Embracing our Irish skin colour

Posy · 03-05-2012 10:41pm

How anyone could put a child under a sun-bed is beyond me. :eek:

03-05-2012 10:44pm

Just to clarify, she has been charged but not convicted so it is currently an alleged offence

miss choc · 03-05-2012 10:59pm

She is so gross looking looks like a mummy does she honestly think that leather gravy coloured tan suits her. The poor child will be teased at school. Imagine a guy waking up next to that

cailinoBAC · 04-05-2012 12:02am

God, she looks awful!

I hate fake tan. The only times I've worn it were when I was on stage. God, I hated having to go into work the first day after I'd had it done, I was so orange. I'm the usual Irish pale and freckly, but I can tan a little bit. I was in South America for almost 5 months so I gradually built up a nice tan. I went to a wedding the week after I came back and everybody was asking me where I'd got my tan done. I did enjoy having it, but I just hate everything about using fake tan, so wasn't tempted to try and keep it up.
I also hate the fact that it's the expected thing to have it done for weddings. I remember being at one wedding at later on in the night the bride's dress was getting stained, it looked horrible! As it happens, I am now living in Spain and getting married there in October. I don't have any tan at the moment, maybe I'll get some colour over the summer, I don't know. Either way, I don't plan on going fake, but I wouldn't even if I was in Ireland with no chance of a natural one.

_Moss_ · 27-05-2012 1:23pm

Anybody showing off their legs today? I want to but can just imagine the comments about my milk bottle legs

I was in Galway for dinner yesterday evening and the amount of lobster people walking around was insane. It's nice to have a bit of sun but jeez they were scalded! :eek:

miss choc · 27-05-2012 1:53pm

it always happens we are so deprived of sunshine as a country that when we do get it we have to be out in it as long as possible cos it might only last 3 days hence the walking lobsters. I'll admit I went for a cycle for 30 mins yesterday morning and got pink on my arms that sun is stronger than we think.

Out Of The Night · 27-05-2012 2:29pm

I was thinking about this yesterday. I have some really nice dresses I want to wear in the sun But I am very fair skinned. My legs particularly. My face gets covered in freckles and I have some on my arms but dear god my poor milky legs:(. I don't like fake tan. I remember getting the spray tan done a few times for weddings. It was horrendous. I have dark hair and green eyes so overall my colouring works.

So feck it. Milk bottles they may be but they are my milk bottles!

_Moss_ · 27-05-2012 3:27pm

I wish I wasn't so self conscious!

27-05-2012 3:34pm

Yep me and my fake tan are showing our legs!
Factor 50 all the way. I've no interest in having a real tan.

evilmonkee · 27-05-2012 3:36pm

My legs have been out today and yesterday!
Yesterday wearing light pink (the ones that look white) tights and today with light blue (pushing white) tights!

I'm not trying to hide them (definitely chose the wrong colours if I was), I just didn't want them getting burned so its on with the factor 50, 5* uva and out to the garden. woo!!!!

Scarinae · 27-05-2012 4:37pm

I'm wearing a white skirt today and honestly I think it's the same colour as my legs!

NeonCookies · 27-05-2012 5:17pm

Here in Japan, a lot of the women carry around umbrellas to block the sun in an effort to stay as pale as possible. Always want what we can't have.

miss choc · 27-05-2012 6:32pm

Oh to have olive skin and not have to deal with this burning I always make sure I put on cream but it's always greasy and sticky and you can be sure I will have missed bits

Damn Coco Chanel for making a tan fashionable

panda100 · 27-05-2012 9:07pm

_Moss_ wrote: »

Anybody showing off their legs today? I want to but can just imagine the comments about my milk bottle legs

I had my pale legs out on full display yesterday. When I was out last night I kept on getting asked why I hadn't been out in the sun and got a tan!Some people are so thick and don't realise that a large percentage of the population doesn't tan!
I did put a bit of Dove gradual tanner on last night for today though. Still very pale but takes the white edge off.

valerie · 27-05-2012 9:16pm

I'm pale with dark hair. My legs have a blueish grey tinge to them but I hate fake tan. I have just about come to terms with moisturiser with a hint of self tan but I'm so pale, even that can come up streaky, so in general I'm sticking with blindingly white legs.

The Sweeper · 27-05-2012 9:43pm

I've given up worrying, plus I'm that bit too lazy to put fake tan on. (I tried it one day and it was horrendous. Then I got better at it until I could apply it perfect and streak-free. Used Piz Buin, the lightest one, foamy and smelled like marmalade.) I love how people post pictures of these porcelain skinned women and say 'look, pale is so much nicer'. Yes, yes it is if you're porcelain perfect.

