzed little world off its very axis.

Fake tan is all washed out. Or so some would have us believe.

Based loosely on the fact that Victoria Beckham has been spotted out and about recently looking more caramel latte than David Dickinson, some writers have decided that we are turning our backs on the bottle.

Well, they have clearly never spent a night knocking back Champagne cocktails in Alma de Cuba if they really believe that.

I have seen pastier-looking locals in Brazil than you do on your average night out in Liverpool.

Worry not because, as with most fashion hype, this claim warrants closer scrutiny.

While Victoria may have dialled down her colour a little, do not assume that sunless tanning is on the back-burner.

Far from it. We are buying St Tropez and Fake Bake by the bucket load.

Prompted largely by the number of Britons holidaying at home this year, Debenhams has seen sales of self-tan rocket so far this summer up 43% on last year. Meanwhile self-tanning is the fastest-growing category in beauty with sales expected to hit £50m by 2013.

Last week I had the pleasure of getting the inside goss on the tanning industry from fake-tanner-to-the-rich-and-famous James Read.

James, who regularly jets around the world tanning stars from Kate Moss to Lady Ga Ga and Paris Hilton for St Tropez, says fake tanning is as popular as ever, it is just that these days – as with barely-there make-up – we now want a barely-there fake tan.