"Pale is the New Tan"

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I'm naturally pale and while I don't mind the pale look in winter when I have my make up on, when I take my make up off I just look dead, top that off with very blond hair and white eyelashes and I look like an anaemic albino. I do tan very well though but I'd never risk burning and so always use a factor of at least 20 when on holiday.

But the wonders of fake tan and bronzer lend a hand in the winter for a healthy glow.

In the Summer however, I do like a nice golden colour just because it makes me feel healthy and good about myself. I do use a tanning bed once a week in the summer before I go on holiday but I don't have more than one course a year, sometimes I don't have a course at all. When you're on holiday, if you use a high SPF and protect your head with a hat the sun can be good for you in moderate amounts as it produces Vitamin D in the skin - a vitamin which lots of us Brits lack due to there being hardly any sunshine all year round, hence the fact that we're all a nation of moaning minnies! lol!

I don't like the heavy tanned look though and unless I'd been to a hot country and picked up the colour I wouldnt strive to achieve it.

Some women can just carry off the pale and interesting look amazingly well though and I wish I was one of them - would save a fortune on fake tan lol!

 
Originally Posted by korina981 yeah it's messed up. Im Indian and i guess i'm pretty light for my realatively dark skinned family (I'm NW25 in the summer) and my grandparents always treated me better than my darker skinned female cousins. I can't say I blame them for getting into bleaching when there is such blatant discrimination.
Also, when my brunette MMM/GGG friend went to Finland for school she said that she was getting ridiculous amounts of attention from hot guys and it seemed to her that it was because she was in a sea of blonde pale skinned women and she was 'special', lol.

Yes, I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To some, the tan look is amazing but to others, they prefer the fair look. I used to had a friend who was pretty fair looking, she could spend hours on the beach and only be a shade or two darker. When she saw my other friend who was super dark (she's naturally dark, she doesn't tan), she was sooo jealous of her tan, lol. Unknown to her, this dark girl actually wants to be fair. She uses whitening products oh her face, lol.

I was always fine with my natural colouring. I'm a fair Asain girl. Once though, when I went swimming at a hot time of the day, I came back completely roasted...I swear I was like 7 or 8 shades darker and I was amazed at how different I looked. My legs seem to look alot slimmer and I noticed the tan seems to be covering the spider viens I have on my legs pretty well. Some time later, I started to try out fake tans, and once, when I had it on, I went to had my eyebrows plucked by this woman that I've been to several times. She complimented me in such a way that I started to think I must really look pretty good. So yep, I'll say I think I prefer a tan but I don't really want to spend too much time in the sun because of its effects. Also, because the self tanners were becoming too troublesome for me, I just stopped them and have been back to being my fair self for a long time. I think its not so bad really.
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I am pale in winter...with an uneven skintone and dark circles (people ask me if I´m sick when they see me without makeup. that´s why I ALWAYS use self tanner on my face & neck during the cold months), but I tan surprisingly well in summer, but it takes time which is better anyway. I make sure I never ever burn anywhere on my body and stay out of the strong sun rays around noon.

my trick is to build my summer tan very very slowly. I know where I tan really fast and were I burn really fast. it´s weird: I tan very well everywhere apart from boobs, neck and face, I only get a little color there...so that´s where I put the SPF 40 when I´m in the sun, don´t get too much sun on my face in general, and just apply self tanner at night to even everything out.

like Vanessa I feel much better about my body when I´m tan. just now that I´ve built a fairly good tan (just started tanning topless this year and today I went a step further and went to a nude beach, first time ever! LOL) I`m starting to feel really hot and run around in short skirts all the time.
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Ohh to tan or not to tan...When we lived in San Diego...we were at the pool all the time and everyone was tan. Just a nice soft, we're outside a lot tan. But now...I am sooo white! lol! Like too white! lol! I am Canadian, Irish and English...soo I call it "Bleached Blood" I had no chance to be tan! I burn and then peel. I also tried a tanning bed, it was great! Sadly my main reason to quit tanning was I didn't want to ruin my new tattoos! lol! So I'm pale skin and proud! lol!

GReat topic btw!

ohh and I thnk tan skin is always "in" because it looks healthy and like you've been out having fun in the sun.

 
I actually read recently that a light base tan can actually protect your skin from sun damage. Not sure how accurate that is, though!!

I've been reading a lot lately on sunscreen ingredients and it's actually very scary--it's possible many products intended to protect your skin could end up *causing* skin cancer! The new nanotechnology that allows zinc oxide and titanium oxide to be transparent actually makes the molocules so small that they go right into your skin and bloodstream--it's not clear if this is harmful. And some chemical sunscreens like oxybenzone are also absorbed by the body and could possibly lead to cancer. No one really knows yet. It seems we may be screwed whether we choose to use sunscreen or not!

jen.

 
i personallly like to stay as pale as possible. mainly because its more healthier for the

skin, but also because i like the contrast between my skin and hair.

anyway, i was never a sunbather type

 
I was talking to my little sisters the other day, and it amazed me at what they already believed looked good. Not to mention that they thought, "If I don't burn, then nothing bad is happening to me". I just hope that more kids get the chance to be educated about the risks, because I think it's the younger ones that are going to have it the worst.