These days it's all pale for me, but there is no way that's pale and perfect. My hands and arms are extremely freckly, right up to the t-shirt cut off point, where the freckles become more sparse. Then my shoulders are freckly again from a sunburn I got as a kid.

My neck is pale and white, whereas on my face my skin base is blue-red and I have freckles so my face has a different skin tone to my neck. (Makes choosing make-up fun I can tell ya.)

My legs are not freckly, but I dropped a 50kg pallet on my right leg about 18 months ago and, while I didn't break it, I had a massive haematoma on the bottom of my right shin and a purple bruise-sock that went from toes to knee. That's healed back to a grey discoloration about the size of the palm of my hand at the bottom of my right shin - looks like a healing bruise.

But where I live there's 320 days of sunshine a year, so regardless of freckly arms and residual zombie leg, it's bare legs with shorts, sleeveless tops and suncream. Nobody looks at me twice so hey, I just get on with it now.

Dudess · 27-05-2012 9:51pm

I'm happy with my paleness (my face can get a bit of a glow anyway - I'm not sick-looking :pac: but the rest of me is milk-white). I never wear fake tan and have no interest in sunbathing.

It does affect what I can wear - some clothes don't look good against pale skin, so I can look a bit "unsummery" in the summer... but meh, whatevs. It's me. :pac:

PrincessLola · 27-05-2012 9:58pm

Went into town in a skirt with bare legs today. Felt good about myself. Some 12 year old kid said "nice legs" to me, what a little playa :pac:

I refuse fake tan on principle, I mean this is the natural colour my legs are, I was born with this skin, and if anyone thinks I'm "too pale" I just direct them to the large bag of f*cks that I do not give.

Twee. · 28-05-2012 1:44am

I've been out bare legs and bare arms

I lived in NYC last summer and holy god that was hot, I just had to kind of get over the whole pale legs thing! Much more comfortable with it now and have really enjoyed the weather the past few days. Factor 50 was on hand also.

Princess Peach · 28-05-2012 2:09am

NeonCookies wrote: »

Here in Japan, a lot of the women carry around umbrellas to block the sun in an effort to stay as pale as possible. Always want what we can't have.

I have a beautiful Japanes sun parasol, would just love to bring it out someday, probably get mad looks though!

I have wanted to break out my legs lately, but silly me had a fall last week and scraped up my left leg, so it looks awful and I can't really take a razor to it, which is badly needed after my celibate winter :pac: Sexy or wha?

I have been wearing factor 60 on my arms just walking places, such a fear of getting burned!

Don't really care too much about my super pale legs, as I have seen many girls here in Canada this week with pale legs too. If I was going on a night out I might get natural colour tights but not bothered when its warm during the day.

Zapperzy · 28-05-2012 3:53am

Another pale skinned redhead here, my parents after a few hours in the sun are practically black yet I don't tan at all, where did I come out of is the joke every summer. I could spend 2 weeks in peak summer in lanzarote lying by the pool (with sunscreen) 6 hours a day and not even have a hint of brown, I burn and go white again. Nights out I always wear sally hansen, just never occured to me not to, mum always had it drilled into me sure you can't wear that dress with no tan. :rolleyes:

Fairly confident I'm not orange and I'm streak free. But I hate fake tan, literally I put it on, go out and as soon as I get in no matter how drunk I could be I'm straight in the shower to wash it off, I hate how it gets all over your clothes and bed and I just feel dirty. Got the spray tan done for my grad and felt like an oompa loompa, took ages to wear off too, had patches for weeks despite daily or twice daily showering.

It's so much less hassle skipping fake tan, sometimes I take notions and take pride in my daz white legs, I'v a few varicose veins so they really stand out, so much that a friends little sister once told me I'd blue marks on my legs and couldn't believe they weren't drawn with a marker. My upper half is a lot frecklier though.

Pythia · 28-05-2012 9:52pm

I'd be interested to know how many of us 'embrace our Irish hair colour'. Fake tan seems to be a contentious issue but no one seems to think it's a problem to dye one's hair. Or am I missing something? Aren't fake tan and hair dye the same thing in essence? Do people have strong feelings about keeping their hair their natural colour?

For the record, I have natural red hair which I did dye blonde for 1 year but have not dyed it since 2008.

28-05-2012 9:59pm

Pythia wrote: »

I'd be interested to know how many of us 'embrace our Irish hair colour'. Fake tan seems to be a contentious issue but no one seems to think it's a problem to dye one's hair. Or am I missing something? Aren't fake tan and hair dye the same thing in essence? Do people have strong feelings about keeping their hair their natural colour?

