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Embracing our Irish skin colour

245

Comments

  • #32
    miss choc
    Registered Users Posts: 1,085 ✭✭✭miss choc


    I personally like a bit of fake tan on when I go out for the night it makes me look healthier and makes my eyes sparkle and teeth whiter. Mostly though I dont bother with it too expensive and time consuming.
    I would love to have olive skin but sure should be happy with what I'm given. I like the pale porcelain type skin of Nicole Kidman, Nicola Roberts mine isnt that pale but takes on that bluey/grey palor in Winter and just pink/freckles in Summer a bit of tan perks up my face :)


  • #33
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 50,630 ✭✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    SmokeyEyes wrote: »
    Beautiful pale gals!

    I would be willing to bet money on the fact that only pics 1&3 are truly tan free. Megan fox and Angelina just look like they found a shade to suit them in the paler pics and I've definitely seen Zoey Deschanel looking a lot paler than in that pic.


  • #34
    SmokeyEyes
    Registered Users Posts: 1,032 ✭✭✭SmokeyEyes


    Deleted User wrote: »
    I would be willing to bet money on the fact that only pics 1&3 are truly tan free. Megan fox and Angelina just look like they found a shade to suit them in the paler pics and I've definitely seen Zoey Deschanel looking a lot paler than in that pic.

    Well I was just trying to illustrate a point of course!

    This better?

    0.jpg


  • #35
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 50,630 ✭✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    SmokeyEyes wrote: »
    Well I was just trying to illustrate a point of course!

    Oh I know you were, I'm just pointing out that tanned does not have to equal orange :)


  • #36
    SmokeyEyes
    Registered Users Posts: 1,032 ✭✭✭SmokeyEyes


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Oh I know you were, I'm just pointing out that tanned does not have to equal orange :)

    Agreed a nice light tan can be lovely but I'm currently obsessed with keeping myself pale:) Don't want any tan at all hee hee!


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  • #37
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 50,630 ✭✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    SmokeyEyes wrote: »
    Agreed a nice light tan can be lovely but I'm currently obsessed with keeping myself pale:) Don't want any tan at all hee hee!

    You're dead right if you can get away with it. I can't unfortunately :(


  • #38
    LizT
    Registered Users Posts: 29,089 ✭✭✭✭LizT


    I never use tan. Just seems like too much effort to be honest! I'm quite pale but not extremely pale. I suppose because I haven't got into the habit of tanning it's not really something that I'm interested in.


  • #39
    cee_jay
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators Posts: 7,920 Mod ✭✭✭✭cee_jay


    I am lucky in that I am not that pale. My natural skin colour would be the colour of some of my friends tanned skin after a week in the sun. I tan easily - after three weeks in Spain I have been mistaken as a local.
    However if I haven't been in the sun for a while I do look pale for my colouring but I never wear fake tan. I hate the smell, the messiness and the unnatualness of it all.
    I got a spray tan done once in my younger days. I was in a tiny room with no air ventilation and nearly passed out from the fumes. And it was streaky the next day. Never again.
    I have a wedding next weekend. Five people have asked me already what am I doing for my tan. I've responded I don't wear fake tan. They then exclaim but it's a wedding! And I just say I am sure the bride and groom are really worried if I wear fake tan or not, I never wear it do why start for this wedding?


  • #40
    dearg lady
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,091 ✭✭✭dearg lady


    panda100 wrote: »
    We have to stop thinking that we will look 'ridiculous', with our 'blotchiness' and 'wobbly bits'.

    You're not wrong there! I think if people stopped using fake tan for a while, and let themselves get used to it, most would see that their skin is perfectly fine as it is.


  • #41
    Ave Sodalis
    Registered Users Posts: 7,547 ✭✭✭Ave Sodalis


    I've only worn it once, to a wedding as a bridesmaid because the bride wanted me to.

    I've the type of skin that doesn't tan (or burn easily for that matter) and I'm pale enough to be asked (on more than one occasion) if I was a vampire :confused::pac::pac:
    I don't bother with fake tan though. I don't see the point of it and find it a waste of time. If you're out in a club with drunk people, the chances are you're going to have alcohol spilled on you which will streak it anyway, ruining the hours beforehand putting it on.


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  • #42
    Posy
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 27,517 Mod ✭✭✭✭Posy


    I think I look better with a bit of tan on- I feel more confident- but I wear ten maybe once a year because it's just soooo much hassle and I'm crap at it.
    I try to so with the seasons. (well, "seasons", this being Ireland) I'm naturally dark blonde and pale, so in the spring/summer, I will get highlights done and wear tan from time to time. In the autumn/winter I can't be bothered and look pale and leave my hair darken out.

    If I ever tan, it'd be one of those gradual ones for extra pale skin- orange is not my scene.

