To think that some people need to stop being competitive about getting a tan?

[IAmNotAmused]

It's embarassing seriously. All I've ever known from friends and family as I grew up was the whole 'I'm browner than you!' 'I tan better than you!' etc etc

I just find it really funny. Said family and friends now look worse for all that sun. I'm white (light olive toned skin) and am frankly tired of people always making 'pale and pasty' comments to me especially in the winter. White people are this colour for a reason, i.e, we live in europe where it is colder than the rest of the world. I've also noticed how people go on holiday and are so desperate to get a tan they spend most of the holiday roasting themselves in the sun.

rant over. Anyone else not too impressed with people's desperation to get a tan?

I don't think people are saying one skin tone is better than the other. I think she was referring to people who relentlessly tan the f* out of their skin when it might ordinarily only turn a golden shade.

We've all seen them on the beach.

what squoosh said.

I'm not taking it personally in the slightest - I'm merely pointing out that it's a bit harsh to say people who go brown look like 90 year old Texans.

I'm another one only worthy of the world's smallest violin. But honestly, it does get particularly annoying when people assume I've nothing better to do than fry myself silly by lying in the sun for hour after boring hour. I merely inherited the ability to go brown.

However, I don't look like a TOWIE wannabee either. Mainly because naturally brown people are brown. Not orange.

I'm brown after two hours in the garden. I think your milky white folk are fairly look. I look like a need a bloody good bath as I sort of go mud coloured.

Milky white folk are fairly lucky

the towie lot do look like 90 year old texans though. cannot believe their real ages.

klaxon I look like a lobster

I agree, was shocked when I found out the Towie girls are all late teens to mid twenties. Such an ageing look, water melon boobs, botox, false lashes etc. and of course the fake tan.

I do still enjoy watching towie though... ;)

I look at the sun and go brown, I do use factors 30 and 20 but I also do love to sit outside, read and relax!

I just suck in every bit of Sun and go a nice warm brown. People always comment that they are jealous.

I would love to have that pale sun kissed look, but only get that if I stay indoors, I love the outdoors, I walk 3 miles a day rain or shine.

Hate fake tanners

what's my point and what am I rambling about?

Totally agree. It is (rightly) highly socially unacceptable to deride someone for the darkness of their skin, yet it is okay for pale people to get picked on! I tan fairly well in summer (apart from my legs) but go quite pale in the winter (despite having Greek roots and dark hair/eyes). I just let nature take its course. I hate fake tan and think it looks vile. Naturally olive skin is gorgeous- streaky orange skin is not. And sunbeds are just plain dangerous. Dita von Teese is an example of a gorgeous woman with pale, porcelain skin.

Nice. So because I go brown just looking at the sun I look like a 90 year old Texan?

You mightn't but lots of people age too early from too much sun. Did I mention Costa Blanca?

Also why do people with brown arses always think it's ok to wear a thong on the beach just because they're tanned?! People it's about the arse, not the tan... STEP AWAY FROM THE THONG !!

lmaooo :D

luciemay - I'm same as you in terms of the tanning and find it so rude to get picked on for being pale in winter.

I'm from Australia and so the importance of putting on factor 15+ is drummed into us from a young age. I don't think they even sell any lower SPF's over the counter there anymore! So I do feel delighted ashamed reaching for the SPF 8 off the shelf in Tesco

It's the opposite round here - competitive non tanning. Tans are seen as bit naff I think. Sorry to those who tan at the drop of a hat but I think we're seeing a return to the days when tans are seen as a big vulgar. TOWIE has a lot to answer for.

I do tan quite easily but can't be doing with sitting in the sun. My dad had a malignant tumour chopped out of his ear a few years ago. Bit of an eye opener that one.

I used to be really angsty about not going brown when I was a teenager. I was tall, slim and gorgeous (am old fart now, so can say that about my teenage self) - so I suppose I had to have something to worry about. It's a shame though, that we always feel under pressure to change something about ourselves - be thinner, have different colour skin, get rid of our wrinkles. I really hope my DD doesn't feel the same.

All in all though, I'm pretty happy with they way I am and in my 40s more more confident than ever with my looks. I am constantly told I look much younger than I actually am and sometimes people do a double take when I tell them my age. I'm sure not tanning my face is the reason.

Despite all of the above, there is something about the Scandanavian golden glow tan (as opposed to the red/brown mahogany look) that can make me weep with envy.

Sorry, that should have a bit vulgar. Apologies.

QOD - Don't knock the fake tan! In the right hands, it's perfectly possible to apply a bit to take that bluish-white tinge off, but without going your TOWIE-style Ronseal orange. It's like makeup (in fact, I suppose it is makeup, really): moderation is the key.

theincrediblequeen I just did a snort out loud at your local tanning salon painting its walls orange. What were they thinking?

The fact is, tans make us look slimmer and smoother. They make our teeth and eyes look brighter, and our clothes look better.

And it reminds us of happy, warm carefree days.

It's all very well citing Girls Aloud woman, N Kidman etc but those are seriously attractive women - tall, very slim, and groomed to the max.

I have naturally fair skin and trust me, I don't look like Nicole Kidman or any other famously pale siren.

I'm no fan of the roasted mahogany look either, but a wee gentle tan and/or a lick of a gradual tanner make me look better. I love summer, and I love sunbathing!

YANBU

Have just come back from hols, constant comments from people asking if the weather was poor as I've come back the same colour. I didnt go on holiday to lie around sunbathing!

I wear a high SPF as pale skinned. I have family members who've had skin cancer despite them not lying out in it! Plus, I've had cancer myself (not skin), was told that my skin would be more sun sensitive due to chemo etc.

I get comments all the time as do my children. My DD 11 now asking if she can wear fake tan as the girls in her year are also now competing as to who can get the darkest tan!

It baffles me to see grown ups comparing tans!

yabu for your use of the R word, you need to educate your son.

whiterthanwhite
I've just come back of holiday and have been asked the same thing as we have all come back paler than the SAHMs who spent the last week in the garden roasting themselves

I do not go abroad to sit an bake, I like to sight see and discover the country I'm in

I'm also a shade seeker! everyone expects me to tan really easily as I have very dark hair but I have blue eyes and very fair skin -10 minutes of lunch time sun and I look like a lobster!

Workshy

Same here, dark hair blue eyes too - burn very easily.

Upside is that a lot of people think i'm in my mid 30s (am mid 40s). So I then get jokey comments asking if I've got any tips to help them look younger. Yes - "DONT LIE COOKING IN THE SUN FOR HOURS ON END,DAY AFTER DAY AND STAY OFF THE SUN BEDS".