To think that fake tan always looks awful.

[EmeraldThief]

I'm naturally very fair skinned. For years I've been told I'm too pale, that I look ill, that I resemble a milk bottle etc. All because I've resisted the urge to smother myself in fake tan! I can't tan naturally because I just burn, so fake tanning has always been the other option but I think it looks bloody awful. It's not the same a natural tan no matter what anyone says, fake tan always looks orange, streaky and unnatural. It always looks dirty and leaves a mess on towels and bed clothes etc, Plus it stinks! Oh and it's a complete faff to put on, I just couldn't be arsed with all of that exfoliating bollocks beforehand.

Why do so many women still smother themselves in that shit?

There are so many products out there - it is a matter if finding one that works for you & learning to apply it properly.

YABU

Decleor is very subtle.
Excellent quality, and one tube lasts me about 4 months.
I don't get my legs out after about 25th of August.

You might look good with your fake tan, but it's always obviously fake. Even if you're not orange.

panzee
Do you have a special gadget in your handbag for sussing people out?
Or are you relying on your eyesight?

Fake tan looks awful on me but moisturiser with a hint of tan in "fair" is ok. Although even with that I have to be very careful or I get orange knees or orange round my fingernails.

I did beauty therapy at college and all the girls were caked in it every day. They'd be orange. Patchy. Looked dry and flaky after a few days. However, I never took part in it and still don't unless I have an event to go to. I either get a spray tan which the woman who does it is amazing at and kg wears off naturally doesn't go that dry flaky way. Or I use st Moritz mousse which is a good colour and only ever had a patchy bit on my leg once. The spray tan smells like marzipan so doesn't smell NAD like the st Moritz but once its washed off in the morning it doesn't. It makes you look healthier, slimmer and makes me feel better. Thats why I do it.

Dove does a nice tanning lotion designed for people with very fair skin. It builds up gradually with each application so the first time you barely notice it's on. People began complimenting me on looking healthy when I started using it!
I would love to give a spray tan or something like that a try, but I agree with you that it looks obviously fake. However people who do it do look groomed and healthy for some reason, unless they take it too far!

I completely agree that nothing is as beautiful as a real, natural tan. I do tan, but often burn in the process and am worried about damage to my skin.

so YABU, I guess

I am very pale and found the brands my friends tend to use don't work on me. I am interested in the pp who said those designed for pale skin have more orange and I might check some darker ones out. I found a beautician with a really light touch for my wedding, most people weren't aware i had any on but there was actually a big difference from my white areas and it did look better with my ivory dress.

I do find my natural colouring completely vetoes very pale shade of clothing so had been thinking I might start using it again this summer. 10-15 years ago I used it regularly but I am out of the habit now and a bit scared of it. I have friends who have been using it for decades now and they have it down to a fine art.

Does it all still smell awful and leave your bed sheets stinking?

I think it always looks fake too unless you have olive skin to start with. But no ones going to tell you your tan looks unnatural/orange though, are they? So of course you're going to think your tan looks good.

Perhaps it's like wigs and plastic surgery - you only notice the bad jobs.

^ This. Being pale is fine. If you're happy like that and don't want to tan what's the problem?
I like to use it occasionally, if I'm going out or going to a wedding etc. I'd rather not go on a sunbed and I definitely don't look orange. I don't apply layer on layer on layer. Some people get a little addicted and go overboard with it, but you'd probably be surprised by how many people use it and it's not obvious that they do.
Tell people who tease you about being pale to piss off

I want to be with the people who say that badly-applied fake tan is the same as badly-done Botox or dyed hair - you only notice the bad stuff, and yet...

I used to buy really expensive Clarins fake tan which was a very nice shade. I got very good at applying it but looking back, you could tell.

It washes and wears unevenly so your hands go white sometimes in a day, while the bits that get less traffic stay tanned.

I used a Lancome facial tanner but no matter how careful I was with it, it would stain my hairline and eyebrows.

No matter how nice the top smell, there is a lingering afternote of digestive biscuits. It stains the sheets, though it does wash out. And DH said he could taste it.

What stopped me was going on holiday to Sicily in August and applying fake tan first.

When I arrived my feet had a white, trainer-shaped tide mark where I'd sweated it off on the plane.

On subsequent days you could track my sweating by the white patches - throat, between breasts, around armpits, backs of knees. The rest of me just looked either dirty or as if I had vitiligo.

I decided just to look pale for the first few days of holiday and when in Britain just to avoid colours that don't go with my skin.

My friend uses it and looks glowing and lovely. She has quite olivey toned skin. I'm very pale and whatever fake tan I've tried just makes me look mildly jaundiced and odd. It also seems to wear off my skin in patches, so that I look like a giraffe. Even a professional one didn't suit me. I've given up now and use Sally Hanson stuff for legs which really looks natural on me. It washes off but doesn't streak or smudge while you have it on.

If people can apply it well, then I totally understand why they use them. My skin isn't pale and lovely, it's pale in a 'don't look well' way, so if I could use something out of a bottle effectively, I certainly would.

It doesn't always look awful but yes it often does look awful. I have used fake tan many times and in the past I am sure it has looked awful, I like to think that it doesn't look so bad these days after years of practise.

I don't look orange, I just look the same shade of colour as "normal" people who aren't tanned.

If it makes people feel better let them!

I also know some people who look amazing with it and you wouldn't realise it was fake

It's when my 15 yo, Dd's tall and willowy friend arrived in a mini skirt and streaky orange legs I thought that I am now too old for that!

Yanbu.

My mum has a professional one for special occasions and it looks Feckin' awful, think Ross from Friends . I tell her every time but she doesn't listen, she insists it gives her a 'glow' .

It smells like biscuits and looks really dirty. The only person on the planet I've seen actually pull fake tan off and make it look remotely natural is Michelle Keegan, I thought it was her natural skin tone for years.

Michelle keegan - really? She's bordering on Ross from Friends "I'm an 8?!!" territory IMO. Haha. Pretty obvious she uses it, when it's done well in moderation it shouldn't be obvious, IYSWIM

She's very beautiful I might add, and she suits a tan - I just think she goes a bit far with it. Whenever I've seen her in sleb mags recently she's had a touch of the orange look.

I use one of those gradual tanning moisturisers (boots own)-its brilliant, subtle and impossible to streak.

My sister who is naturally olive skinned wears fake tan & I can't tell.

But I'm paler (but tan naturally) - if I wear it you can definitely tell. I've tried exfoliating and everything but even the body lotions with gradual tanner don't work on me.

I do use BB cream (like tinted moisturiser) on my face and people tell me I have a 'healthy glow'.