The Mail.(Letter to the editor)

Fair Play

Thank you for "Pale Force" [July]! When sunbathing and tanning beds were recognized as dangerous, bronzer and self-tanner replaced them as beauty prerequisites. Yet I never wanted to spend the time or money to give myself an unnatural-looking skin tone that I wasn't born to have--and why should I? Your article reaffirmed for me that more than one definition of beautiful can exist.

Michelle Taylor Sandusky, OH

I usually hate summer makeup articles. All of them provide instructions about how to slather on bronzer and fake tanner, something that looks ridiculous on an extremely pale Irish girl like me, even if Kevyn Aucoin were to rise from the dead and apply it. You cannot imagine how happy I was to read "Pale Force" this month. With all the focus on protecting our skin, it is high time that women's magazines started practicing what they preach. Self-tanner, bronzer, and the idea of a "sun-kissed glow" perpetuate the idea that tans are attractive. An article about summer makeup for fair skin that doesn't involve how to fake-bake might encourage women to both embrace their natural skin tone and spend more time caring for it. It doesn't surprise me that it is allure leading the way in this effort. You always do!

Kell Gallagher Jersey City

Voice Lessons

Cheryl Strayed is a phenomenal writer. Wow...just wow. "Hearing Voices" [July] was moving, yet what really stood out was her writing style. I plan on hunting down more of her work. Thank you for letting me discover this brilliant and talented author.