Pale Skin - Is it really that bad?

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Replies

  • raccoon182
    raccoon182 Posts: 29
    I've been pale my whole life and I've never found anything wrong or "weird" about it. I enjoy being pale at times because I just generally prefer whiter skin. I'm not sure but I hate getting comments about how I should "get a tan" or "bask in the sun."

    I dislike being outside because it's hard for me to see at times with my glasses and I hate being sweaty from just standing or sitting. I also prefer cold over warm, so that's a thing. :smile:
  • dreamingchild
    dreamingchild Posts: 208 Member
    I would just like to throw this out there - I get a lot of hate for being pale. A /lot/ of people say "Oh, you look so pretty, but a tan would make you look amazing." No, it won't. I'm from Scottish and Norwegian blood, with red hair, and I like being pale. Stop telling me to tan. I wouldn't tell someone from Hispanic or African, or even 'darker' places in Europe like Italy and Greece, to bleach their skin to get paler, so why tell me to tan? I, personally, find pale skin beautiful on /me/. That doesn't mean I'm racist. It doesn't mean I don't find tanner skin ugly. I just don't think it looks the best on me.

    So please, those of you who make fun of people who are paler than normal, don't tell us we look 'unhealthy' or that we should 'get some sun' or, even in some cases, that we're 'ugly'. Just because it isn't the standard of beauty in most places in the Americas and Europe, doesn't mean that we are any less attractive than you are.

    Anyway, where do people of MFP fall on the spectrum? Do you think being pale truly is bad, or just different?

    Being a redhead i can relate. I've always thought i had creamy white skin and it was beautiful...until i met some people who thought i was way too light so i started trying to get tanner and ended up with blisters all over my FACE that would pop and ozze....how's that for pretty...yeah right. now i just am who i am.

    btw, glad to see so many scottish people on here. :)
  • kikilieb
    kikilieb Posts: 118 Member
    I have very pale skin and... I actually think pale skin is beautiful!

    All my life people have told me that I need to get a tan. I never understood them... not that I don't like people with tans, I do think they are beautiful. But for myself, I'm happy with pale.

    When the whole vampire craze hit, I started telling people I'm a vampire. The best part about that is I usually have really cold hands, so I will give them an icy cold touch as I say it. I try to creep people when they're being stupid ^_^
  • DMZH78
    DMZH78 Posts: 42
    I am a pale person and have done what I can to always protect and stay that way! I don't want a tan for numerous reasons. I had a mother in law that always tried to get me to go lay out in the sun or use a tanning salon to "get some color and get healthy" but the thing is that's not true, it's NOT healthy at all (yes 10-15 minutes of sun will give you the vitamin D that everyone needs, but that is all the amount of time you need), tanning is your skins way of trying to protect itself from the damage you are placing on it and where people got that it is a sign of health (or even healthy at all) is beyond me. Tanning leads to high risk of skin cancer & MANY other skin issues (premature aging, leather skin, etc.) and those are all things I don't fine beautiful (or youthful, or healthy, or what ever else they want to claim). I will leave tanning to those who want to do it and let them suffer any consequences that may come from it, as for me I LOVE MY PALE SKIN. For me someone that has pale skin (or their natural color that has not been enhanced in any way) is much more attractive.
  • shannyfro
    shannyfro Posts: 641
    I'm not a red head but I am very pale with freckles. I also don't tan well even when I try...mostly burn and freckle lol. I embrace my pale flesh and don't mind blindin anyone with these bright white legs....my ex used to always tell me to tan, and I'd look better tan...well buddy...I'm white that's how God made me....so I say embrace your paleness. :D Besides people who are super tan look fake and usually a lot older than they really are. Pale don't fail! :)
    I think pale skin is beautiful and radiant! :) I have pale skin and I wouldn't have it any other way!
  • waronmyfat
    waronmyfat Posts: 322 Member
    Nothing wrong with it :) sets you apart from everyone else you know what would Great having firey red hair that would look gorgeous on you
  • blonde71
    blonde71 Posts: 955 Member
    I'm a blonde with fairly light skin considering I'm mostly Italian. I like being pale. I rarely tan and that's just fine with me. People tell me all the time that I should tan consistently but I do what I want.
  • AlexandraLynch
    AlexandraLynch Posts: 161
    I am of polish/irish/scottish background, and carry the ginger gene. (I had a redheaded son.) My hair is deep walnut brown, and I am very pale with grey eyes.

    It works for me.
  • Jamiehawj
    Jamiehawj Posts: 10
    i loove pale skin , i wish i was lighter <3
  • witchyme
    witchyme Posts: 97 Member
    i have been pale skin all my life,, porcelain skin......Edward Cullen looks tan compared to me,,hahaha but in a way, i prefer to be pale than orange over cooked looking...hahaha

    I learned not to care anymore if i am white as ghost or tan ......
  • GretchenReine
    GretchenReine Posts: 1,374 Member
    I happen to be very proud of my ivory white skin! I have people tell me all of the time that I need a tan and I simply tell them that I gave up trying to get a tan as a teenager. Clearly...it's not in my genetics! With that being said...I'm 41 with beautiful skin and absolutely no wrinkles...tell me again why I need a tan??? :noway:
  • pudadough
    pudadough Posts: 1,271 Member
    True story: when I was in high school, the other girls on my dance team gave me the "Savage Tan" award for being the palest, whitest girl on the team. They thought it was hilarious. Nice girls, eh? Some of them went to the beds twice a day, every day, trying to get as dark as possible. Now all of them look about 10 years older than they are from all the years they spent in the tanning bed as teenagers. We're talking texture of a python handbag bad!

