FAKE BAKE celebrates our James Harknett’s twenty years of tanning…

Every industry has its Tom Ford. They create trends, think it forward, and don’t just stay ahead of the game: they help create it. James Harknett is the Tom Ford of the tanning industry (don’t just take our word for it!) and we are so proud he is our Global Creative Consultant. We have known James for nearly two decades now ourselves. As Fake Bake was launching in the UK, James was becoming established himself. Since then, our stars have collided many times, but eventually we knew there was just one way forward: we had to make him Fake Bake fam…

James is one of our industry’s good guys. Open a glossy magazine, for self-tanning advice, and James is there. His expertise is valued everywhere in the beauty game. And he is a real lesson in how to build a long and valuable career. It’s achieved not just through hard work but also by being thoroughly decent, as well as skilled. James is known for his kindness and genuinely supports anyone who crosses his path.

This year, we are celebrating two decades of our Mr. Harknett’s career and, as he always points out, it’s not just A-listers and red carpets. James still has his own roster of clients and we know he missed them so much during lockdown. This is the man who tans 300 brides, on average, at this time of year. So we had a Zoom sit down and had a chat to James about why he’s, well, basically fabulous. Not that he’d ever use that word himself. He might be modest, but we’re not!

James, looking back over your career so far, what have been your favourite achievements?

“My proudest achievement has been lasting 20 years in what started as a niche industry, and has now grown into a beauty giant of its own standing.  I feel my passion for fake tan started from the moment I had my first application in 2000, and has driven me to become, and remain, at the top of my game.

The top achievements are as follows….

Being asked in 2010 by Sandra Vaughan to help support her mission to have sunbeds banned for under 18-year-olds in the UK. I was so proud to attend the Houses of Parliament and be successful in achieving our mission. It was a real turning point in society, I feel, and really helped the industry as a whole.

Having my own pop up tanning boutique at London Fashion Week in 2011 and then tanning the runway models for Mark Fast, Holly Fulton, Melissa Odabash and Julien Macdonald’s ready-to-wear collections over the years.

Being the first tanner to use my unique spray technique on models before hitting the catwalk for Amanda Wakeley, without washing the tans off and avoiding transferral of tan to the precious, couture fabrics.

 

Launching my bespoke service at W London Away Spa in 2011 and my ambition for it to be the Number 1 tanning destination in the world.

Introducing my tanning service to W Doha within the Bliss Spa in 2014 and it making headlines in the Middle Eastern press.

Having a limited tanning engagement at W Downtown New York called Winter Glow by James and making the New York Post newspaper.

Being dubbed The Tom Ford Of Tanning in 2014 by journalist George Driver, a term which soon spread worldwide from the New York Times to Ruth and Eamonn’s way of announcing me on This Morning - when my family heard that, I’d really made it! I love making appearances on TV to take-self tan to everyone - you can’t beat a bit of Lorraine!

Having my tanning service recognised and be reviewed in over 100 publications from Tatler to Esquire. It is a real honour to see my words in print.

 

Then winning a GQ award as the Best Wellness Experience 2019. I’m hugely proud that the industry has persuaded more and more men to get into a self-tan booth. Now they are a really important part of our client base.

 

Over the past decade, I have been a judge for several prestigious beauty awards, including In Style, Look, and most recently Woman’s Health 2018/19 & 20.

Over my 20 years I’ve tanned so many familiar names (note from Team Fake Bake here - if we had printed the whole list we’d need 4 Blog spaces!) and I’m glad to say many have remained clients.

Harry Styles - I have tanned all of the 1D boys. What can I say? Mega-stars!

Geri Halliwell - everyone knows I love a pop princess, so Geri was a delight.

Julia Stiles - I worked with Julia for Riviera. She’s a class act.

Roman Kemp - an upcoming star who’s a joy to be around.

Patsy Kensit - a natural beauty who is understated and timeless (image ℅ Hello)

Emma Willis - I work with Emma regularly, and she’s just simply beautiful.

David Gandy - everyone’s favourite male supermodel is the best of the best.

Christine Lampard - a gorgeous bride in every way, I am proud of my work here.

Denise Van Outen - exactly as you’d expect: great fun, energetic and stunning.

Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean - a pair of legends, and both so humble and generous.

Tell us more about your time with Fake Bake…

“My role as Global Creative Consultant commenced in 2016 when I collaborated with the brand on a 3D Contouring Kit. I’ve since been at the forefront of trialing products for the brand and being a spokesperson to the press.