For the record, I have natural red hair which I did dye blonde for 1 year but have not dyed it since 2008.

I hear it all the time about people hating fake fan as it's, well, fake!

Some of these people;
Dye their hair
Curl their hair
Staighten their hair
Wear make up
Wear nail varnish or false nails
Whiten their teeth
Wear spanx
Wear push up bras
Wear tights to enhance the colour of their legs

I can't see anything natural about any of the above but all will argue that that's "different" but no one seems to be able to say why it's different!

Morag · 28-05-2012 10:12pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I hear it all the time about people hating fake fan as it's, well, fake!

Some of these people;
Dye their hair
Curl their hair
Staighten their hair
Wear make up
Wear nail varnish or false nails
Whiten their teeth
Wear spanx
Wear push up bras
Wear tights to enhance the colour of their legs

I can't see anything natural about any of the above but all will argue that that's "different" but no one seems to be able to say why it's different!

Well I never have had people look at me and tell me to dye my hair or curl it or do any of the things on that list but I sure have had them tell me to put fake tan on.

Dolbert · 28-05-2012 10:18pm

Pythia wrote: »

I'd be interested to know how many of us 'embrace our Irish hair colour'. Fake tan seems to be a contentious issue but no one seems to think it's a problem to dye one's hair. Or am I missing something? Aren't fake tan and hair dye the same thing in essence? Do people have strong feelings about keeping their hair their natural colour?

For the record, I have natural red hair which I did dye blonde for 1 year but have not dyed it since 2008.

I can't speak for everyone but I only have an issue with fake tan when it really doesn't suit the person, but they feel the need to wear it regardless as they are made to feel that there's something wrong with being pale. It's the idea that it's somehow always an improvement that irks me.

28-05-2012 10:19pm

Sharrow wrote: »

Well I never have had people look at me and tell me to dye my hair or curl it or do any of the things on that list but I sure have had them tell me to put fake tan on.

People who tell you to change your appearance whe you are happy with it are idiots!

snickerpuss · 28-05-2012 10:30pm

I tan perfectly but I hate sun bathing so my legs are always translucently white. I can't be arsed with fake tan because I would be clueless about how to put it on, I'm still figuring out make up and I'm 25. Don't know where I was the day all the well put together girls learned how to do it all, haha.

rainbow kirby · 28-05-2012 10:31pm

Pythia wrote: »

I'd be interested to know how many of us 'embrace our Irish hair colour'.

*raises hand*

Natural strawberry blonde, and I can honestly say I've never dyed it.

28-05-2012 10:38pm

my hair colour is naturally a very dull brown and i dont like it
i prefer it red

my skin colour is quite pale and i do like it

what i don't like about fake tan is not that it's unnatural but that people assume an orange glow must automatically be an improvement on everyone no matter what. not only this, but you get commented at, told to get out and put some on, etc etc, if you don't

Sea Filly · 28-05-2012 10:59pm

krudler wrote: »

totally agree, redheads are hawwwt

this:

[amy adams pic]

wins over the oompa loompa look every time, streaky bad fake tan that makes you look like you showered in Bisto is bad, light tan or natural skin is good

Awww, I love Amy Adams, what a cutie!

emer_b · 28-05-2012 11:09pm

I dye my hair because of the damn greys, not because i don't like the colour!
I used to hate being pale until I went travelling a few years ago in asia. I had random girls approach me in the street and ask to take my photo (I'm nothing special!), just because they loved my skin. I had to ask them about this as I had no idea what the the interest was about initially. I used a parasol too like the locals without feeling like an idiot!
Since then I love and appreciate my pale skin. Knowing that I cant tan is actually a good thing as I don't waste any time lying out trying to tan and getting burnt.

28-05-2012 11:11pm

emer_b wrote: »

I dye my hair because of the damn greys, not because i don't like the colour!

You don't like the grey though, right?

Princess Peach · 28-05-2012 11:22pm

rainbow kirby wrote: »

*raises hand*

Natural strawberry blonde, and I can honestly say I've never dyed it.

Same! I don't tan my skin because it damages it, I won't bleach or use much heat on my hair because it damages it too. I'd be very wary of bleaching teeth also!

