Pale Skin - Is it really that bad?

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Replies

  • lindsy721
    lindsy721 Posts: 350 Member
    I'm very light blonde, of Norwegian descent, and guess what - very, very light skinned! The only people with lighter skin than I are people who are truly albino.

    I've gotten the comments too - that I should get a tan, and I'm always like ya know what? I don't think it looks natural at all to see someone with very light hair have tan skin. I do tan, a little bit, during the summer if I'm out enough, but not much. And that's fine. I've even been asked if I'm anemic because I'm so fair. (No, I'm not anemic, my hgb runs between 13-14!)

    I think naturally fair skin is lovely, actually :)
  • VryIrishGirl76
    VryIrishGirl76 Posts: 1,167 Member
    Pasty face Irish Girl and Proud of it!
  • EmilyOfTheSun
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
    I'm a red head and quite pale! No problems with it :)
  • mcpherson4
    mcpherson4 Posts: 287 Member
    Fair skinned red head here, too. Fat just looks better with some color. It is just the truth. That being said, spray it on. I stay OUT of the sun. But I am not opposed to the spray tan. My opinion.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Anyway, where do people of MFP fall on the spectrum? Do you think being pale truly is bad, or just different?

    I think as you age you will be very, very glad you didn't listen to those telling you to tan. And they will be very jealous of your younger looking skin.
  • Twilightsunflower
    Twilightsunflower Posts: 324 Member
    pale skin looks good on some people....i personally dont like how pale my legs are.. but they dont tan at all
  • confettibetti
    confettibetti Posts: 405 Member
    I personally think its beautiful. Being pale is actually healthy isn't it? I mean, tans look nice, but what are they doing to our bodies!!!! CANCER anyone?

    :-)
  • myfitnessval
    myfitnessval Posts: 687 Member
    i think people dont realize theres a difference between pale and ivory skinned. i'm full blooded mexican but really light because i rarely spend a substancial amount of time outdoors with my legs/body exposed so I AM PALE lol i would look better tanned because of many various reasons. you are just fair skinned naturally so that is what looks best on you. dont let peoples ignorance get to you.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    <-- This is me WITH a tan. Or as tan as I get. Also part Scottish. Also love being pale. And really love that I've been carded at 40.
  • guapogringo
    guapogringo Posts: 201
    I will take pale and thin any day over tan and fat!
  • blonde71
    blonde71 Posts: 955 Member
    I quit tanning over 25 years ago. I'm 40 now and barely have wrinkles or sun spots. All my friends that chided me for shunning the sun are singing a different tune now. Just sayin'.
  • _Wits_
    _Wits_ Posts: 1,286 Member
    I'm pale and freckly and I love it.

    I have tried tanning on occasion, in the past, and my skin just refuses it. So I stopped wasting my money :)
  • gaiareeves
    gaiareeves Posts: 292 Member
    I'm pasty-white, and I'm incapable of tanning.

    My dad's ginger, and while I didn't inherit the hair colour, I definitely got the skin tone. I was one of those kids with blindingly white hair and skin when I was little.

    I prefer it. I'd look ridiculous with a tan.
  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,689 Member
    I think pale skin with red hair is absolutely beautiful. (I also think a lot of other complexions are beautiful.) I think people forget that there is a huge difference between looking pale because you're sick, and just being pale because that's your natural skin tone. Try to ignore them. You could also remind them that sun exposure is associated with cancer.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    I agree. When I was younger (teenager) I always wore sunscreen, hats and protected my skin. Everyone would laugh at me because all my friends were tanning. I didn't care. Now, no one cares that I have light skin. And my skin is so healthy and youthful. I'm happy about that. I freckle (a little) also. Younger people encourage tanning, but that will change.
  • GabrielleZelda
    GabrielleZelda Posts: 190 Member
    You go girl! Tanning would just damage your skin in the long run.
    All skin colors are beautiful, as long as they are healthy and well taken care of :-)

    I am of French and Scottish decent, so I am verryyyyyyyy pale as well. Haven't experienced much criticism, though!

    P.s.... don't forget to lather on the suncreen :)
  • ElizaRoche
    ElizaRoche Posts: 2,005 Member
    im latina and as you can see im pale as a ghost!.. most of the ppl tell me i should get a tan, im like, why would i do that??, no thanks!
  • MikeM53082
    MikeM53082 Posts: 1,199 Member
    I definitely like being a little tan. The trick is to never overdue it (remember the tanorexic mom in NJ?).

