Why is a tan considered optimal. I think pale skin is beautiful!

[Liuckle]

Not saying tanned isn't beautiful
I just find it interesting!

I remember reading about how fashionable women of the 18th century painted blue veins onto their exceedingly pale décolletage. 😯

Yes, also in Korea. The whiter the better.

I think if you have porcelain pale skin and are relatively slim it can look beautiful.
Personally as a pink tinged pale person with lots of freckles and a good few stone overweight I just look like an uncooked sausage without a tan.
I also look tired and ill because I have ridiculously dark circles around my eyes to complete the look!
I always have a bottle of Dove fake tanning moisturizer on the go...

I’m tanned, my family is Spanish so we are all fairly dark haired and have tanned skin. My children have their fathers skin tone and they are much paler than me, sometimes I look at my daughter and I get quite jealous because any colour suits her where as if I go near certain shades I end up looking washed out! 😂

I think that it's partly a class signifier. In the past, the working classes worked outside in the sun, and the wealthy did their utmost to look pale to show that they had no need to work.

Then foreign travel became a signifier of wealth. If you had a tan it showed that you could afford to holiday in hot places, rather than Blackpool.

I’m pale and it makes me look ill, also when I tan it hides a multiple of sins!

The quote should be “natural skin is beautiful”.

Personally I prefer to have a slight tan because otherwise my skin is practically see-through. You can see all the blue and green veins in my legs and even now some broken veins. All of which you can't see as well with a bit of fake tan. I can't tan naturally

I'm naturally very pale and don't tan. Growing up I hated it and was so self conscious but living in Asia (where pale skin is seen as a good thing) has cured me of that!

When I get a tan, people say, ooo you look well.
When I'm my usual greyish white self, they say, your hair's nice.

Same!

I spent years fake tanning and hating the fact I don't tan

Last few years I just embrace my paleness

I'm very pale and don't even burn. However I do have freckles, so my best chance of looking tanned is if they join up.

It seems to me that if you have a tan you can wear almost anything clothes/colours wise. Look at any of the retailers online and the majority of the models are tanned to some degree to show off the clothes. I have a much more limited range of colours that suit me, and I also have to be careful about things like necklines - lower cut clothes that look good against a tan don't look nearly so good against a pinkish white background.

i don't think a tan is that in fashion anymore. i think it's quite chavvy

The problem with my pale skin is that it gets red, blotchy, chicken-skinned, hairy, scaly, stretch-marked, scarred. If it was a lovely creamy alabaster, then yes please! My freckles are a nice feature, I suppose.

Tanned skin is more forgiving. I always remember being on holiday & being envious of Spanish / Italian girls in their bikinis.

I'm naturally brunette and pale and think I suit platinum blonde and tanned better, I look ill between tans!

I would be inclined, if feeling rude enough, to ask if it would be acceptable to ask a dark skinned person whether they would look better if they used a skin lightener. I honestly think there is a prejudice against very pale skin and freckled that is almost akin to racism.

Same.

I’d love to be able to tan but I’m of the speckled persuasion - I turn red within 5 minutes outdoors unprotected, then peel and my Daz blue tinged skin is sprinkled with dark freckles that never go away.

The older generation tried to get the freckles to join up and overlap into a weird mottled tan with the odd dark mole and melanoma for added interest.

I think those who can tan look lovely, and those who rock the porcelain complexion are blessed. My vampire grey still manages to shine through a coating of Oompa Loompa.

I've heard this claimed about tans from more people than it actually applies to...

I think it depends on the skin colour. Most are beautiful, pale or dark. I can think of only one exception - mine. I'm like a boiled ham without tan. For me, a tan is optimal.

I look a million times better with some colour. I will never ever ever give up my St Tropez.

I have olive undertones. Pale on me looks sallow and sickly.

Pale and freckly here. I like the light Dove tan moisturiser. But I don’t use it much and only like a very slight glow.

I’ve had some rude comments about my skin, particularly abroad. But I’ve had nice ones too. I never burn because I am always plastered in factor 50 and in a sun hat. Lately I’ve had some “you look young” comments so maybe all the stickiness is finally paying off!

I am Celtic stock too. Black hair, blue eyes, pale skin and freckles. I much rather myself with a hint of a tan than natural. I personally think a tan hides a multitude and makes me look a bit slimmer :) I do hate the orange look though, I would only ever use something very subtle.

My OH prefers my pale skin though.