    My brother is a true ginger and everyone in my family is pale. I don't tan OR burn. It's like I have no melanin at all. And I will never try to force it again (I used to try, and fail, to tan in a bed every now and then when I was younger.) Skin cancer is not worth it.

    Pale Pride! :D
  • coopersmom2006
    coopersmom2006 Posts: 839
    Hubby calls me his alabaster princess. LOL! I'm pale and I've learned to be ok with it. ;)
  • DaughterOfTheMostHighKing
    DaughterOfTheMostHighKing Posts: 1,436 Member
    lol!!! if I'm in the sun, I tan... which means if parts of me are in the sun, they tan... soooooo, I am an oreo. lol!!! dark on the out side (my legs, arms, and face) and white on the inside! (my torso!) LOL!!!!

    I think either can be healthy or not so healthy. some people lay in the sun and their skin is old looking because of damaged cells. others are not fit and the white of the skin greasy with oil (fat) is not nice either.

    If you are fit and healthy, it doesn't matter if you have a tan or not.
  • dub101
    dub101 Posts: 325
    Nothing wrong with it at all.
  • bodiva88
    bodiva88 Posts: 308 Member
    We're just the fairest of them all.

    And even though I've always been careful, when I was little the sun protection wasn't as good as it is now, so even with care I ended up with a basal cell (the unscary kind) of cancer on my forehead.

    Just enjoy having fair skin. It will be less wrinkled and less damaged as you get older and you'll age much more gracefully than if you were a sun worshiper.
  • Nerdy_Rose
    Nerdy_Rose Posts: 1,277 Member
    I still turn tan even if I wear SPF 85 when I go outside. I'm dating a guy who's Irish and so pale he should be see through. Embrace what ya got.
  • Janet9906
    Janet9906 Posts: 546 Member
    I'm a natural redhead, my arms looked tanned because of my freckles. In the winter I'm see thru white, so pale. I've been asked over the years if I'm sick....nope just a redhead :-)
  • almcneal
    almcneal Posts: 200 Member
    I've had a pretty difficult life being that I am "glow in the dark" white, and I'm a brunette. It seems that some find it acceptable if you have red hair, but everyone else is supposed to be tan. Well, I wish someone would've told that to my genetics because the only colors I ever am are red or white. I have never been one to wear shorts out in public because of being laughed at, and it didn't matter how hot it was. I would rather sweat my *kitten* off, then have people point and laugh at me. I'm just now getting to an age where I don't worry about it quite as much. I will never be completely comfortable, but as I'm nearing 40, I'm entering the "who gives a ****" phase of my life. I do get a chuckle when I see pics of people from high school who loved to tease me, and their skin looks like it's from a hand bag. I am happy to say that my skin, although it is still extremely white, it is healthy...and that's what counts.

    Oh, and I have to say how funny it is that people still try to give me tips on how to tan. Really?? Do they honestly think that over the last 30+ years, I haven't tried to tan. Geez, I am pretty sure I have tried everything out there, even to the extent of lathering cooking oil on me and roasting in the sun. All that did was cook me up to a burn, which eventually peeled off like the skin of a snake. Low and behold, I was white once again.

    Anyways, thanks for putting this blog out there, because it is comforting to know there are others out there like me. I do love how tan skin looks, but white is also beautiful! We are all different, and we are all wonderful!

    Another bonus: NO TAN LINES!!!
  • turbofuzz77
    turbofuzz77 Posts: 98 Member
    pale chicks turn me on lol so id say its not bad at all!!
  • luvmycandies
    luvmycandies Posts: 489 Member
    I am Irish too and very pale. I live in MIami and get teased all the time for not being tan. I respond that I like being snow white and have no wrinkles.
  • apedeb09
    apedeb09 Posts: 805 Member
    I'm pale and proud of it! Even though I'm a tiny bit Mexican, I'm more irish than anything and it shows. I've never been tanning in my life and I don't really ever plan on going.. My mom and cousins have tried to get me to go but I just don't want to.. I burn too easily and it's terrible for your skin, anyway.
  • cakelady69
    cakelady69 Posts: 228
    I'm also pale and proud. Lost my grandfather from cancer. Not willing to chance it.
  • Radiskull
    Radiskull Posts: 70 Member
    Don't sweat being pale! Look at me, I am so pale that I glow in the dark.
  • foxyforce
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
    i love being pale
  • Jonalee1977
    Jonalee1977 Posts: 415 Member
    I'm pale and it doesn't phase me one bit. I might get a little bit of color in the summer, but I definitely don't tan. I burn, get sun poisoning, bleed, and peel. It isn't pretty. I'm glad I've never abused my skin with tanning. It's probably the main reason I look younger than almost 35.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    I'm super pale. Everyone tells me to get a tan, too. But if I get a tan, I'll match my hair color. =/ Not to mention actually getting tan isn't good for your skin.

    And quite honestly, I think dark eyes in a pale face is a good look.
  • SurfinBird1981
    SurfinBird1981 Posts: 517 Member
    I'm pretty pale, I tan really well but choose not to fry my skin....I just use a bit of fake tan :smile:
  • SmartWhatever
    SmartWhatever Posts: 718 Member
    I'm English, German and Irish. I've never gotten a tan and I never will. I only burn, there's no in between.

    I love my pale skin! I have white skin, and I dye my hair black. I get lots of compliment for that.

    When those people who tell you to get a tan are older and all wrinkly, you can tell them they shouldn't have went out in the sun so much!!
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    <--- PALE AND PROUD!

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