By virtue of the process that occurs in tanning, all tanning means one has overdone it.

Less than ideal as it may be, spray-on tanning is the only tan that does not involve damaging the skin.

Over the course of our lives, sun exposure has a cumulative effect.

I was an impressionable teen when "California Girls" and "Summer Blond" set the standard of beauty. The only trouble was I was a pale-skinned kid from New England, with Irish and Scottish ancestry. Like so many other young teens, I disregarded warnings about tanning each Summer. There are years when I actually did build up a fairly good tan.

The Summer when I was nineteen, however, changed my views of tanning. As the Summer wore on I noticed that my "great" tan had brought me a bunch of freckly blotches on my previously blotch-free shoulders. The jig was up as far as I was concerned. I apparently had crossed the line when it came to accumulated sun exposure.

I decided to make the most of my pale, Irish/Scottish, New England complexion and aim more for a "porcelain" look. After all, the world was full of "California Blonds". It took a certain amount non-conformist behavior and guts to decide to play up the "porcelain" angle. :) (Of course, knowing a 27-year-old woman who faithfully "worked on" on her tan and who looked 45 didn't hurt.)

Decades after I decided to just go with my pale complexion I'm glad I did.

Rather than trying to find the balance between how much tan is just "kind of bad" and how much is "overdoing it", why not find Summer clothes and swimwear in colors that flatter a pale complexion - and, if it's really necessary, apply a hint of fake tan for a little more color. A couple of decades from you'll be glad you went this route.