how many of you embrace your pale skin if you have it? i've done serious damage to my skin sunbathing for years and i'm only 26. i have tried EVERY sunless tanner and hate the aggrevation of applying them. my skin is pale and i hate the way i look pale but i'm at the point where i'm just willing to deal with it. how many of you like being pale? what do you say to people who have comments with your paleness? another thing is that i don't feel that muscles look good when your pale and i have a good set of muscles. i wish i was naturally tan.:-(
embracing paleness
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Beavs
Cathlete
After seeing an acquaintance, a young beautiful woman with her whole life ahead of her, die needlessly of skin cancer (she tanned regularly) I've decided it's okay for me to flail around Cathe's gym looking like a sheet of 8 x 10 paper. Hopefully when my nicely tanned friends get on in years and look like old leather beasts I will be a smooth skinned beauty flailing around Cathe's gym.
buffettgirl
Cathlete
Bwahahaha! Beavs, you are a smooth skinned beauty!
Because of my Armenian background, I've always tanned nicely in the summer, but I see the affects of it now. Not just on my 50-something face, but on my legs, arms and chest. Not to mention the other devastating health risks. By all means, love your pale skin.
Because of my Armenian background, I've always tanned nicely in the summer, but I see the affects of it now. Not just on my 50-something face, but on my legs, arms and chest. Not to mention the other devastating health risks. By all means, love your pale skin.
newswoman13
Cathlete
I'm 27. After years of sunbathing and tanning beds through the end of high school and lots in college (ahhhh!!!), I stopped. Something in me clicked to just accept my skin AND to see a dermatologists regularly (I've probably had 10 moles removed over the last six years).
However, I'm not self-conscious about my pale skin at all ... matter of fact, I think it looks A LOT better, more natural, more me. I'm thankful I haven't had any scary lab results from mole removals, so I sort of thank my skin everyday!
Sidenote: I do think a little sun (ie: 10 minutes a day) is good for your body and spirit. But, of course, you still need to wear sunscreen, and this probably amounts to getting in and out of the car, checking mail, etc.
Cheers to natural skin!
However, I'm not self-conscious about my pale skin at all ... matter of fact, I think it looks A LOT better, more natural, more me. I'm thankful I haven't had any scary lab results from mole removals, so I sort of thank my skin everyday!
Sidenote: I do think a little sun (ie: 10 minutes a day) is good for your body and spirit. But, of course, you still need to wear sunscreen, and this probably amounts to getting in and out of the car, checking mail, etc.
Cheers to natural skin!
newswoman13
Cathlete
I'm 27. After years of sunbathing and tanning beds through the end of high school and lots in college (ahhhh!!!), I stopped. Something in me clicked to just accept my skin AND to see a dermatologists regularly (I've probably had 10 moles removed over the last six years).
However, I'm not self-conscious about my pale skin at all ... matter of fact, I think it looks A LOT better, more natural, more me. I'm thankful I haven't had any scary lab results from mole removals, so I sort of thank my skin everyday!
Sidenote: I do think a little sun (ie: 10 minutes a day) is good for your body and spirit. But, of course, you still need to wear sunscreen, and this probably amounts to getting in and out of the car, checking mail, etc.
Cheers to natural skin!
However, I'm not self-conscious about my pale skin at all ... matter of fact, I think it looks A LOT better, more natural, more me. I'm thankful I haven't had any scary lab results from mole removals, so I sort of thank my skin everyday!
Sidenote: I do think a little sun (ie: 10 minutes a day) is good for your body and spirit. But, of course, you still need to wear sunscreen, and this probably amounts to getting in and out of the car, checking mail, etc.
Cheers to natural skin!
Yes, I second cheers to natural skin!
My issue is that I have a natural dark complexion, olive tone. It's easier for me to tan than burn. But, this past summer, I chose to stay away from the sun. The only time I tanned was in college before going to FL one year, it made me even darker than before but it was almost too much for me to handle (sun and heat).
Moderation and common sense are good to use when outside in the sun.
Natural is better than tan.
My issue is that I have a natural dark complexion, olive tone. It's easier for me to tan than burn. But, this past summer, I chose to stay away from the sun. The only time I tanned was in college before going to FL one year, it made me even darker than before but it was almost too much for me to handle (sun and heat).