    A slight tan is definitely the way to go though.
  • zCarsAndCaloriesz
    zCarsAndCaloriesz Posts: 348
    I'm pale as well, and people say that a lot.
    I can't tan, I just burn. And I really can't stand sitting around doing nothing under the sun, when it's hot out. I'd rather be up and about. That, and I like to take care of my skin. I've had family members dye from skin cancer, i'd like to avoid that as much as possible.
  • mycrazy8splus1
    mycrazy8splus1 Posts: 1,558 Member
    @kittyhasclaws...See that is what my dad thought too. He is naturally dark and never burned so never thought of wearing sunscreen. My pale German Irish mother always wears sunscreen! Lots of sunscreen!! Dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma 5 years ago and given 6 months to live. Thank God he is a fighter and is still alive today. He is now a HUGE advocate of sunscreen and of Anti-tanning! I get more concerned about my darker skinned son out in the sun because you can not tell when he has been out too long. My lighter children get a little pink if they have not put on their sunscreen. Keep working on your hubby...your children need their daddy around for a long long time (try that one on him..maybe guilt will work! :wink: )
  • Jules2Be
    Jules2Be Posts: 2,238 Member
    Ms Pale Here.
  • BosLady1
    BosLady1 Posts: 83
    I think pale skin is unique. My dad is 50% Dutch and my mom is 50% German... I am VERY pale and do not tan. I burn.. or char might be a better word. I have dark brown hair and lots of people tell me I should tan. I now say.. I'm European and we don't tan. That shuts people up, because they are like.. oh what's that :huh: ? Reallllly! :noway: UGGH! So I just leave it at that. I was once told I'm so pasty white I might glow in the dark... well glow on... because I actually like being pale... :drinker:
  • bayertablets
    bayertablets Posts: 213 Member
    I'm pretty pale (though I can get a decent-ish tan from a week at the beach - even using 50+ SPF sunscreen). Also, I love redheads and pale skin! :P

    My cousin lived in Bangladesh for a couple of years and worked at an all girls school. She said all the girls there wanted to have her lighter skin rather than their darker skin. It was what they were programmed to want based on Western culture's portrayal of skin color in the magazines/media. They couldn't believe that she wanted to make her skin a bit darker by getting a tan. Things are different all over, I suppose.
  • JennyLisT
    JennyLisT Posts: 402 Member
    we gingers do NOT look good with a tan. sun can kill us if we use it long enough to "tan" - and by that i mean our freckles merge. and fake-and-bake looks TERRIBLE with our hair/eyes. we gingers are meant to be a pale ppl.

    This! I can't tan anymore even if I wanted to, I just get more freckles, and I'm not going to risk skin cancer by going out to bake, or worse, going to a tanning bed. Anyway, lots of guys like pale skin, I'm happy to say!

    Both of you speak the truth. Preach!
  • renwicker
    renwicker Posts: 158 Member
    Pale skin used to be considered a sign of upper class. Peasants and poor people were tan because they had to work in the fields and outside for a living. Embrace your skin tone and tell your tan friends to go plow a field and suck it! I dont know when tan skin got so popular, (probably around the same time skin cancer did) but a beautiful girl is a beautiful girl. Tan/pale/hispanic/black/asian....whatever. Everyone is different, and that's what makes them lovely.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    I think pale skin is unique. My dad is 50% Dutch and my mom is 50% German... I am VERY pale and do not tan. I burn.. or char might be a better word. I have dark brown hair and lots of people tell me I should tan. I now say.. I'm European and we don't tan. That shuts people up, because they are like.. oh what's that :huh: ? Reallllly! :noway: UGGH! So I just leave it at that. I was once told I'm so pasty white I might glow in the dark... well glow on... because I actually like being pale... :drinker:

    LOL, we do glow in the dark. Glow on!

    But, seriously I think all skin colors are beautiful, and I would hope that most people feel that same way. Variety is the spice of life!
  • aimelee
    aimelee Posts: 216 Member
    i'm pale and proud of it! those people who think tans are so great can come talk to me when they look like a wrinkly old leather handbag in a few years and we'll see who looks better.
  • BVannillie
    BVannillie Posts: 140
    Love being pale! :) My skin does tan rather then burn but I prefer to stay out of the sun anyway. Not good for you.
  • Octopies
    Octopies Posts: 157 Member
    I'm the palest of my family- everyone else either has dad's golden skin or my mom's olive skin. I tried sun tanning once and I looked utterly ridiculous with it. I don't see why people are so concerned with my skin tone, anyways! I think I look just fine with my pale skin, shouldn't that be enough for you? It's like those people who try to convert me to contacts or the ones who try to get me to straighten my hair. I'm not sure why they care so much, I'm fine with how I look.
  • LinaBo
    LinaBo Posts: 342 Member
    I'm mostly Dutch and Danish, so I'm naturally quite pale. Not translucent, but still. I CAN tan, if I want to, and I have gotten a bit of colour this summer, just from going about outdoors. I need to get into a better habit of using sunscreen... it's just that it's so sticky and disgusting, and makes a mess of my clothes. I won't use a fake tan for the same reason, but also because I see nothing is wrong with being pale.

    I know there are non-white people who are still discriminated for the colour of their skin, but at least in western society, that is openly considered racist and wrong. Somehow, though, our culture still considers it okay to ridicule someone with naturally pale skin as unattractive and sickly. This is somehow still not considered racist, because it's against "white people", and I think most people know what is said about "white people problems". I shouldn't feel like I have to darken the colour of my skin, any more than my friends of colour should feel that they have to lighten theirs. I have a friend, he's black (and very dark), who would ask me as summer was rolling around when I was going to get a tan. I have explained to him that, because my ancestors came from a colder place with less sunlight, their skin adapted to absorb more vitamin D from what light they could get, and there is nothing wrong with my skin the way it is, that tanning would damage my skin and age me prematurely... and that I wouldn't ask him to lighten his skin. I also ask him when was the last time HE got a sunburn ;P That shut him up!

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