    I find it a bit sad that when you go to Asia, the shops are packed with lightening creams and whitening products. As a whole, we're never happy with what we've got it seems, dark or pale! :(


  • #43
    Princess Peach
    Registered Users Posts: 11,698 ✭✭✭✭Princess Peach


    I am super pale and blonde. Never wear fake tan. Mostly I just couldn't be bothered. Don't tan myself in the sun too as I burn too easily so don't sunbathe, too bad for my health!

    I rarely see a girl it looks good on to be very honest. Irish girls are way too obsessed. I've had nights where last minute I would ask a friend if they wanted to go out, but they couldn't because their tans would take too long. And when they do plan a night out they start their tan 3 days before. I just don't understand it.

    I think I would look odd with fake tan, I'm just that pale. Plus its too much time, money, and it wrecks your clothes! I guess if you can afford a professional spray tan it would be alright, but no girl I know does that regularly. They all use the cheap stuff that does not come out right. I'm far too polite to ever tell though :-/


  • #44
    Twee.
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 9,714 Mod ✭✭✭✭Twee.


    I don't tan, and I would burn very easily. Factor 50 all the way! I recently wore the lightest SunShimmer shade on my legs to a wedding, and it was grand. Took the "blue" look off the pale! For nights out I would never wear tan, combination of I don't think I need it and I'm always in a rush, I'd never have the time to do it! Here's my pale legs! On the right, obvz.

    I wear a colour appropriate foundation that matches my skintone and blends with my neck (Bobbi Brown Albaster 00). Sometimes I will wear some Mac Face and Body foundation on my decolletage, but that'd be more for contouring than all over colour.

    I got a spray tan for my debs, but had it done about 4 days in advance so I could have a few showers. Ended up being pretty nice, but I wouldn't be bothered again.


  • #45
    metaoblivia
    Registered Users Posts: 2,256 ✭✭✭metaoblivia


    I used to get comments on my paleness all the time! I have naturally black hair and very dark eyes, but my skin, it's not what I consider pale, but I am pretty light. The contrast between it and my hair really makes me look paler than I am. I also live in Florida where people wear a natural tan year round or do the fake stuff. I've never been into it though. I'm far too concerned about the health of my skin to be a sun worshipper or visit a tanning booth, and I simply don't care enough to put in the effort for a fake tan.

    Also, as I've gotten older, I've come to embrace my high contrast coloring. It does help me stick out in a sea of sun bunnies. :P


  • #46
    Susie_Q
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Susie_Q


    I'm a redhead and have gotten the 'porcelain skin' comments before; I always take them as a compliment. I've had people stop me in foreign countries and ask to take pictures of me as they had never seen such pale skin before. It's all in good humour and it's always been very friendly. I've never worn fake tan in my life, I don't see the point.

    My sister got married a few years ago and my eldest sister and her daughter got spray-on tan for the day. They're both redheads too and imo they looked ridiculous; it was clearly fake tan and it did nothing for them. Some of the pictures of me beside them are quite funny though, my skin makes me jump out of the photo! I prefer the natural look, whatever is your natural skin colour always looks better on you I think.


  • #47
    leahyl
    Registered Users Posts: 14,244 ✭✭✭✭leahyl


    I have to say I'd always wear tan on a night out - it just makes me look better! And I don't slather it on or anything - it's done nicely, I know it is! Otherwise I wouldn't be setting foot outside the door if I looked like an oompa loompa:eek:

    I think fake tan, APPLIED CORRECTLY, can make someone look a lot healthier - but that's just my opinion.

    I wouldn't have the porcelain white skin that people are talking about though.

    I was thinking the same thing as Susie Q posted there - I would imagine fake tan wouldn't look too good on a red head. Red heads normally have the porcelain white skin so I would think it would look too oragney with the red hair.... maybe I'm wrong though!


  • #48
    coffee_cake
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Politics Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 81,310 CMod ✭✭✭✭coffee_cake


    I'm pale pale and quite happy with that
    my grandmother was badgering me for years to try fake tan, but has finally stopped
    never tried it and never will


  • #49
    beks101
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,802 ✭✭✭beks101


    I'm pretty sallow as far as Irish complexions go and I'd have quite a warm skin tone, so I look positively washed out if I get too pale.

    It's funny though, when I lived in Ireland I got the 'are your parents Irish?' comments from time to time because of my skin tone, but since moving to Canada I seem to be considered whiter-than-white, there's so much diversity here. I dated one guy who burst out laughing once when I described myself as 'sallow', and I had a deep summer tan at the time - came back to Ireland about two weeks later and back to the 'you're not really Irish though' jokes!

