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Blinded by the light: sun protection factor (SPF) numbers may be confusing, but they prove that the manufacturer has tested the level of protection on offer. Products that simply offer UVA or UVB defence, without specifying an SPF number, do not have to be tested, and may fall well short of the minimum SPF6 that dermatologists recommend we wear. So a little bit of UV protection may make cosmetics marketable but not necessarily make them sun safe.

Your good health: good news for regular tipplers. Nature's Plus Liv- R-Action is a supplement containing the herb milk thistle, which, clinical studies indicate, can help protect the liver against the effects of alcohol. According to the National Institute of Medical Herbalists, a three-month run can benefit anyone who enjoys a drop of the hard stuff. However, long-term use isn't encouraged because - unlike alcohol - it is likely to become less effective. Nature's Plus Liv-R-Action, pounds 10.95 for 60 capsules, by mail order from Larkhall Green Farm, 225 Putney Bridge Road, London, SW15 2PY (0181-874 1130).

Pass the doughnuts: an America survey reveals that overweight women enjoy sex more than their svelte sisters: 70 per cent claimed to always reach orgasm during sex. The same statistic for all American women weighs in at a positively anorexic 29 per cent.

Kiehl is cool: top of the sports cosmetics league is Kiehl's Klaus Heidegger All-Sports Products - for no other reason than that they are so mind-blowingly expensive. Heidegger's All-Sport Water-Resistant Skin Protector with SPF30 muscles in at pounds 16.95 for 4oz, while the pounds 9-for-4oz price tag on All-Sport Everyday Shampoo means you won't be passing it around the locker room. Clean and effective though, and it lasts. For stockists, phone 0181-852 1027.

Eat me: they say the blue-green algae from Oregon's Klamath Lake is the most nutritional food on the planet. Japanese and US health freaks can't get enough of it, and now Aqua Source sells it here in tablet form as a four-step programme to combat the perils of modern living. Also available as a milk-shake... a green milk-shake. Aqua Source 4-Step Programme costs pounds 29.50 per step for 25 days' supply. Order line: 0171-729 7750.