Very fair-skinned - how do I look tanned?
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Are you fair-skinned, and want to look tanned?
I'm being slightly disingenuous in answering this request, because my honest belief is, "don't bother".
Fair skin is useful. It allows the body to create vitamin D with much less sunlight than darker-skinned people need.
But of course, fair-skinned people have pale skin. They often also have blue eyes and blonde or red hair.
So, what to do?
My advice? You can spend lots of time in the sun, and suffer premature aging of the skin and a higher risk of skin cancer. You can use sunbeds, with the same risks.
Or you can go the fake tan route, and spend a shed-load of cash and an extraordinary amount of time on your fake tan. Chances are, you will still end up looking orange or just plain weird.
Fair skin is beautiful. Dark skin is beautiful. Each suits the person who has it, it matches her hair, eyes, and body.
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Speaking personally
I have very pale skin, fair hair, and blue eyes. My skin freckles. I live with it, it's me, and I intend to spend no time at all trying to fake a different skin tone.
My sisters, brother, parents and son are all very fair as well, and there's nothing wrong with it!
And I reckon I'd just look weird with fair hair, blue eyes, freckles, and a deep tan, whether real or fake.
I'm not at all sure my skin would ever acheive a deep tan anyway, naturally, and orange skin and blonde hair - not a good look.
Love your skin. Keep it clean, and mosturised. Protect it from too much sun, and glory in being yourself.
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- Very fair-skinned - how do I look tanned?
My honest belief is, "don't bother". Fair skin is beautiful. Dark skin is beautiful. Each suits the person who has it, it matches her hair, eyes, and body. - 10 months ago
What to do instead of tanning
The best thing to do for your pale and beautiful skin is to make it as attractive as possible!
Moisturise well, exfoliate to remove the dead cells which can clog up your skin and make it dull, and glory in healthy, lovely skin.
Exercise always helps keep your skin glowing, and drinking enough water to make sure you are properly hydrated is very important.
Getting sun-burned is a bad idea, both short-term (it hurts and peels) and long-term (cancer and premature aging). So sun-cream, and a hat and long-sleeved top in fierce sun, are very important indeed.
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Comments
I agree - like curly hair or straight hair, people want the opposite!
Well in India my mother used to make a preparation of turmeric and flour to apply on the weekends to become "fair". It was funny when I landed in Midwest (in USA) where their were tanning parlors to get dark I almost freaked out when I saw it the first time. You are right we are what we are and their is nothing to be proud of or ashamed of because of our complexion. But I guess it matters more to guys (from India) as they seem to prefer "fair" girls.
Did your mother's receipe make any difference to your skin colour?
I think people should see the beauty in everyone's skin, from white to black, and all shades in between.
Please don't think I'm saying that fair skin is better than dark - it's not. But for people born with fair skin, it's the best for them.
The recipe does help to keep the skin clear and smooth. Turmeric and flour paste has antiseptic/cleaning abilities. Yes I totally agree with you whatever they are born with that is the best complexion for them.
Hi London Girl,
Like you, I'm very fair skinned and freckly with reddish blonde hair (going grey now LOL!) I live on the coast near Brighton, and have spend many a summer's day on the beach covered in factor 50 sunscreen and sitting under a sunshade whilst my friends marinaded themselves in olive oil!
Two summers ago I was in Southern Ireland sitting on Brittas Bay just south of Dublin, and for the first time in my life I felt at home on a beach. All around me were blondes and redheads and people with freckles and people going red and peeling. It fully confirmed my suspicion that there's a big whack of Celt in my gene pool!
Hiya LondonGirl! Those eyes ought to be worth some money, both the kiddo's and yours! Laugh! You're both very pretty, as is your skin!Â
That first sentence, with "don't bother" sold me the rest of the hub, well done! Â :-)
Thank you so much for your comment...and you know,,,you are right...I should be happy with how I am. It's funny...I look at you and I see that you are beautiful...but I look at me, and I dont see it! I guess we are self critical sometimes. I need to learn to love me the way God created me I guess. Instead of always trying to be what I think is 'better' looking. Thank you and GOd bless!
I think I'll leave the tumeric paste anyway, sounds a bit harsh on the skin?
Amanda - try beaches in Wales. Lots of Celts (like my freckly Dad) especially up north, you'd love it! Alternatively, come to the beach with my family, we can all share the factor million + bottle.... And don't believe the things people say about fairness being recessive in genetic terms, my other half is dark eyed, dark haired, and our son isn't exactly the same as him (-:
Elena - glad you enjoyed my hub! My general thought is that women spend far too much time trying to alter their perfectly lovely skin / hair / bodies, and could find much better and more fun things to do instead.
Angel - enjoy yourself. Stay healthy, fit and happy, and you will always be gorgeous.