    I wouldn't be a fake tan fan, but because of how washed out I can look if I haven't had much sun exposure, I'll usually wear some tinted moisturiser and that Nivea sun-kissed stuff if I can get my hands on it - it's nowhere near that horribly mucky colour you get with some tans and it's a good moisturiser too. The market for fake tan is way way smaller here - girls just don't wear it. Sun beds do seem to be a prominent thing though, I see them all over the place and also notice that Canadian girls seem to maintain a year-round tan..hardly a coincidence.


  • #50
    Daisies
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 4,644 Mod ✭✭✭✭Daisies


    I'm a red head and thus am pale, never tan and am COVERED in freckles. Depending on my outfit I may wear some fake tan on a night out. I find that some colours make me look ill without a bit of tan and bronzer!If I know a few days in advance eg wedding or ball, I'll use a gradual tan moisturiser (Garnier summer body is my favourite) and if not Sally Hansen, the lightest shade.

    I think fake tan gets a bad rep because so many people use a shade too dark for them and apply it really badly. I think if you can find a shade that suits and apply it properly, then there is not problem.


  • #51
    g'em
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,819 ✭✭✭✭g'em


    I inherited skin that tans very well, and both my parents would be big fans of the sun. When I was a kid my Dad would actively encourage me to spend as much time outside in the sun playing so that I wouldn't burn when the holidays came around. So from a very early age I've associated being tanned with happy summer times and it's difficult to shake that. Even now I definitely feel 'healthier' with a bit of colour on me. The ironic thing is I'm starting to notice the sun damage on my face and in the last couple of years I've made a much bigger effort to make sure I wear SPF year-round.

    I've spent quite a few summers working in the tropics too, and it got to the point that my skin was so dark it wouldn't tan any deeper. My nickname when I came home was the little ewok because of my dark skin and bleached blonde bodyhair that looked like down :pac:


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  • #52
    dearg lady
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,091 ✭✭✭dearg lady


    Posy wrote: »
    I find it a bit sad that when you go to Asia, the shops are packed with lightening creams and whitening products. As a whole, we're never happy with what we've got it seems, dark or pale! :(

    In some places in Asia pale skin suggests you're not so poor, ie don't spend all day out in the sun toiling on the fields. And I suppose as a general rule, most of us fall for the exotic look, darker skin for us, paler skin for asians.


  • #53
    Ilyana
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,931 ✭✭✭Ilyana


    g'em wrote: »
    I inherited skin that tans very well, and both my parents would be big fans of the sun. When I was a kid my Dad would actively encourage me to spend as much time outside in the sun playing so that I wouldn't burn when the holidays came around. So from a very early age I've associated being tanned with happy summer times and it's difficult to shake that. Even now I definitely feel 'healthier' with a bit of colour on me. The ironic thing is I'm starting to notice the sun damage on my face and in the last couple of years I've made a much bigger effort to make sure I wear SPF year-round.

    I've spent quite a few summers working in the tropics too, and it got to the point that my skin was so dark it wouldn't tan any deeper. My nickname when I came home was the little ewok because of my dark skin and bleached blonde bodyhair that looked like down :pac:

    I'm actually thee same, my parents are both very sallow and tan easily so I do as well. When we used to go on holidays I never had to bother with fake tan because I was so naturally tanned that I didn't even look Irish. I think there's some French blood in my Dad's family somewhere :)

    But these days I can't afford a sun holiday so I have no tan. Now I just look kinda yellow and jaundiced. This is pale for me, but some of my friends still think I'm tanned :rolleyes:

    I wear fake tan on nights out now because I miss being brown, I don't feel like myself when I'm pale.


  • #54
    Festy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,425 ✭✭✭Festy


    Ye girls are lucky you should try being a bloke with pale skin :(


  • #55
    cynder
    Registered Users Posts: 4,128 ✭✭✭cynder


    EmilyO wrote: »
    I'm actually thee same, my parents are both very sallow and tan easily so I do as well. When we used to go on holidays I never had to bother with fake tan because I was so naturally tanned that I didn't even look Irish. I think there's some French blood in my Dad's family somewhere :)

    .

    My kids are pale during the winter but as soon as march hits they start turing brown, i put factor 50 on them and they still turn brown (very brown) their hair goes from blond to almost white.

    If we lived in spain/france they would have really blond hair and a year round tan.

    It helps that their dads side has german blood, his family are all dark haired and sallow and that my side has italian blood. im the only blond one in my family my brother inherited the italian looks (brown hair and brown skin) i looked scandinavian i was that white and blond. We looked far from brother and sister.


  • #56
    Ilyana
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,931 ✭✭✭Ilyana


    grindelwald wrote: »
    My kids are pale during the winter but as soon as march hits they start turing brown, i put factor 50 on them and they still turn brown (very brown) their hair goes from blond to almost white.