I have many editors, beauty writers, celebs and influencers visiting me at the W London Spa where they receive my bespoke Fake Bake treatment. I have also created a master class for other Fake Bake therapists and have held seminars and created how to tan videos/ tutorials for the brand’s social channels. I love reaching out to other therapists when I work solo so much.

Back in the day, I was hugely impressed when Fake Bake Original was launched and I have always known that the brand is about quality and performance in terms of its product ranges. I always trust in everything they launch and that’s important when you work with the products on a daily basis. I love seeing the ranges when I am out and about and, of course, always proud when there are prizes involved. But the best prize is great customer feedback - when you have made a difference to a client’s day or evening, especially a special occasion, that’s dipped in gold for me, and Fake Bake formulas play their part in that.

Lastly, I’m super proud of being a part of the Fake Bake team backstage at Dancing On Ice. It is really, really tough work at times as we have to tan so many pro skaters and celebs, and the conditions can be challenging, but every season has been enjoyable and we learn every year. All I can say is, I hope the 2021 series is our best ever!”

What do you love most about the industry?

“I adore that the tanning industry is forever growing and evolving. I feel self-tan helps promote a positive self image. For instance, during this pandemic self-tan has flourished as a boost to our mental health and wellbeing. I also feel personally excited at the prospect of tanning any of my 250/300 clients per month. It’s such a social job and I get to be creative and make people feel just a happier version of themselves. I can’t wait to get back to it now - it’s really important for people to feel good about themselves. I’ve kept myself busy during lockdown and have been hosting lots of ‘lives’ which has been great fun, including some for ELLE, which I have really enjoyed. But my tanning-gun is ready to rock out again, now.”

Any advice for anyone new to the industry, especially as we come out of lockdown?

“I have just spoken to Get The Gloss about being prepared about coming out of this situation and that advice stands for newbies or established pros. As professional tanners, we already have a very strong ethic in terms of hygiene but the ‘new normal’ means extra measures. I also know I’ll personally be using 60 Minutes more than ever!

 

My advice to anyone new to tanning is think outside the box and offer your service to local gyms, yoga studios and local press, as well as building up your profile on socials. Instagram is a brilliant store front for newbies and experts, alike!  A tan may be just the tonic for a quick fix and it only takes one small mention in the relevant local paper or on someone else’s Insta for your reputation to grow organically. And word-of-mouth matters more than ever: when you do great work, others notice, and ask about it.That’s what I did all those years back along with blood, sweat and tears! My last piece of advice is create and be proud of your own style of tanning - it doesn’t matter how small you start off, you are your own brand right from the off. Make it count, and use the best pro products you can - of course, I would recommend Fake Bake, because they really do know how to formulate brilliant formulas that adapt, are natural, and are long-lasting.”

We can’t wait to see James in person and celebrate properly. As a team, we can’t really tell you what he means to us. He brings a touch of class to everything he does, and is just as happy patiently applying self-tan as he is to talk about it. That’s his lesson to us as a team, really: have passion for what you do, keep on learning, and never be afraid to go back to basics with hard work.

We are a bit sad that circumstances this year have meant our celebrations with James have been put on hold, but Fake Bake celebrates its launch in the UK next year - it’s twenty years for us, then, too.

Let’s just say we will be happy to teach James our partying skills to make up for this year.

Trip to the W, London, anyone?

For all things Fake Bake go to www.fakebake.co.uk

Follow James on Insta @jamesharknettofficial

And go to www.jamesharknett.co.uk

FAKE BAKE talks Chanel Cruise, new normal Fashion Weeks and the all-natural tan…

The last time we were talking about Fashion Weeks was just a few short weeks ago in March, when Louis Vuitton closed in Paris. France was already struggling and the streets of Paris were becoming empty. Soon after that, fashion extravaganzas, as we knew and loved them, would have to be shelved.

London, as always, is reacting with invention and being proactive. Team Fake Bake have worked backstage at LFW and it’s electric. Creative, colourful and fearless, you don’t see a lot of beige. This season, which is normally all about Men’s Fashion before the women’s collections return in September, London has created an online, interactive fashion event which is gender-neutral and all-inclusive. LFW draws much attention when brands like Burberry and Victoria Beckham take centre-stage, but this new event is more democratic and is creating a really equal space for new names, retailers, educators, designers and creatives.

Back to Paris. Early summer is usually about the Cruise collections. Nope, not outfits to wear on a reality show on Channel 5, but ready-to-wear to fill in your wardrobe between seasons. Now, that’s out of reach for most of us, but the inspiration isn’t. Chanel has already undergone such change. After the sad loss of Karl Lagerfeld, Virginie Viard took over without a huge fanfare. She simply took the know-how of Coco, the showmanship of Karl, and added her own take on what contemporary women really want to wear. The result is probably less show-y than we are used to after three decades of Lagerfeld, but they are the kind of looks that feel luxurious, but could walk off a catwalk and into real life.

