Why do people wear fake tan?

[upsylazy]

The usual caveats apply - yes it's none of my business and there are far more important things happening in the world but just why? It never looks real and must be such a pain constantly applying it or getting it sprayed on, making sure you haven't missed bits etc. And doesn't it get all over your clothes or start running when it rains? I was sitting opposite a woman on the train today who I swear would have glowed in the dark. Also, she was naturally pretty and just didn't need it (not that anyone needs it). Any of you orange ladies care to enlighten me?

I think a little self tan is okay if someone feels they look pasty, it'll brighten their look up.

A full-on orange spray tan is hideous. One of my good friends has them regularly even though she is naturally darked skinned, and really does not need them.

I am happy that lots of people do love a spray tan as I have two good friends who have spray tan businesses and are raking it in!

Because people are conditioned to think that their natural skin tone is not attractive by companies selling this shit.

I promise you the following is absolutely true:

About ten years ago I was heading out to India on holiday, having applied fake tan before the flight so that the sight of my horribly white limbs in shorts and t shirts would not frighten the locals.

When I got off the plane in India, I was faced with a huge advert for lightening cream but it was the same company who made my fake tan and - here's the thing- it was the same model in the same picture in the advert. They had either lightened her for this one or darkened here for the one in the uk.

I suddenly saw that this big comsetics co was spending a fortune on advertising to make pale skinned people feel bad and want to be darker, and darker skinned people to feel bad and want to be paler. It made me absolutely sick and i've never used it since.

sorry- darkened her for the one in the uk, not darkened here

I wear fake tan to cover my vitiligo which is a skin condition, it evens out my skin tone. Is that ok with you op or does anyone else want to judge me???

Because they are not yet at a point in their lives in which they realise that it is actually very liberating to accept the colour of skin which nature gave us.

oh and its not caked on its to give me a bit more confidence as I have NO melanin AT ALL in my skin and I am like caspar. I'm also sick to death of the twattish people I encounter when I don't wear it. Comments range from 'whats wrong with your skin to God you look like a freak.

God knows. I am super-pale (seriously, hold me up to a window and you can see my heart beating) and used to slather myself in this stuff.
It looked shit and smelt worse.
I have now accepted myself as peaches and cream and realise I shall never be a dusky maid.

I had it done professionally, several times, a few years ago. It does not work on hairy people. It would dye the bleached hair orange and sink into my pores. Then when I needed to bleach another part of me it would bleach out the tan.

Sunbathing is my only vice TBH. Although I have started using SPF on my face now and these days I only get the odd day in the garden.

I have posted before that I think the English Rose look should be better appreciated, natural healthy pale skin is beautiful. Even near translucent skin can look very healthy & attractive (imho).

But wouldn't the world be boring if we all liked the same things?

I was a fake tanner for ten years or so.

I stopped about 12 months ago when I finally realised that my pale skin is lovely. Also, I just couldn?t bear the faff anymore. And boy is it a faff, exfoliate, moisturise, apply, let it dry, get someone to apply it to your back. A week later . . . . . repeat.

Some fake tans are quite natural but most aren?t, we're just desensitised to tangoed skin.

This was meant to be light hearted and of course I'm not talking about people with skin conditions who wear it for camouflage. I was just wondering really if women who do wear the orange caked on stuff actually think it's attractive, I suppose they must.
I won't be giving even the more subtle ones a try because I seem to have this weird metabolism which means that anything cosmetic that I put on my skin ends up smelling like over-ripe stilton. DH bought me some mega expensive perfume a few years back and I ended up smelling like a French cheese counter and it took about 3 days to wear off. People would sit next to me on the bus and then immediately move to another seat.

florence how incredibly patronising was that of you - to presume I am 'not at a point in my life' etc etc.

I am extremely happy with where I am in my life, personally and professionally, thank you. It's all a bit deep to start equating how happy people are with their life depending on false tan application. For goodness sake, lighten (hahaha) up.

I have very pale skin, would never tan naturally, I wear self tan for special occasions, weddings, balls etc. People ALWAYS comment on how well, healthy, glowing I look when I'm wearing it, but I'm naturally so pale even with fake tan I'm paler than most. Really couldn't be bothered to do it more frequently though.

