Women paying a high price 
to look good in summertime

Researchers found a flurry of panic sets in at the thought of looking good in the sunshine, leading to girls shelling out on fake tan treatments, pedicures, and waxing their way to body confidence.

With the average woman shelling out £235 a year, this amounts to £13,865 between the ages of 18 and 75 spent on looking good for the summer.

The study of 2,000 women found the preparation takes at least four gruelling weeks for the average woman who has at least seven urgent things she wants to do to prepare herself for the warmer months.

Exfoliating rough skin, waxing, moisturising, buying make-up with SPF protection and new shoes all featured on the top 20 summer to-do list.

Ensuring feet are flip-flop ready was also top priority, with de-fuzzing of legs ranking highly alongside a new summer wardrobe.

The research, which was commissioned by Scholl and Veet as they announce their collaboration with Abbey Clancy, looked at British women’s body confidence ahead of summer and found ladies take great pride in their eyes, hair and boobs.

But when it comes to their legs, feet and stomachs, women showed a greater sense of self- consciousness, results showed.

And projected across the nation Britain’s ladies will shell out a combined £4.2bn this summer on chasing the perfect summer look.

Aurore Bordeau, spokesperson for Scholl and Veet, said yesterday ‘’The results show that the preparation a woman puts into her look ahead of the summer isn’t just a case of pampering herself but a process that provides a very real boost of confidence.

“We agree with British women that confidence is the most beautiful quality a woman can have this summer. With Veet and Scholl we hope to help women look and feel amazing and dare to bare their legs and feet with the same confidence as Abbey, without having to break the bank.”

Evaluating themselves ahead of the summer, the study also found women are comfortable with the shape of their derriere, their lips and hands overall.

But they showed a greater hesitation when it came to having confidence when it came to the thought of baring their thighs, toes and arms.

Just under two-thirds of the women studied were hoping to lose weight for the warmer months, with the average target to lose 10lbs. They have been attempting to put the weight loss plan in place since April.