Only this year there is no catwalk. Viard, however, wanted to keep Chanel at the forefront of fashion. The company had already been involved in making protective garments for healthcare workers, and had to scale right back on how they would produce and design this Cruise collection. The team also decided to make use of materials they already had in stock, and so the collection is less streamlined than usual, but is more like looking into the wardrobe of the chicest woman on the planet.

Photographed by Karim Saldi, the collection is about easy-to-wear pieces that you could put in your hand luggage, and jet off to Ibiza with. If you could actually get on a plane right now. There are no complicated evening dresses or really formal looks. Even the suits are casual, 90’s inspired and worn with bikini tops. We literally loved every look, and we thought we’d mention a few. Just putting them out there in the Universe.

The ultimate pink suit, with signature camellia print bra top

Ultimate rock chic casual

Windowpane check co-ords with logo belt: perfection

70’s riviera inspo

Easy evening in black chiffon

The monochrome super-bag and Mary Janes

Hardware goes soft

The perfect necklace

Navy knits for cooler nights

Signature quilts and chains

Oh, and how we love the beauty and hair…..

Simple hair, statement brows and an all-over glow

Rock ‘n’ roll riviera hair

Cornrows and contouring: contemporary and gorgeous

And for a collection called the Mediterranean Jaunt, by Chanel, there has to be a bronzed glow in there somewhere. We love that each model has a look to suit their own skin tone: the days of every-model-the-same are gone, people.

If you want a Chanel-style tan, then this look is one option we adore. First of all, the outfit helps. Mica Arganaraz looks spectacular as the sun goes down and that beautiful skin finish is something we can achieve without a Cruise budget.

For this look, we’d go for our Fake Bake Flawless, which our Global Creative Consultant adores for a seamless glow. Apply to freshly prepped skin, and let this fine mist get to work. If you prepare a more intense finish, you can also opt for our Fake Bake Flawless Darker, which has the same consistency but has a more enhanced tanning result. Our fave Mhiari Ferguson knows how to work it.

As this Blog gets published, we are still saying our prayers that the beauty industry can open all of its doors again soon. It could be many months, though, before we see all of the Fashion Weeks back on track. But the fashion industry has really upped its game this year. As well as contributing factory space and production to key workers during the current crisis, companies like Chanel are committed to using more sustainable fabrics and resources. This much we do know: any of these pieces aren’t throwaway items. They are heirlooms to wear and then pass down.

Perhaps there is a lesson here for us all. OK, so a new 2.55 is a bit off the scale when it comes to our own budgets, but maybe it’s time to start thinking quality over quantity when it comes to adding to our wardrobes.

So this is our question of the day: if we don’t go on holiday or have any events this summer, can we justify a pair of Chanel Mary Janes?

We’ve decided to live a little. We’re not sure our local beer garden is ready for them, and we are a bit worried that the grass might stain the leather.

All we need then is a face mask with signature interlocking C’s.

It’s a new and odd accessory combination but summer 2020 is going to be one we never forget. Bring on the beginning of lockdown, the ability to hug again and a reason to get out of our summer jarmies. Standing by an old bench outside your local is the new going out. Get overdressed, and blame us if you like.

Now, who’s ordered the scampi?

Fake Bake Flawless and Flawless Darker are now available at www.fakebake.co.uk

All show images courtesy of @chanelofficial

Follow James on Insta @jamesharknettofficial

Follow Mhiari on Insta @mazferguson

FAKE BAKE talks new issue Vogue cover stars and a beauty industry doing its bit…

If we thought we were getting a ‘new normal’ over the next few weeks, the world feels like anything but that right now. Team Fake Bake have been talking recently about the last decade on our social media, and the Blog, which we set up to talk about tanning, obvs, celebrities, trends, fashion, beauty and style. While we still talk about those things, there has been so much change over that time. And that’s just in terms of our own industry. When we talk about what has happened over the last few weeks, it feels a bit odd this week to just talk about how we look.

As a team, we subscribe to British Vogue and we have been so heartened to see, and read, the new issue. Last month’s issue, cover-starring Judi Dench, was remarkable. This month’s glossy is whole-new-level groundbreaking. As the ultimate style bible, of over a century old, it still stands for luxury, and the type of looks that most of us can only dream about. But now under the eye of Editor-in-Chief, Edward Enninful, more and more of us are reflected in those glossy pages.