In the West we're conditioned to value brown skin.

In the East they're conditioned to value pale skin. Facekinis (sinister looking or what?)are the latest trend in Chinese tan avoidance.

Make people want what they don't have. There's gold in them there hills.

I'm pale, paler than pale. Probably look anaemic on my limbs!

I must mix in nicer crowds than some, as no one in 27 years has ever ever ever said a word about my skin colour, or teased/joked about how pale I am.

I have never used fake tan, sun beds, and I don't 'bathe' in the sun. I don't think I look like shit.

It's not just the fake tan though is it?

Nails, eyelashes, hair, heels ... if it's done to excess on a daily basis it looks naff IMO.

Is it the celeb culture i wonder? People see it done well on celebs on the red carpet or Xfactor etc, and think they can replicate the look at home everyday. School run, tesco, whatever. I dunno. The orange look is dire.

FWIW i do a bit of gentle fake tan most of the year, i wouldn't expect anyone to realise that i do, because it's just a hint of colour. Takes no time at all once you're slick at it as others have said.

i will do the whole hair, lashes and heels thing, btw, but only on a night out

I'm either 'alabaster' according to the S&B crowd, or 'are you feeling ill' according to, ooh, everyone I've ever met, just about.

I've thought about fake tan a few times, but a) I can't separate the concept from Ronseal and fences in my mind, and b) am deeply uncomfortable with the idea that I might end up having to stain myself for the rest of my life because my natural skin in no longer good enough. I'd rather be slightly disappointed in my skin than advertise to the whole world that I find my skin disappointing, iyswim.

this is like a meeting of GRannies.
Lots of people use fake tan without looking like an Oompa Loompa.

like they might brush their hair.

Stop sounding so bloody disapproving!

I am incredibly pale, with dark hair and blue eyes. I kind of like it - it's different. Oompa Loompa orange is an atrocious look (I think spray tans are worst for that?); a slight natural or well applied fake tan does look nice, but it is what 90% of people seem to go for, so I am happy to be pale and stand out.

SchrodingersMew my mum has always said that she would shoot me if i coloured my hair! she says people spend a blardy fortune to have hair my colour!

sheepsgomeeping i know someone with vitiligo around her eyes, she is of african origin. she looks so beautifull! i thought it was make up, because the way it is sort od star shaped around her eye, so looks so beautiful and unique!

Personally I don't see the attraction of fake tan, but then I adore pale skin. I don't like the orange tan much, but I can hardly sit in judgement, I'm sure they don't like my style either!

The only thing I will say is that when I worked in a clothes shop I was always amazed by the ones who'd used the really orange fake tan on their body, who then had to use masses of foundation to match their face to their body, who then didn't think twice about trying on clothes and just smearing them with their makeup! It was horrible having to try and get the orange stains out of clothes so that they could still be sold

Florence

It's because some people look healthier and younger with a subtle glow. It's more safety-conscious than baking in the sun. I imagine people use it for the same reasons that they dye their hair.

The english rose look is gorgeous. Porcelain skin is beautiful. Unfortunately some of us have olive-toned skin that is washed out and sallow when untanned and had no natural pink in the cheeks. Being asked are you ill constantly can bring you down.

I don't wear fake tan, fake nails, fake eyelashes or fake hair extensions. I don't dye my hair. I don't wear padded bras, or foundation or lipstick. I'm very low-maintenance. Mostly because I don't have the money, but also because i honestly don't have the motivation to do so. However I think plenty people who do give nature a hand look fabulous. Well-applied tan can look amazing.

I've bought some But have never used it. It just sitting in my bathroom as a reminder to never hot the shops on payday

I'm far too inclined to buy shit on a whim lol

I'm also warmed toned but pale so I don't have that lovely porceline look but a slightly ill jaundiced look. Takes a lot of makeup to not get the 'are you ill question.

Vary handy at school one cough in front of the deputy and I used I get sent home

Whogivesaduck I had that said to me too (especially by my hairdresser)! Just made me want to dye my hair more. After it was done once it was so hard to get back that I now understand why they nagged at me so much.