Can pale/redheads tan?

ShortskirtCiara · 24-01-2012 12:33am #1

Hi All!!

First of all, im emigrating to Canada in about 7weeks and their Summer is way hotter than our typical Irish Summer. I'm hoping to tan and blend in with everyone else their!! My only problem is I don't know how exactly to get a tan and I need a bit of help with this!

I have a pale complexion and I have strawberry blonde hair (not ginger, it's blondey/browny/red). It doesn't really have a distinct colour that you would call it to be honest and I burn easily when in the sun!

I was thinking that if I went on the sunbeds for a few sessions that it may help me achieve a tan easier but I would like to hear from others and see what opinions and suggestions you may have.

Cupcake_Crisis · 24-01-2012 12:42am

Have you ever tanned before in warm weather, or on a sun holiday? I know a lot of red heads tend to just burn, then go back to pale, picking up a few new freckles on the way

Princess Peach · 24-01-2012 12:44am

I'm blonde and pale and can't tan. I'll burn and go right back to pale after.

Sunbeds are so so bad for you! So is lying out in the sun but sunbeds are really bad for your skin and your health. Maybe just start some of that self-tanning moisturiser before you go and keep it up?

I live in Canada, pretty much all girls are pale here thinking of it!

ShortskirtCiara · 24-01-2012 12:54am

I havent really been on long holidays in a couple of years to be honest. When I was younger I used to tan but not alot though. Did a J1 summer in America and came home as pale as I went but I wasnt really out in the sun that much and when I was, I would break out in a heat rash. Grrr....I really hate Irish skin.

fillefatale · 24-01-2012 1:56am

I'm a redhead and I don't tan. Redheads and fair-skinned people lack the levels of melanin needed to "tan" the skin. Sunbeds can be damaging to your skin, would you consider getting a spray tan instead?

dudara · 24-01-2012 3:20am

I'm a strawberry blonde, with freckles and pale skin. In fact I sound very much like you.

I don't really tan, but under steady exposure I might get a very slight colour, but with more freckles. If I don't apply sunlotion generously, I will burn very quickly, which will then fade away back to paleness, but with more freckles.

I think you have to admit defeat here. Your skin type is not meant to tan, and trying to get a tan could result in cancer. Either go without, or stick to the bottle.

ShortskirtCiara · 24-01-2012 6:43pm

Noooooooo :-(

I was afraid people were gonna say that! I had a wee glimmer of hope that I may get a tan but its probably unlikely! The only thing with bottled tans is that they get really patchy after a few days. If I could find a really good one that I could top up every day or 2 so it wouldnt ever blotch or fade I would definitely get and use it!

dearg lady · 24-01-2012 6:53pm

stay pale and lovely, don't by into that crap!!!

I'm pale and redhead, but after about 6 weeks in the tropics I finally started to get a bit of a colour, it was very slight, but the most 'tan' I ever got. Use a good sunblock, you want go very dark, but you will probably get a little bit of colour.

dudara · 24-01-2012 7:39pm

Play up your pale skin - don't try to be something that you're not.

Lia_lia · 24-01-2012 8:45pm

You don't need to tan! It's more important to make sure you wear suncream and stay out of the sun during the afternoon at its hottest. I have naturally pale skins/blonde hair and I actually do tan if I am out in the sun. Nothing dramatic though. I lived in France when I was a kid and was always tanned in the summer. But I still always make sure to wear suncream

Twee. · 24-01-2012 11:40pm

I'm pale and have reddish blonde hair and unfortunately I'll have to agree with everything here! I just don't tan, and have accepted that!

I was on a J1 last year in NY, had a heat wave and all, and I didn't so much as have lines from string tops. I hate getting burnt and know I don't tan, so took no risks - factor 50 on the face, 30 everywhere else.

I know it's a pain in the ass on the beach when everyone is a tanned beach babe (

), but you gotta embrace it! I was getting a pedicure and the girls there were all just in stitches, they'd never seen such pale legs

dermiek · 24-01-2012 11:47pm

My daughter is blonde and she goes ( eventually ) a pale golden colour, as the Stranglers song says, "Golden Brown". But she has to be careful in the sun while getting there.

Pythia · 24-01-2012 11:48pm

I have auburn hair and I get freckles on some parts of me and just go from white to pinky white, if at all, in the sun.

I do however use fake tan every week and find it fine. In a bikini a spray tan looks a bit dodgy after a few days but other than that it's generally fine as long as you exfoliate the old bits off before you put on more.

There are lots of woman out there who wish they were paler or wish they had straight hair instead of curly so no one is ever happy!

ShortskirtCiara · 25-01-2012 12:55am

It really is such a pain in the ass, oh well! I'll just have to embrace my Irish paleness so, and hope that I might get some sort of a colour while in Canada or wherever I end up on my travels! Of course il be using alot of suncream as I burn like a b*tch!!! :-)

tan11ie · 25-01-2012 8:12pm

Depends on your skin, I’m a redhead and I go a golden brown colour if I sunbath but I’ve spent many a holiday in hot climates from a young age.

I think pale healthy skin is lovely, don’t go destroying it with the likes of sun beds ect...remember a sun tan is skin damage. You will be grateful when you’re older if you stay covered up and pale.

Can pale/redheads tan?

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