Recently, Enninful sent photographer Jamie Hawkesworth out to observe London, from a social distance, to make visual contact with front line workers whose roles are more vital than ever. The results are quite simply astonishing and groundbreaking and now British Vogue has three new cover stars: Narguis Horsford, a London overground train driver, Anisa Omar, a supermarket assistant, and Rachel Millar, a community midwife.

As well as featuring the work and lives of these three amazing women, the magazine is packed full of amazing images and stories of everyday workers who have kept us going during lockdown, and we think this pic of post worker Karrie Scott is simply stunning.

It’s a brave and bold move for the nation’s most noted fashion magazine to keep moving away from the past blueprint of supermodel covers. Of course, they will always have their place. And we always love to look at couture, and dream about what we could choose if we were able to. We all want to feel inspired. But in fashion’s growing democracy, where what we wear and who we are is so intertwined, the new impressives aren’t always noted names wearing the latest designer names.

They are, quite simply, people doing far more vital work than just looking good.

We also want to give a shout out to everyone in our industry right now who are giving of their best, at the same time waiting for things to change in terms of being able to open. Millie Kendall and the great team at the British Beauty Council, NHBF, BABTAC and The Guild, to name but a few are keeping us all informed and in the know. We hope there is good news soon. This time of the year is usually such a busy one for our industry, getting people ready for summer events, the races, parties, holidays and weddings. We just hope they are all ready to fix our mistakes. Of which, there are many having a little look around our Zoom meetings. (We are naming no names but if you think Team Fake Bake are immune when it comes to dodgy roots and wonky eyebrows, you are very much mistaken!)

The last week has been a hugely difficult one and we have joined our colleagues across the UK, Europe, the US and beyond to try to show our support for the Black Lives Matter campaign. But we know that change means more than just a blackout square on Insta on a Tuesday. Of course, we wanted to join in, but we know from our conversations that we all need to know, and do more. The beauty industry is now hugely diverse in the UK, and of that we are very proud. That one-size-fits-all notion of a single definition of beauty is long gone, and in our industry we know from our contact with fellow brands, through our salon friends and major beauty event attendances that the availability of products and services available to everyone is getting better.

But over the last few days, in particular, we have come to know that just change within our industry is just a starting point for teams like us. It is a huge learning curve and we all have to start with ourselves in terms of education, listening, and awareness, just for starters.

We have appreciated all of the books and educational resources that have been pinpointed online, and we have especially appreciated the words of Dr. Ateh Jewel, who has written some brilliant pieces, including one about why Meghan Markle felt she needed to leave the UK. As a team, we realised at the end of the piece is all we really know about her is what has been presented by the press. It started off brilliantly (remember the wedding?) but soon turned a corner. If you go to Glamour UK you can read Ateh’s words.

What can we do to help at this time? We are an independent brand, which is brilliant, because we make our own decisions, but we are not part of a huge international conglomerate. Like many independents, we just want to help as best we can, and so our efforts to help as we move out of lockdown are still in place.

Our Fake Bake Mystery Bag is still available on our website - priced at just £20, it is packed full of £100 worth of goodies, to support independent beauty workers throughout the UK.

There is still 30% off for NHS workers. Let’s help keep our key workers’ morale up…

Our Hand Sanitiser comes in a bumper sized bottle and from these sales, we are able to distribute the same product to those in the community who are finding themselves without a home.

We usually see ourselves as a fun, warm-hearted brand, and our features here on the Blog usually reflect that, but this time around we wanted to do something a little bit different. It’s just our own reflections. We think the new issue of British Vogue is quite simply, amazing. We are proud that look-good industries are more than just that: they have been some of the first businesses to openly embrace diversity. Thank you to our amazing The Tan Expert, Eloise, for this image.

Still there is so much to be done, and we are always around on our socials for you to offer us feedback and suggestions.

We hope you have the safest week you can, and that you and your families are well.

For whoever is reading these words right now, if you are doing something positive with your day, no matter how or big or small, keep doing that. Know that you are putting something great out into the world.

And that, dear reader, is what makes you truly beautiful.

To find out how you can shop our supportive offers go to www.fakebake.co.uk

The new issue British Vogue is now available. All images from the issue courtesy of British Vogue/Jamie Hawkesworth

Follow Dr. Ateh Jewel on Insta @atehjewel

For British Beauty Council on Insta go to @britishbeautycouncil

For brilliant educational resources called the Healing Action Toolkit go to www.blacklivesmatter.com