I hate being pale

[Pricelessadvice]

Does anyone else pale just hate wearing summer clothes?
Undortunately I’m not even a nice even pale. I’m outdoorsy/farm/livery yard so I tend to be ‘patchy’ where my arms and face and neck get weathered but the rest of me is practically blue it’s so white. I wear a vest top and I look like a patchwork quilt. I have to fake tan my legs because they are just awful- freckly, white and horrid. No summer clothes look nice against my skin 😞 I also have freckles, again in patches, so looks awful. But fake tan is time consuming and messy and never looks great. I just want to put a pair of shorts on and not have to go through the rigmarole of tanning.

People constantly comment on how white i am and it just makes me more self conscious. I can’t help the skin I was born in. I burn horribly after short exposure to sun and then just peel and go back to my natural colour. I never catch the sun evenly, I just burn. I don’t understand why it’s acceptable to mock people who are pale. Surely we should be past making horrible comments about skin type?

I love summer but hate summer clothes. I feel far more comfortable in winter clothes where I can hide my skin from people’s comments.

I was walking behind a girl before with beautiful olive skin- even and flawless. She looked gorgeous in her clothes.
Anyone else have this problem?

I'm pale and I can't really see how it would benefit me in any way if I wasn't...? You still need to wear sun cream whatever your skin colour.

I'm at peace with my freckly, pale "horrid" legs.

Self hatred is a form of mental illness.
Anyone attacking you for your skin colour is toxic.
preferring other colour skin over your own is low self esteem.

I hate being pale too. My children have beautiful olive skin and I’m envious. I wear spf daily and look after what I’ve got.

I'm pretty pale (not as pale as my ginger freckly youngest child though), I quite like it? Olive skinned people look lovely, so do black people, so do ghost-white people! There isn’t only one way to look nice. Bet you nobody else even notices that you’re pale and/or tanned unevenly tbh.
(Perhaps you’re quite young? Apologies if not, it just occurred to me that it’s a lot easier not to care about stuff like this now than when I was in my 20s!)

I'm very pale but I don't have these feelings. The feelings are the problem, not your skin.

Your skin is fine you know. It's really fine. Go and sit under a tree and enjoy the dappled light and the whispering in the leaves.

I wish I was young 😂I’m in my 40’s!
Always struggled with my skin tone. Love everything else about my body though!
I was teased relentlessly by friends and family about it growing up, so I don’t think that has helped.

You have a family culture of jeering,and your skin is absolutely fine.

Honestly, I think life is too short to waste it wishing you were something you're not. Make your peace with it. I'm pale and I don't care - my husband is fairly dark skinned and he and our 5 kids all tan, I don't. It is what it is! I would wear what you want and if someone comments that you're pale just say 'Really? Am I? Gosh, no-one's ever told me that before' and roll your eyes!

I'm mostly pale, but some places red and blotchy. Do I care? Not even a little bit 😂 don't stress about things you can't change. You are the only one judging you.

I used to feel like that, but now I don't care. I still get made fun of for how pale I am, especially at the beach. I wear swim leggings, rash guard and a giant hat. I don't care what i look like, I just don't want to burn anymore!

What don't you like about summer clothes?
I can't wear pastel or bright colors. They don't look right on me, but jewel tones look great on pale skin.

I am extremely pale, my legs are almost blue! When I was younger I used to cover up or wear fake tan, and I always felt very self conscious in summer, but now I have stopped caring, stopped wearing the fake tan and wear whatever I like (I'm in shorts today).

I fully sympathise. I have red hair and the palest blue skin with such an uneven skin tone. I have keratosis pilarus on the tops of my arms and quite dark hair follicles that make my legs look like strawberries. I wish I was the Jessica Chastain, Nicole Kidman like creamy pale, rather then blue pale.

I’m really pale never tan , I also wear factor 50 on my face hands arms everyday , trust me when you are in your 60’s you’ll be glad when your skin doesn’t look like leather . Just tell them you are an English Rose

I'm really pale, very ginger so get freckles in patches and I scar really easily so have scar patches from insect bites etc. I'm also covered in moles. (I really do sound a catch) But my pale skin is least of my worries looks wise, just embrace it! When so pale I find fake tan just looks orange and being tanned actually does me no favours as looks so false! Embrass it, everyone being different is what makes the world fascinating

I love my pale, freckley, 'horrid' skin.

I'm torn between feeling sorry for you because you clearly have low self esteem, and annoyed because you're insulting me as well as yourself when you talk like that.

I’m pale. I love it.

so much easier to not worry about tans or getting a tan. I love the sun but am happier in the shade in a cool cover up. No need to worry about burning or strap marks.

plus you won’t age as badly if you keep out the sun.

Mmm but people on here say they're pale and then talk about using foundation shades that make it v clear they're entirely average like people complain who use Mac NC/NW 20 and 25 and claim they're pale....

I love my fair skin and avoid any hint of a tan, spf50 all year round and keep out of the sun as much as possible. I find tanned skin very unattractive.

(Some) people do seem to STILL feel free to comment rudely on paleness - not as much as my school days in the 70s and 80’s though. I grew up in a place and time where tanning was highly prized and my genetically Irish skin made me stand out.

It is what it is. I never thought summer clothes looked bad on me due to my skin tone.

Much harder when we were young I think but there are so many pale people in the public eye these days, making pale cool and refusing to go tanned.

I don’t mind what I look like as much these days (pale an interesting is a thing!) but I do still find it a hassle to always have to wear sun cream before even looking at the sun.

OP, you say you have a nice body and are obviously fit and healthy from working outside. I’d say you have lots to work with. I know plenty of olive, dark skinned people who admire pale skin.

I have my dad’s “so white it’s blue” type skin tone, where I never ever tan. Fake tan looks so strange on me (and seems to have areas where it absolutely won’t take?) when combined with my other features so it’s not worth bothering. You’re certainly right that people do find it acceptable to laugh at pale skin, and I used to feel awful about it. But now I’ve covered lots of it in colourful tattoos and it’s great for that. 😂

@Pricelessadvice I have olive skin but never really thought about it. But then yiu just said you had a great body and I’m all chonky right now lol 😭. So I’d say it’s not so bad at all as a little fake tan and I bet you look lovely for the summer and then in the winter you’d be like a pale ethereal character. A beautiful chameleon as it were changing with the seasons 😊

I’m very pale too (my uni nickname was blue cheese), I have found the Garnier body lotion with a hint of tan takes the edge off it. But I’m also aware that always having to slap on the Factor 50 means my skin is in pretty good condition as it hasn’t had masses of sun damage.

FWIW, my nan had olive skin and hated it, as she felt that she looked sallow in the winter.

I get ya. not to the extent but I love the affect tan has on me. my sister is the same..we are both experts at fake tanning. I use St tropez mouse then top up with daily moisturiser. you have to practice at it. make sure you exfoliating well and its light layers not one huge layer consistency is the key. then you will have it right

For those getting offended (typical MN). I’m saying I find my skin a horrid uneven tone, not other people’s.

But that aside, thanks for the comments from this who didn’t get offended. I just dislike that summer clothes never look as nice on me as they do on someone with a nice even colour. Even people who are ‘evenly’ pale look better than I do with my various ‘weathered tones’.

I have no self esteem issues aside from disliking my paleness. I am slim, pretty decent looking, naturally nice, blonde hair and actually have tonnes of confidence in myself. I just wish I could either be evenly pale or a slightly more bronzed colour, that’s all. I kind of wish my legs didn’t blind passers-by 😂