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?

Interestingly my olive skinned friend goes yellow in winter. She hates it. Her summer colour is gorgeous though!

OP, I get you! I’m the same. I have a tanned freckly face and arms, body is fluorescent white and legs are slightly pink! I do use a fake tan for fair skin to try and even myself out.

I too have a farmer’s tan. I even had a flu jab nurse exclaim about the difference between my upper and lower arm (‘ooh, you have such milky skin!’). I’ve given up worrying, life’s too short.

I am also pale verging on blue… freckle and blotchy on my thighs fur some bizarre reason! I really really hate it! I put cropped jeans and converse on today, with no socks, and it looks bloody awful.. dressing would be so much easier with olive skin… no fake tan prep, no fake tan… just dress and go.. sighhhhh

I decided when I was younger that there were a few things I was simply not going to care about any more. Having extremely white and mottled skin was one of them. It's liberating.

There is nothing horrid about having pale legs - I genuinely don't care that you might think that about mine because I'm delighted that everything my skin covers works as it should.

The minute you start buying into the idea that certain appearances are acceptable or not, the more you perpetuate it. I get it, it's everywhere, but try not caring! I bet you've got a lot going for you.

I am also very white and don't tan. It is what it is.

But...all clothes look better against a tan. Look at any of the fashion retailers websites and their models are either tanned or women of colour.

It's a question of perspective. I might spend ages putting on fake tan and really notice the difference. But it will make absolutely no difference to anyone else - I'll still be the palest person there 😂
So I'd say accept that is who you are and admire the parts you like (since doing weights I really like how strong my white legs are)

Have you looked up colour seasons? A lot of summery clothes come in colours that don’t flatter pale skin at all - usually all the warm tones - but the right colours are out there! I’m a “cool winter” and do best in jewel tones/silver/black. If I try to wear anything like beige, orange, cream, browns etc I look ghastly.

I hate being pale as well. I used to fake tan when I was younger, and I just looked so much better and healthier for it. I almost never get the time to fake tan now, and I can honestly say my skin tone makes me look quite unwell. I’m a kind of grey-toned pale.

I love being pale and think it suits me I just hate how red and itchy my skin gets in the sun! Have you tried a spray tan OP if your self conscious? Will be more even and less faff. I'm sure you look lovely though

Dove gradual tan body moisturiser
No streaks
Subtle
Massive difference

I feel for you OP, darker skin hides a multitude of blemishes. I have pale skin and if I get a spot it screams like a fog light against the white skin.

I love all the people on here who have embraced their pale skin and agree that pale skin is beautiful.
However, when I finally figured out fake tan (St Tropez bronzing mousse and various prep/application tricks) I was shocked at what it did to my overall confidence. And I have tried EVERYTHING else - im a staunch feminist and truly believe other people are beautiful pale. But, societal brainwashing is what it is. To put this into context, the second time i went out with a tan I was nearly in tears because I was upset at how self conscious I had been for years (and it was never specifically about how pale I was! It was how I never looked 'right' in clothes!) And there was a solution this whole time. I wasted my twenties covering up. And it frustrates me MASSIVELY when people say to me in real life 'oh but pale skin is beautiful!' - i agree! Just on me, a bit of effort and a bottle of tan goes way further to help my self esteem than therapy ever bloody has, so let's not patronise me please. People talk to me like I've never heard of feminism of body positivity when it comes to tan, and it just makes me roll my eyes because I have read more on the subject than they ever bloody will!

I don’t think it’s terrible to judge yourself in relation to others on this. It’s how the world works. But… have a sense of portion. We are the Uk in the northern hemisphere, lots of pale skin.

1. You skin will be amazing for not being fried in UV. Bet you aren’t crepey or wrinkled like lots of us.
2. its only a issue from May to August. The other 8 months everyone us covered or place.

im one of three sisters, both (like my Mums side) tan lovely. I am pale (very pale) no point me sitting in sun, I burn and return to white. I hate photos especially if my sisters in it I stand out for all the wrong reason.

My two girls the same one tans one doesn’t. Though the one that doesn’t tan uses self tanning - it’s at least given her some confidence. Photos are no longer her being the very pale friend standing out. I’m to lazy to self tan, though never to lazy for sun cream :)

Slightly off topic but can anyone recommend a really light gradual tan that’s easy to find? Any mediums are too dark for me and no one ever seems to stock the lighter shades?

I’m very pale. Blue-like. I don’t bother fake-tanning. It just looks daft on me. But what I do use, and what does seem to look ok with very minimal effort, is that Dove gradual tan stuff (the light one). Just for a bit of the dead-look. 👻

This is the Dove one I was just referring to @NoPrivateSpy
https://www.boots.com/dove-visible-glow-gradual-self-tan-fair-10245774

I’m pale, blonde, blue eyes, constantly told during the summer “oh my god aren’t your legs pale”… “are you ill love, you’re very pale” etc. I just always respond with “well, I am English so that explains that”.

Colours I’ve noticed look nice on my pale skin are weirdly navy or a fuchsia pink.
Go for a flowy-ish dress and sandals, fuck it, embrace your skin x

Most of my skin has that bluish tinge in the winter as I'm a ginger, but as soon as it's time to ditch my socks I get the Dove gradual tan and the tanning mitt out.

I do my legs up to my knees (no point in going higher as my thighs never get seen) Arms get done (especially the flabby white underneath bits) then the chest neck and face to even out the red chin, nose, cheeks (the bits underneath the sunglasses) and the forehead that has a red triangle due to the side fringe.

It's not a nice even tan by any stretch of the imagination but it does blend it in so the weathered bits that I get from less than half an hour with factor 50 on aren't quite so noticeable.

It takes hardly any time at all, it doesn't smell biscuity and it doesn't come off on clothes or sheets (unless you sweat a lot).

Dove is good but I prefer San Tropez Gradual Tan Classic in Light/Medium. Easy to find in Boots. I only use it on my legs up to above the knees. Even if you wasnt to wear a swwimsuit, you can sort of blend it in on your thighs as it's so pale it doesn't leave a line like darker fake tans would. You can't really go wrong with it; it's not orange at all.

You need to exfoliate first (I use a Korean mitt) then use a little moisturiser on your heels, toes, knees, ankle bones .. anywhere the skin is a little thicker and false tan tends to accumulate. Leave five minutes, then smooth on the tan using circular motions. Then I use a facecloth (I think you call it a flannel in England ) to gently rub over the aforementioned areas - knees etc.

It just takes the lilac/grey look off my pale Scottish legs. My arms and face get a little bit of colour and go a bit freckly - which I quite like - so I don't bother with them.

People can be blunt with their comments though. A friend of my husband's today came out with: "You're very white for someone who's been on holiday for three weeks". Thanks mate. He's Irish, also with red hair and, in his case, a beetroot coloured face as he doesn't believe in suncream ..

Sunbed babes x

I don’t think it’s the case the one skin tone is better than another, it’s more that different skin tones suit different things. I’m olive skinned and spring/summer clothes tend to work well for me, but I think autumn/winter stuff can often look better against pale skin. Autumn colours like grey and khaki look dreadful against my skin tone. Feeling confident in your skin is about figuring out what suits you. Maybe try a colour analysis?

Brilliant advice(!)

I am pale and I love it. Always have.

I have pale, freckled skin and very light blond hair.

I enjoy just being myself.

I think fake tan looks hideous on many people and I don't get the concept (which is really just marketing to sell products) that we are always told as women that we must change everything we are to be 'attractive'...