Moderation and common sense are good to use when outside in the sun.
Natural is better than tan.
I'm one that embraces her paleness. My skin burns easily so I avoid the sun a lot. When I'm outdoors for any length of time I wear a hat or some kind of face protection. I'm 32. However, the girls I work with suntan religiously. One of the girls has had about 30 moles removed but she continues to tan. I hope my skin stays healthy into my later years. My DH prefers my paleness which is a good thing because I don't have any patience for sunless tanners.
I'm pale and I'm okay with it. I burn easily so I am sure to wear sunscreen when I'll be out for more than an hour but during the warmer months I will occasionally use a lotion that has a touch of self-tanner in it...like Jergens Natural Glow. I like it because it's very subtle and if you use it regularly you can get a nice hint of color that is much nicer than stark white legs. Sometimes during the winter I'll find that my face is paler than I would like so I'll use their face version for just a bit of color to my face so I don't look washed out. Oh, and it's not a pain like regular self tanners and doesn't streak like they would, just be sure to wash your hands after applying the lotion.
famousohara
Cathlete
Funny you bring this up. A male coworker commented on my "paleness" just yesterday. I'm Irish for God's sake . . . I'm supposed to be pale!
I'm not thrilled about the lack of pigment and I certainly don't use sunscreen the way I should, but it's the genetic hand I've been dealt, so I can live with it. I always joke and say I'm so white that I glow in the dark - makes it easier for my DH to find me at night!
Have a good one fellow pale one.
Mo
I'm not thrilled about the lack of pigment and I certainly don't use sunscreen the way I should, but it's the genetic hand I've been dealt, so I can live with it. I always joke and say I'm so white that I glow in the dark - makes it easier for my DH to find me at night!
Have a good one fellow pale one.
Mo
I wish I was pale like Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman. There is something intellectual and high class about women with pale skin, whereas suntans are more for women like Pamela Anderson, the fun and easy types who don't do very much with their life.
Some of you may find this offensive and I apologise to you, I guess no suntan gives off the impression that you are too busy with work and family to have time lazying around a pool/beach sunbathing. They are educated enough to know the dangers and don't want to risk it.
For some cultures having darker/suntanned skin and being thin means that you come from a poor background and spend most of your time labouring outdoors, whereas, rich people are pale and fuller figured because they don't have to work so hard. I know this used to be true in olde England as well. In most modern Western societies a suntan is the status symbol.
It's sad the extent people will go to for the sake of vanity.
Yen
Some of you may find this offensive and I apologise to you, I guess no suntan gives off the impression that you are too busy with work and family to have time lazying around a pool/beach sunbathing. They are educated enough to know the dangers and don't want to risk it.
For some cultures having darker/suntanned skin and being thin means that you come from a poor background and spend most of your time labouring outdoors, whereas, rich people are pale and fuller figured because they don't have to work so hard. I know this used to be true in olde England as well. In most modern Western societies a suntan is the status symbol.
It's sad the extent people will go to for the sake of vanity.
Yen
Beavs
Cathlete
<Funny you bring this up. A male coworker commented on my "paleness" just yesterday. I'm Irish for God's sake . . . I'm supposed to be pale!>
I too am a nice whitey Irish girl and I recall a similar incident where a rather paunchy gentleman advised me that I "really need to get some sun" My reply was "Well, while you were out sunning yourself I was in the gym working out" It shut him off, as his commentary was not requested to begin with. I like what Yen has to say although I do wonder how blue collar types are regarded in such societies as one cannot help get some color if they are working for the highway department or construction company all day.