Turmeric has been used in India for thousands of years before the modern creams came about and it is not at all harsh on the skin. The paste is primarily of Indian flour and a dash of turmeric. Here are the benefits of Turmeric: http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/20-health-ben
that was fascinating, thanks! I've only ever used it to cook with before.
LondonGirl, I agree that it's always best for people to find ways to make the most of their natural coloring. Fair-skinned people need to watch out more for skin cancer, so that's one reason to keep an eye on sun exposure.
Another, though, is that it's just better to make the most of whatever coloring (and whatever else) is naturally our own. Up until I was 19 (hmmm, eh-hmty, years ago), I would lay out in the sun, trying to get that great tan of the much admired "California Girl" look back then. I never had freckles, but when I was 19 I got a tan so bad I got giant, freckle-like blotches across my shoulders. I was horrified and regretful, and vowed never to try to tan again.
Your picture shows that you're apparently of the age to still have a small child. My "porcelain-doll" "baby" just turned 24 the other day. When I have my "porcelain" girl, I realized I needed to help her realize that she should play up her creamy complexion, rather than try to be something she just isn't ever going to be. She's beautiful, and has grown up to be someone who knows exactly how to be her "most beautiful, real self".
I like to think that all my efforts and talk helped her know how to make the most of her natural self; and I so often wish so many other young women how much better if feels to be able to do that.
A final "maternal" comment: I don't mean to sound too immodest, but after making sure I paid attention to sun exposure throughout all my adult years, I'm now glad I did, because I know other people my age who have skin that looks a whole lot older than mine does right now.
If someone can find a fake tanning product that gives them the look they want, I suppose that's great for the person who, for some reason, thinks a tan is a great thing. I just think no tan (that lasts for only so long anyway) is worth looking 40 when you're 25 or spending the whole second half of your life looking older than you need to.
My comment was not intened to turn into a "lecture", but there's way too much "not-being-happy-with-what-they-are" that goes on with a lot of young (and older) women; so I couldn't resist. :)
I'm 31, and the eldest of 4 milk-pale children. My mother and father (also very fair) were mad about sun cream, and even in the early 80s, we wore hats and T-shirts on the beach, factor gazillion cream, all the rest of it. My mother followed her own lectures, and like you, her skin is far younger than her birth certificate would have you think (-:
Is that you and and your angles? i love children a lot and can take very good care of them if you will invite me. Very nice and kind of you for all your comments, God bless you.
Yes, my son. He is looked after already by his nanny.
nice hub with nice pictures
thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Hi London girl.
All you say about fair and dark is so true. I was very fair and went through agony to get tanned much red skin and many blisters.
My mother used to beg and plead with me not to go tanning telling me "yes you will look beautiful now but wait until you are older" as teenagers mothers knew zero or so we thought.
Now in my 60's I look at my skin and I look at my mother's in her 90's and yes she has the younger looking skin.
Unfortunately when we grew up there was no such thing as factors to apply but actually I doubt whether my mother would have got it into my head to apply it !
Please all you with fair skin reading London Girls hub take note and stay out of the sun pleeeeeeeeeeease.
Thank you for the article wish we had had hubs in my day of growing up maybe I would have listened.
Take Care Di
thanks for reading and commenting! I agree, your mother never knows anything when you are 16 (-:
I enjoyed your hub, Londongirl! I actually have dark hair and green eyes, but still very fair skin. After a few years of wishing I could tan easier and trying different tanning products, I finally accepted that my skin is what is- pale, and I should love it that way.
Personally, I would love society to get back to earlier days when it was fashioanble to be fair. (This was actually because those who had money didn't work outside and thus didn't tan. So to be pale meant you had money.) But today, with all the knowledge we have about how damaging the sun is, you would think tans- especially fake ones- would fall out of fashion. ...Oh well!
I guess Oil of Olay is right, "Love the skin you're in!"
I agree, if we have fair skin, we should enjoy it!
I too have fair skin , and believe that the sun simply is not for us ! Its better to avoid the sin than to end up looking like a lobster and then to peel like an orange after your 1 week of red skin lol.
Love the piccys :)
Thank you! I agree, the lobster-look isn't a good one.
Nice hub, nice photos, and nice hubber!
How very kind! Thank you for reading.
I like pale skin! I think its very attractive just as much as tanned!
Also lol at the first comment which is pretty true!!!
Your babys soo cutee!!:)
He looks like an angel.
Looks can be very deceptive.
Funny - centuries ago, it was good to be pale, when only laborers were dark from working outside. Nowadays, it's good to be dark, when only the wealthy can afford to spend weeks tanning under the sun in the Caribbean or Riviera.
I suppose the beauty standard has always been dictated by what lifestyle the wealthy enjoy.
Yup, it's all about conspicuous consumption.