    If we lived in spain/france they would have really blond hair and a year round tan.

    It helps that their dads side has german blood, his family are all dark haired and sallow and that my side has italian blood. im the only blond one in my family my brother inherited the italian looks (brown hair and brown skin) i looked scandinavian i was that white and blond. We looked far from brother and sister.

    It's fascinating how people from the same family can look so different. My sister was always blonde as a child, with a more golden skin tone and green eyes, whereas I always had brown skin, hair and eyes.

    In some ways, being pale would be easier rather than being stuck in the middle between pale and tanned :rolleyes:


  • #57
    cynder
    Registered Users Posts: 4,128 ✭✭✭cynder


    EmilyO wrote: »
    It's fascinating how people from the same family can look so different. My sister was always blonde as a child, with a more golden skin tone and green eyes, whereas I always had brown skin, hair and eyes.

    In some ways, being pale would be easier rather than being stuck in the middle between pale and tanned :rolleyes:

    chalk n cheese, my brother with his year round tan and me with my whiteness :D

    No my mom didnt cheat on my dad!
    picture.php?albumid=1382&pictureid=12664


    After i had my first child i would walk down the street and my brother would push the buggy, everyone thought he was the dad :eek: not because the baby looked like him, but because he looked so different from me...


  • #58
    hollypink
    Registered Users Posts: 1,508 ✭✭✭hollypink


    I used to think fake tan was an essential part of 'big' events like weddings where I'd be wearing a nice dress. My friends would all wear fake tan as well. But I just got fed-up with it; having to be organised enough to get it a few days in advance, the inevitable streak marks no matter how careful I was, the smell, the marks on clothes/sheets. I just didn't think the result was worth the effort.

    The last few weddings I went to last year, I skipped the fake tan and it was grand. I do remember the disapprobation of one friend when I said I wasn't getting fake tan. She went on and on about how it looked better and how you could get organic (or something) ones that didn't smell and looked natural and really couldn't understand why I was so determined not to use it. When I saw the wedding photos I thought I looked nice so I made the right decision.

    In saying that, I do think tanned legs look much better or at least are more forgiving for someone like me with not particularly toned legs. So I'd wear tights if I'm wearing a shortish dress.

    I always used to envy girls who tanned easily but when I was in Thailand and South America, on a few occasions, local women admired my pale skin which made me feel great!


  • #59
    Susie_Q
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Susie_Q


    The contrast in beauty products here in India is remarkable; instead of fake tan on the shelves you will find racks and racks of 'whitening' or 'lightening' products that basically try to bleach your skin to make you whiter.

    These products are so prolific I actually can't use the local moisturising creams as they all have skin-bleaching agents in them. Isn't it sad that both sides of the world are constantly trying to change their skin colour?! A bit lighter, a bit darker... I say be happy in your own skin, it most likely looks its best without all the chemicals lashed on there. :D


  • #60
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 50,630 ✭✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    Susie_Q wrote: »
    I say be happy in your own skin, it most likely looks its best without all the chemicals lashed on there. :D

    I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, that this absolutely doesn't apply to me. And while there are definitely chemicals in the tan I use (St. Tropez), there are chemicals in almost everything I put on my skin, be it soap, perfume, shower gel, moisturiser, srubs, masks, make up. It's all chemicals.


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  • #61
    Gauge
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,818 ✭✭✭Gauge


    I don't like my pale legs. Every bruise and nick shows up so obviously (and cellulite is way more obvious), it's ridiculous! I've tried fake tan a few times but I'm so apathetic about it- the smell annoys me and I have zero interest in learning to use it and trying out brands so I don't bother. I avoid wearing shorts and skirts unless I've got tights or leggings on. I've been getting those "milk bottle" comments since I was a child and to be honest it has given me a bit of a complex!

    It can be a pain in the arse in hot climates, having to cover every exposed inch of myself in factor 50 and feeling greasy all day. One of the reasons I actually like Ireland's climate is that generally I don't have to worry about being burned and it's rarely hot enough for skin baring clothing! I've spent some time in Asia and South America and total strangers have actually approached me to check I'm wearing sunscreen which is always hilarious, it's never happened here. It happened once when I was cycling in a desert in Chile, a jeep with a family inside stopped and the driver rolled down the window and waved me over. I thought they were lost or something, but the man just wanted to ask if I was wearing suncream :D

    People can be very pass remarkable about it and I really dislike that, it's so rude. Some people will even go so far as to imply I'm being 'rude' for not slapping on the fake tan for formal or dressy occasions. I get asked often if I'm anemic, or people will assume that I'm pale because I'm a vegetarian- no, I was just as pale when I ate meat.

    I don't 'embrace' it really, but I accept it I suppose- probably because I'm too lazy to actually do anything about it :)


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