I too am a nice whitey Irish girl and I recall a similar incident where a rather paunchy gentleman advised me that I "really need to get some sun" My reply was "Well, while you were out sunning yourself I was in the gym working out" It shut him off, as his commentary was not requested to begin with. I like what Yen has to say although I do wonder how blue collar types are regarded in such societies as one cannot help get some color if they are working for the highway department or construction company all day.
gogigi
Cathlete
I'm pale...very fair skinned, blue eyes. I've tanned a few times in my past but it's never been a habit. I joke around about it and my friend at work one day accidentally bumped my arm. She tans and she was amazed at how soft my skin was. She called everyone over to feel it and said it was as soft as a baby's butt. I was teaching at the time and we had worked together for years and we were all very close so this wasn't weird but it sure sounds weird when written out. Anyway, my friends who tan DO look good and I would love to have darker skin, but they are looking wrinkled and there skin is starting to feel leathery for lack of a better word. So, I just stay pale year round. There are WAY more health benefits to NOT tanning.
Angela:7
Angela:7
materialsgirl
Cathlete
I am pale and quite happy with it. I am the palest Puerto Rican you'll ever meet! Well, I'm half Puerto Rican - I got my mom's pale skin coloring, but my dad's dark hair and eyes - so I look positively vampire-like. 
In my younger years, I sunbathed and went to a tanning bed... but I'm paying the price now. I'm only 29, but already seeing fine lines on my face. Not cool. So I embrace my paleness now.
And Beavs, you are lovely in all your paleness, and nothing remotely resembling sheet of paper! You are blessed with fantastic skin - I be jealous!!! So shush!!!
In my younger years, I sunbathed and went to a tanning bed... but I'm paying the price now. I'm only 29, but already seeing fine lines on my face. Not cool. So I embrace my paleness now.
And Beavs, you are lovely in all your paleness, and nothing remotely resembling sheet of paper! You are blessed with fantastic skin - I be jealous!!! So shush!!!
steppermama
Cathlete
Hi! I am hearing ya, never had a tan a day in my life, as much as I have tried. I have learned to just accept it since being in the sun just makes me miserable anyway, we will definitely have less wrikles!! Sandy
SandyBeavs,
My husband is a utility locator and works outside in the rural areas. He is very tan and during the summer his arm hair was bleached blond! And he normally has dark hair. The only thing that kept his head hair from bleaching was that he wears a hat.
Anyway, during the summer, especially, he has a 'farmers' tan. He is quite dark on his face, arms, and neck but when he takes off his shirt it is like night & day - his torso is so white. He has a distinct t-shirt outline of a tan on his body and the rest is so pale! It's quite funny, actually ;-)
But out here in Colorado, at least in the community I live in, there are quite a few folks that work outdoors, whether for construction, utilities, on ranches or farms, etc, so it's pretty normal to see that around here.
My husband is a utility locator and works outside in the rural areas. He is very tan and during the summer his arm hair was bleached blond! And he normally has dark hair. The only thing that kept his head hair from bleaching was that he wears a hat.
Anyway, during the summer, especially, he has a 'farmers' tan. He is quite dark on his face, arms, and neck but when he takes off his shirt it is like night & day - his torso is so white. He has a distinct t-shirt outline of a tan on his body and the rest is so pale! It's quite funny, actually ;-)
But out here in Colorado, at least in the community I live in, there are quite a few folks that work outdoors, whether for construction, utilities, on ranches or farms, etc, so it's pretty normal to see that around here.
Hello Beavs,
Blue collar workers would be considered manual labour too. But I am talking more about the old olden days when people worked as servants, field hands or slaves.
It was always like this until the 1920s when Coco Chanel showed the world her suntan. And being a fashion designer of haute couture, wealth and elegance she was immediately copied everywhere. Ever since then the suntan has become de rigeur: a symbol of leisure and luxury living. You could then say it is the rich and famous who DO have time to sit and sunbathe because they are ones who could afford holidays in exotic, sunny climes.
What goes around comes around, so they say, and now that the suntan has been proven to be detrimental to health and beauty, it is the poor and ignorant who continue to sunbathe till they turn leathery. Again I am saying this not to offend anyone, but it is the poor who aspire to have suntans because they think it will make them look rich and the ignorant who don't understand the risks associated with it.
Yen
Blue collar workers would be considered manual labour too. But I am talking more about the old olden days when people worked as servants, field hands or slaves.
It was always like this until the 1920s when Coco Chanel showed the world her suntan. And being a fashion designer of haute couture, wealth and elegance she was immediately copied everywhere. Ever since then the suntan has become de rigeur: a symbol of leisure and luxury living. You could then say it is the rich and famous who DO have time to sit and sunbathe because they are ones who could afford holidays in exotic, sunny climes.