I don't like girls with a whole lot of unnatural things also, not a fan of long fake nails, or long hair extensions, or too much makeup, and a dark fake tan! I'm not gonna preach we should be all natural, I definitely do use things to enhance myself. But I do have a line as to how much is too much.

tinkerbell · 29-05-2012 12:00am

Love this thread. Another anti-fake tanner here, I hate the stuff. I hate how it looks orange, streaky and smells rank. I am fed up of people saying I need to try fake tan (it's fake FFS, I don't need that orange crap in my life thanks!) It's so ignorant, condescending and downright rude when people say "oh you look SO pale, are you feeling under the weather today?" :mad:

panda100 wrote: »

I have been a bridesmaid twice, and both times even if I had wanted my skin to be au naturel, it wouldn't have been an option. Spray tans it seems are mandatory now If you are to be a bridesmaid.

When I'm bridesmaid for a few friends, I will not be wearing fake tan. You couldn't pay me to wear the stuff. I tried a teeeeny tiny bit of it once and washed it off, it looked hideous. So if the bride has a problem with this, well she'll just have to find another bridesmaid. It's like asking your bridesmaid to change her hair colour for the day, it's so feckin ignorant IMO. Why should I change my whole appearance? No way.

Also I think it is really bad form if the bridesmaid insists on wearing fake tan if the bride is not. Usually those who insist on wearing it lather it on with a shovel and then they look ridiculous in the photos. And as I've heard photographers say, don't go to town on the fake tan because whatever way the light bounces off it, it makes you look even more orange in the photos!

By the way, I do think it's completely different scenarios - it's not a double standard. No fake tan is a natural look, fake tan just looks stupid. I think it's so cringe seeing wedding photos of people wearing tons of fake tan on their wedding day when they don't normally wear it.

tigerblob · 29-05-2012 12:12am

I never tan and I almost never burn, no matter how much time I spend in the sun. Is this because I have no melanin like the OP, or is there some other explanation?

As for fake stuff, sometimes I wear fake tan, I like it for a change, especially in the summer. But I don't mind my natural skin tone, even though it's really dull and grey! I like makeup, I dye my hair and I wear hair extensions and I don't see a problem with it. I wouldn't tell another person to change their appearance!

Zapperzy · 29-05-2012 12:57am

Pythia wrote: »

I'd be interested to know how many of us 'embrace our Irish hair colour'. Fake tan seems to be a contentious issue but no one seems to think it's a problem to dye one's hair. Or am I missing something? Aren't fake tan and hair dye the same thing in essence? Do people have strong feelings about keeping their hair their natural colour?

For the record, I have natural red hair which I did dye blonde for 1 year but have not dyed it since 2008.

Speaking as someone who is a completely natural redhead I do now but years ago I hated it. Even if I have to put up with the constant ginger jokes (although most are light hearted and not meant to offend) and complete strangers screaming ginger out of moving cars.

Sometimes I do wish I had another colour, really pale natural blond would be nice, but lately I actually like my hair colour and wouldn't change it even if I could.

jellygems · 29-05-2012 9:58am

i have olive skin all year round, I cant stand sitting in the sun roasting to get a tan!

i do like my skin colour tho, suits me

Mrs Garth Brooks · 29-05-2012 10:20am

When I was younger, I would see my mother out sunning herself and thought it was ok to do. So by the time I was in my teens, the first sunny day, I would be out doing the same. Summer after summer it was the same result, I would go red and sore from the sunburn.

It took me quite a while to realise it was never going to happen. Must have stopped at about 22/23 and slap on factor 50. I didnt like the pain of being sunburnt.

I have hundreds of moles and doctors have warned me to stay out from the sun cause im at risk of skin cancer. Its a pity I wasn't given warnings years ago. I got my first warning at 26.

It just isn't worth it. I even bring sun cream with me in my bag and reapply during the day if im out. Some one once laughed at me for that.

And as for fake tan. I just wouldn't feel comfortable. One day you're pale, and the next your brown. It doesn't just happen over night. I would feel quite silly with it on.

dearg lady · 29-05-2012 10:52am

I don't dye my hair either. I dyed it when I went through my rebellious teenage phase, it was all sorts of colours then! But now it's natural red, and has been for the last 10 years. I'd also be in the not really liking fake stuff group. But I do alter my appearance in some ways too, it's just not something I'm that bothered about. I wear make up maybe twice a week, less in the sun

I straighten my hair maybe once a month, otherwise dry natural. I like to paint my toes, they're almost always painted. I have to keep my finger nails really short, and I hate them painted.
I guess we all have our little things we like to do to make ourselves feel better. The important thing is to not make other feel bad cos they make different choices.

29-05-2012 11:01am

dearg lady wrote: »

The important thing is to not make other feel bad cos they make different choices.

Says it all really

dearg lady · 29-05-2012 11:18am

Deleted User wrote: »

Says it all really

I can be a bit judgemental myself at times though, have to give myself a mental slap when that happens!

Embracing our Irish skin colour

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