 
Originally Posted by jencapsim I've been reading a lot lately on sunscreen ingredients and it's actually very scary--it's possible many products intended to protect your skin could end up *causing* skin cancer! The new nanotechnology that allows zinc oxide and titanium oxide to be transparent actually makes the molocules so small that they go right into your skin and bloodstream--it's not clear if this is harmful. And some chemical sunscreens like oxybenzone are also absorbed by the body and could possibly lead to cancer. No one really knows yet. It seems we may be screwed whether we choose to use sunscreen or not! Serious, scientific sources rather deny these theories.and you can chose sunscreen that doesn't contain oxybenzone.

 
Growing up,I was always the palest person I knew,and got called "albino" and "zombie" a lot in school.But I just could--can--never tan;I always burn!So I resigned to pallor somewhat(although I've always used blush)and to comments about looking unhealthy, and "needing some sun..."Then recrntly,I discovered gradual self tanner,and I have never gotten so many compliments before on my skin! It makes me feel strange, because I think pale skin can look nice, too...but honestly, I feel better about my looks when I look a little darker.

 
ive read articles that say everything from:

if you dont use at least 30 spf, you might as well use nothing at all

to:

even 4 spf can protect you from gettin cancer

to:

it doesnt matter what you wear, nothing can protect you from the suns UV rays..

so i doubt there is one right answer.. i just use tanning oil with spf 4 cuz i think a nice tan looks better than nothing but the spf 4 keeps me from burning even though the tanning oil helps me tan better.

 
Originally Posted by eric ive read articles that say everything from:
if you dont use at least 30 spf, you might as well use nothing at all

to:

even 4 spf can protect you from gettin cancer

to:

it doesnt matter what you wear, nothing can protect you from the suns UV rays..

so i doubt there is one right answer.. i just use tanning oil with spf 4 cuz i think a nice tan looks better than nothing but the spf 4 keeps me from burning even though the tanning oil helps me tan better.

true, there have been very controversial opinions been put out there. for example the Vitamin D story...usually it only takes like 10min of sunlight on like the back of your hand for the body to produce enough Vit D..and then I read about his doctor who thinks we are overdoing on sunscreen and the majority of the population lacks Vit D which can cause bone malformations in babies. weird!
or we always thought that most cell damage results from sunburns in childhood and early adulthood..newer study results have supposably shown that to be not true.

 
I don't know, but I like having tan skin. But, it's not like I sit out in the sun all day because I play tennis a lot during the spring season and summer, so I'm outside all of the time and I get tanned really easily. I just prefer having a little tint.
 
Well i personally think tanned skin looks prettier. But that doesn't mean you can't be beautiful w/o one. I've seen plenty of girls who look beautiful w/o a tan. I think a little bit of the sun is good and to get a little color too. you know just to have a little tint. but i'm no doctor and i don't think that they even know the right amount of time is safe to be out in the sun b/c everybody is different, know what i mean?

 
Originally Posted by vanilla_sky Serious, scientific sources rather deny these theories. Um, no. Serious, scientific sources have confirmed that nano-sized particles of these substances can penetrate cells. What is undetermined is what type of harm this can cause. DNA damage is a possibility.
Coarse and fine particles do not pose a threat, but aren't as transparent and cause an undesirable whitish appearance.

Originally Posted by vanilla_sky and you can chose sunscreen that doesn't contain oxybenzone. Certainly. And I do--but initially because it caused a terrible allergic reaction on my skin, not because I was aware it may be harmful in other ways. I probably never would have investigated it further if this didn't happen to me.
Most people have no idea that this ingredient could be dangerous. And its use is exceptionally widespread--especially among the most popular and widely-advertised brands. The average person never thinks sunscreen could be harmful--they think they are protecting themselves when, in fact, the opposite may be true.

 
Grrr my 'friend' called me albino yesturday. The strange thing is that I'm brunnette with hazel eyes and freckles.

I get sick of people asking me why my skin is so pale, I don't tan. period. "But whhhhhhhhhyyyyyy?"

It's funny how people think a tan is healthy, when really it's the opposite.

 
i know it's terrible, but i can't live without my tan. i personally feel naked without it! i wish i could pull off being pale.

 
This article talks about how tanning can be addictive for some people.

This article talks about how some sun is good for you, and indeed, necessary (so 24/7 SPF 30 is not truly the best thing for you!).

I like being tan, but I am at high risk (family-wise) for skin cancer, so I try to be pretty careful about long-term exposure. I burn. I'm fair-skinned. But I go to the dermatologist twice a year, and really don't sweat it too much if I forget the sunscreen once in a while.

I wish I could be tanner, because it does feel good. It looks good on me. I look less cream-and-roses (which I'm not fond of). Unfortunately, self-tanners make me look orange. I think those things work better on naturally darker toned people. On white/fair skinned people, they really just look orange.

Oh well! I can still be beautiful as a pale person! But my advice is: don't be TOO anal-retentive about sun exposure...it can be just as bad not to let your skin get any exposure as to get too much!

 

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