All products are use for skins, nice post for suggestion for maintain our skin.
thanks - sun damage to the skin is something very easily avoided
I wear long sleeves and shorts to the beach -it saves gallons of suntan lotion in Australia - which aren't terribly effective on fair skin when the UV index is at 13 (out of 10 I think!) My mother died of skin cancer at 70 so I am absolutely paranoid about it as I have her fair sikin/colour too. At least here now they won't let kids play outside at school unless they have hats with them. Sometimes you see parents let their kids play on the beach with no suntan lotion and very few cloths - its tantamount to child abuse as far as I am concerned.
I am also the queen of fake tan as I ballroom dance and its compulsory for competitions - its horrible and smells - and doesn't come off easily - but its a lot safer than a sun bed! Nice hub
I agree, in hot sun, playing outside without hats on is just daft of the parents.
We always wore hats on the beach as children, and t-shirts as well, even in England. Unless we were wearing jumpers, that is (-:
My mother won a photo competition in the 1980s with a picture of me on a beach, making a sand castle, wearing a swimming costume and a cardigan!
LOL I do recall it hitting 30C once in London - but I agree cardies rule!
Really well said.I agree not to tan, aswhite skin can be beautiful the way it is.I have had some hilarious results with fake tan haha.On one occassion I was so patchy i hid for days.Mind you I have come across some good fake tan products too
I'm not sure even the good ones are worth the trouble, though!
I'm light skinned as well and only wish that as a youngster I had understood the need to protect my skin. Ah well, as I age I'll just have to deal with the damage. Take care of what you have and make the most of it!
I agree - hope you didn't get too badly burned by the sun!
I can understand how it is to be fair skinned and burn easily. I had a couple of bad burns when I was younger. Like the old Woody Allen joke "I don't tan, I stroke"
For color I use a tinted moisturizer and I don't go out without sunscreen of 20 or more.
Ouch - not heard the Allen line before!
My mother reckons she takes half the summer to go from blue to white, though.
My mother had the English rose skin, why anyone thinks a tan looks healthy is beyond me.
besides the sun is the most aging component.
Spray tans just look fake, they are more orange/yellow than tan, whilst they have improved they leave the tell tale marks that scream, Hey I've just been air brushed.
My own skin is Olive, from my Latin heritage, and frankly, I have always tried to stay as pale as possible.
Why can't we be happy with the skin colour and hair colour we have.
couldn't agree more - I've never dyed my hair either (apart from a pink spray-on streak for fun when I was a teenager) and think that should also stay its natural colour! Healthy, shiny, natural-coloured hair is a lot more attractive, to my mind.
My sisters are fair skinned and have redish brown hair. I on the other hand have olive skin, black hair, and do tan easily because I like to walk a lot, but I do not tan on purpose. There was a point when I was getting way too tan from walking out in the desert, and one time I went into a doctor's office to turn some papers in for my sister. The receptionist could hardly believe we were related, and I had to assure her that we were.Â
My younger sister purposely applies spray tans and I just do not know why. Honestly I do not tan on purpose, it just happens, but I do not think my sister should strive for that look. My youngest sister loves being pale and it looks great on her. Many actresses such as Anne Hathaway and Cynthia Nixon look great and are on the fair side too, so I am not sure why the majority of celebrities go for the fake tanning sprays. Be yourself, not a liquid spray :).
I agree - and the sheer effort it takes to turn oneself orange is extraordinary!
I loved this hub...and I am sending the link to my daughter! She will love it even more, being she is a fair skinned red head who burns very easily.
HI - glad you enjoyed it, and hope your (wonderfully fair-skinned) daughter does as well!
LondonGirl you write your stories with such finesse. I have tried a fake tan more than once, and more than once I have hid my legs for days, with streaks running up them like railway tracks LMAO
thanks! You decided to avoid the "you've been tango-ed" look as well, then?
if you can spend lots of time in the sun, and suffer premature aging of the skin and a higher risk of skin cancer. You can use sunbeds, with the same risks.http://www.healthofcancer.com
hi i want to look fair give me some advice i realy fedup..
My 18 year old daughter inherited my skin color (very pale) with her dad's dark, dark brown (almost black) hair, with bright blue eyes. She is very unique looking. A boy at school told her, "Hey Leslee, two words for you...tanning bed!" She responded, "Two words back at you...skin cancer." She accepts who she is, wears her SPF 50 while in the sun, and does not bother to try to tan. Oh, we could only be that wise.
Your daughter sounds very sensible, and very attractive! My whole family acts like vampires around the sun, we may not tan, but we never get burned.
As a redhead with pale skin, living in Texas, I have suffered terrible sunburns and the constant comments about how pale I am. That may be one reason I love London so much -- I fit right in, and no one seems to think I should have a tan. Great advice to accept yourself as you are -- a lesson I wish we could all learn at an early age.
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anjalichugh says:
10 months ago
God bless mom & the baby. A very pretty picture. It's strange ...fair skinned people get themselves tanned and dark skinned people keep trying every possible remedy to look fair. LOL.