What goes around comes around, so they say, and now that the suntan has been proven to be detrimental to health and beauty, it is the poor and ignorant who continue to sunbathe till they turn leathery. Again I am saying this not to offend anyone, but it is the poor who aspire to have suntans because they think it will make them look rich and the ignorant who don't understand the risks associated with it.
Yen
lainiefig
Cathlete
I'm another pale diva. I went through a very brief phase of trying to tan in college. On the advice of a friend I went to the tanning bed a couple times before Spring Break to get a so-called base tan so I wouldn't burn. What a crock of you-know-what. I didn't get a base tan and I burned anyway. I just don't tan. I burn and then when the burn goes away I'm slightly (very slightly) less pale.
In spite of that college phase, I had actually embraced my paleness back in high school, forming a silly club with friends called The Palesters. We had slumber parties and went swimming at night, watched The Cure videos, and celebrated our paleness.
Sometimes I try self-tanners, but I really just don't feel like taking the time to put it on and languish around the house half-naked waiting for it to dry.
[font face="comic sans ms" font color=teal]***Lainie***
My fitness blog: http://web.mac.com/lainiefig/iWeb/Site/Exercise/Exercise.html
In spite of that college phase, I had actually embraced my paleness back in high school, forming a silly club with friends called The Palesters. We had slumber parties and went swimming at night, watched The Cure videos, and celebrated our paleness.
Sometimes I try self-tanners, but I really just don't feel like taking the time to put it on and languish around the house half-naked waiting for it to dry.
[font face="comic sans ms" font color=teal]***Lainie***
My fitness blog: http://web.mac.com/lainiefig/iWeb/Site/Exercise/Exercise.html
tneah
Cathlete
Crap. When I was into the whole bodybuilding thing, I tanned practically every single day, for almost ten years. I just never thought about it. The darker the better. Now that I am 41, I hate summer, the sun, really I do. I look forward to fall/winter. I use the sunless mist at times, my legs look better brownish, and have periodically layed in the tanning bed with my whole upper half covered, but not anymore! I am currently on the Obagi skincare line to take care of my past sins-it is working and I am lucky to have good genes, no wrinkles, but I am not taking that for granted anymore. I apply so much sunscreen everyday its ridiculous. I notice most of my damage on my chest area, which eventually I will have to treat with something more than sunscreen and Strivectin.
The only gals that look good tan are the teenagers, but then I look at them and think in 15 years, not so much and then they will have to start paying the price for all that sun. Even Pam Anderson is starting to finally look her age, even with all the treatments available to someone like her, her face is really showing all that sun worshipping. I love Cate Blanchett too!
A pale faced beauty, wish I had her coloring, I have blondish hair, grey eyes and medium/fair skin. Have always wished for red hair and porcelain skin!
The only gals that look good tan are the teenagers, but then I look at them and think in 15 years, not so much and then they will have to start paying the price for all that sun. Even Pam Anderson is starting to finally look her age, even with all the treatments available to someone like her, her face is really showing all that sun worshipping. I love Cate Blanchett too!
A pale faced beauty, wish I had her coloring, I have blondish hair, grey eyes and medium/fair skin. Have always wished for red hair and porcelain skin!
I have reddish brown hair and fair skin and I worshipped the sun as a teenager, back in the 80's. I began to avoid it in my early 20's and started wearing sunblock. In my early 30's I was diagnosed with a basal cell carcinoma. I have a little scar on my cheek because the doctor had to cut pretty deep to get it all out. Now I'm even more fanatical about the sun. It's not easy, as we have a boat and spend every summer weekend out on it, but I insist on leaving the bimmeny top up, and I apply sunblock every two hours to my DD's and DH--who are all blonde haired and blue eyed. They get annoyed with me, but hopefully some day when my DD's are adults, they'll thank me!
It kind of stinks though, because my arms are pretty cut, but you'd never notice because I'm too pale to show much definition!
It kind of stinks though, because my arms are pretty cut, but you'd never notice because I'm too pale to show much definition!
