about pale skin?

[Thurlow]

I'm down south, so it's going to be baking today. I'm not wearing tights, which is perfectly acceptable in our office.

Now I'm as pale as they come, especially my legs. I just don't tan at all.

I have had TWO comments already today from people - "blimey, you're brave, getting your legs out when they are so white!" Both from colleagues who were wearing dresses with no tights themselves, so it wasn't even a subtle dig at that. One then started a conversation about whether or not I'd considered fake tan.

Why is pale skin seen as so bad? Why shouldn't pale people wear skirts and dresses the same? Why should we go through all the faff and cost of fake tanning?

First world problem, I know, but it's really irritated me not already grumpy with the heat and crappy air conditioning

Another pale skinned person here.

I think because tans are seen as desirable we are not used to seeing pale skin and the reaction it gets elsewhere in the world.

Told this before but I was on a beach in Bali and paid for a 15 min massage. The lady doing it carried on longer, I said I wasn't going to pay any more more so stop but no she didn't want to stop, not with 'beautiful pale skin'. The Aussies I was with were a bit miffed.

I also have a male friend who used to practically drool over Kelly Osbourne, until she 'ruined herself with fake tan'.

Yanbu.
I have glow in the dark celtic skin. I love it.
My tattoo artist commented on how see through white my skin was and how it's the best for inking
I tried fake tan once, I went orange.
I've darkened up a lot since dd for some reason but my legs are still mega white

I have extremely pale skin and I was very sensitive about it growing up. The thing is, if you're really pale fake tan looks ridiculous. You just have to embrace it I think. Legs are definitely the worst though. They don't come out really. Long skirts only here.

I hate weather like this because I am also super prone to burning and sunstroke. The threads on here recently telling people to 'man up, it's just a bit of sun' really pissed me off!

I'm both thin and pale. I constantly get 'well-meaning' comments (mainly from DH's Greek family) about how I would look lovely with some more colour on my checks / more weight on my bones. I feel like saying 'I'm sorry that my appearance offends you' but I've learned that the right response is to smile sweetly and take a step back while people look me up and down and discuss my skin and my weight over my head.

*cheeks

Love the irony of someone judging white skinned northern women on our "embrace the pale" thread!

I never wear trousers. Skirts and dresses only. Usually shift or pinafore with a t shirt underneath. I like long floaty vintage dresses too, but usually have to hem them as I am tiny, and can look a bit "drowned" in too much fabric.

Annoyingly, at the moment I am having to wear below the knee skirts as I use a wheelchair and bare skin on my legs sticks to the horrible PVC seat cushion thing. Although now I've typed that I have realised I could just put a piece of material over the cushion...

I have proper pale milk bottle legs that don't tan or burn really - they literally just don't do anything in the sun other than stay the same pale shade.

I did have a fake tan stage a few years ago but now I don't bother and don't really care if anyone has a problem with my legs. I'd rather not be boiling hot by covering then up.

I hate fake tans. I don't even particularly like the naturally tanned look when people get back from holiday (when they manage to avoid the lobster look) - but that might be more because I associate them more with whatever shade they were the rest of the year, without the 2/3 week sun blasting.

I like being pale, and frankly I'm more penguin than camel. Sun bathing would most likely give me heat stroke, lol.

It's true though that in France, pale is not considered desirable and everyone considers a tan to look "healthier" (which is kind of ironic when you think about it).

Another pale skin possesser here, legs don't tan or burn, I do get freckly arms and my shoulders and decolage seem to go abou a shade "darker" but that's about it. I had my makeup done the other day (ore wedding) and the woman made my face the same colour as my chest at the time (had got slightly burnt at the beach which had tanned slightly) - I was horrified and requested she change it back to its natural milky tone. My nickname was death as a teenager...did wonders for my confidence that!

I sent a letter into Mizz (pre teen magazine in the 80s) when I was about 11 asking why they didn't use pale models, it was published and they did use some (prob just to make a point) in the proceeding months - I chalked that up as a minor win for us paler types.

I had lots of negative comments in the past, Still get comments on occasion, I also had tonnes for looking so young and having perfect skin (not a blemish in sight...unfortunately no longer the case, I seem to be going through puberty at the age of 37!) but I'd much rather have healthy pale skin than ageing leathery skin.

Yy to unnecessary Hb tests - not anaemic, Celtic

Over the past four or five months I've developed my summer colour which essentially consists of freckles on my face and forearms (pram-pusher tan). This is despite high SPF protection which seems to protect normal skin but not freckles Still one of the palest around.

Legs frequently exposed (shorts, skirts, dresses, cropped leggings under a tunic) and never SPFed but still blue.

MIL deliberately tans as they have a second home in the Canaries. Her skin takes a real battering and she has a real mahogany tan all over (needed brain bleach when she was sunbathing topless because nobody should know what her MIL looks like naked). Her mother is desperately worried about the damage she's doing - GMIL has the softest porcelain skin I've ever encountered and fewer wrinkles than her daughter.

I don't wear foundation as my skin is too sensitive. I find it slightly ironic and sad that this thread purports to celebrate natural colour ... and asks how to cover it up.

Oh yes, the "are you ok? you look very washed out..." comments

I have also recently (aged 40!) stopped messing about with any fake tan on my pale legs and I know they look way better.

I think things are changing though - I have two nieces in their late teens, both redheads and have beautiful pale skin. Neither of them have any issue wearing short, shorts or dresses and don't seem to get any negativity about it. People often comment how pale they are but 9/10 times its in an admiring manner. DN has a full list of 'ginger' alternatives so if anyone tries to tease, she just offers them loads of alternatives and they generally shut up!

I am pale as they come too, and bloody gorgeous for it if you ask me I think deep tans (especially fake tans) are cheap.

But in fairness, you should stay out of the sun. Sunburn is naaaat a good look and will give you cancer/wrinkles/peeling.

But if you decide to stay out of the sun, you'll need to take Vit D supplements

Well not completely out of the sun, to the point where you give yourself vitamin D deficiency... I mean, just use some common sense.

What do you all wear in Summer?

Skinny jeans and a T Shirt. My legs do not see daylight. I do own dresses but they are only worn in winter with thick black tights and boots.
If I need to go into work I wear black trousers and a blouse.

Wouldn't shock me if I was vit D deficient actually, I'm rarely in sunlight.

I was vit D deficient last year .never sat out at all. I've been using a spray and my levels are fine this year

Sassh - yes, I had a similar experience in Thailand. Lots of people admiring my pale skin. Apparently some people there bleach their skin to look whiter :(

I'm almost transparent with white blonde eyebrows and lashes as well. If I leave off the mascara I get the 'Are you okay?' comments.

Have never dyed my eyebrows. The blonde re-growth would look seriously strange I reckon.

There's no regrowth with dyed eyebrows as the dye just fades after a month or so.

Ah right, a lot of people have suggested that I dye them or pencil them in but after a lifetime of invisible eyebrows for me it would feel a bit freaky to suddenly sprout visible brows!

I think it must be very rare to get a vitamin D deficiency.
I don't sunbathe as such, but unless you live in a cave, you will encounter it at some point!

Vitamin D deficiency is actually incredibly common and thought to be a contributing factor to many auto-immune conditions.

But living here, just going to the park etc.. You get to be out in it.
You'd have to actively avoid it, wouldn't you?
Are you saying you have to sunbathe to get enough? Hope that doesn't look rude, just wondering?

Your skin needs to be exposed in order for your body to make Vitamin D, so no problem at the moment when it's nice and sunny but the rest of the time when we've got trousers, jackets and scarves on only our face and hands are exposed and that's what leads to a deficiency.