Why are some people so pale?

[Ghostskin]

I’m extremely pale and always have been. I look like I’m ill but it’s just my natural skin colour! My ethnicity is a mixture of Irish and Scottish. I use fake tan when I need to and avoid sunbeds.

Today I was thinking and was curious, why is it that some pale people just don’t change colour at all? With my skin, everyone expects me to burn easily but I don’t. I barely change colour in the sun. I spent the last few days without suncream (don’t come at me, it was a mistake and I hadn’t expected to be outside today or yesterday) and I haven’t changed colour at all. My shoulders, neck, tummy, arms, waist and legs were exposed to the sun all day and if anything I think they’re whiter! I’ve attached a picture of the colour of my arm tonight.

I do eventually burn but not easily. On holiday as a (stupid) teenager I refused to wear suncream because I wanted to tan- once I spent 4 days by the pool in a bikini in 40 degree heat- eventually I burned a little bit but not nearly as much as I’d have expected with the heat, my skin colour and no sunblock. Obviously I usually wear suncream now but even without it I don’t burn easily and I never, ever tan.

Why do some pale people not tan, burn or change colour at all? Is it to do with not having any melanin?

TIA 😊

Same here. If I get my legs out in the sun, DP covers his eyes and says "The beacons are lit! Gondor calls for aid!"

You shouldn't dislike your skin colour, I think pale skin is beautiful

100%, pale skin is beautiful. Much preferably to heavy tanned skins which can look dirty. In China/Far East pale skin, dark hair is the definition of beauty.

It seems those with pale skim also tend to age better...or perhaps wrinkles show up much more on tanned skin.
Those that tan naturally tend to regret the sun exposure when they are older.

I have very pale skin and very dark hair and eyes, my hair (the bits that aren’t white) is close to black. My maternal grandparents tanned very quickly but my mother is very pale skinned like me. She did dna and is mostly English/Welsh, as far as I know my father is 100% Welsh.

I don’t burn quickly at all, have a couple of times in extended time in the sun, but also don’t tan much. Now I’m a bit older my skin does go a little tanned after spending time outside all summer, but only a little. I get a white patch on my feet from my sandals. DS is like me, he was allergic to sun lotion as a baby, but we managed to prevent him burning by keeping him out of midday sun and in a hat etc. Dd has olive skin, dh is pale and blond. It’s interesting how genes present.

We’re Celts basically built for the mountains of Scotland and Ireland.

I’m a genetic anomaly in my family as they all have dark hair and tan easily. But there’s Irish block on my mum’s side and I got all the Irish genes.

Other end of the scale here - dark hair, dark eyes and olive skin. DH the same but with hazel eyes.

We were only saying the other day that pale skin seems to look much better preserved than ours; friends of mine who have milky skin look a decade younger!

I'm Scottish. I'm pale blue. In the words of Billy Connolly, it takes me a week of sunbathing to get white.

However, this heatwave means I have a trillion freckles, some of which have joined together, and I look reasonably glowing.

The way I see it, if my skin’s too bright then wear shades. 😎

100%, pale skin is beautiful. Much preferably to heavy tanned skins which can look dirty

wtf?

It's possibly unfortunate if you're pale and don't burn. People who are pale and do burn stay out of the sun. They have far less risk of skin cancer than a pale person who doesn't even have the protection of a tan out there sunning themselves. A tan is just the skin's attempt to protect itself. I live in a very sunny country - you can spot the people who tanned in the past. They do have a rather leathery look to them. I can't understand the Brits running for the sun loungers in resorts, I really can't. Who would want to lie out there in the sun equivalent of Chernobyl?

Of course the reason why many Irish and Scots are so pale is that it's a genetic adaption that allows people to get enough vitamin D when there isn't much sunlight. The reason for the blue or green eyes is that lighter eyes work better in low light and mist.

Scottish heritage, very naturally pale skin and dark hair and I don't burn in the sun. I can be out in the sun for hours and I won't burn.

I also don't tan easily at all, my forearms are a bit brown but they're exposed most days of the year. Any other part of my body that ever catches a tan and I lose it within a week

It’s just your genes.

I have extremely pale skin and I love it! Put on spf50 as I really don't want a tan. Really wouldn't suit me.

I think she meant fake tans.

My daughter is much paler than you, OP, has very dark, almost black hair and pale blue eyes. She never colours in the sun. It's as if she actively reflects the sunlight away 😁 People, even doctors, regularly assume that she's ill or anaemic to the point that she's even been prescribed antibiotics "just in case" she's had an underlying infection.

I'm in the pale and interesting brigade, my sister is in the olive skinned, Spanish/ Italian type colouring. I burn just walking past a lightbulb.
Years ago, one of the ladies I worked with had been back from holiday and her tan was fading. She said she'd stand next to me as I was so pale I made her look so brown!
For the very pale amongst us, I can recommend Dove tinted body lotion, particularly on your legs.

DH and I are both fairly pale, he seems to burn if he looks out the window on a sunny day while I take a lot longer to burn. Though we both usually cover up and wear 50SPF, DH still tends to burn on the back of his neck in particular.

I always wonder how this works. My son is milky white. I am of Mediterranean appearance. His dad is ginger with pale skin. Dads genes are much stronger in my son than my daughter who has the same colouring as me.

This all sounds familiar.

I'm extremely pale, with pale blue eyes, and I remember one of my friends joking, when we were younger, that I was like a corpse (luckily she was a good friend). I don't tan and use lots of sunscreen. I get a smattering of faint golden/yellow freckles in the sun instead, usually across the centre of my nose and cheekbones. I've also been recommended iron tablets by a couple of GPs.

I wonder if people here are similar in that when I exercise (I exercise a lot so it's not about being unfit) I turn bright pink and my cheeks flush horribly.

Though I have a few moles on my body, some large, they've been checked before as one atypical mole was removed. So skin cancer possibility is a concern (and I have a mole I've been over-worrying about right now).

I don't use fake tan. I tried once or twice with light tans and it looked yellow. I'd look ridiculous trying to change my skin colour even darker.

I don't use sunscreen often on my legs (I use it on face/arms, or trunk because of moles), I would add, and just don't tan. I run in all weathers, too!

I don't tend to tan but I do burn or go red very easily.

I suspect I've either inherited some red hair genetics from Mum's family but not enough for hair colour or it's Dad's ancestral Welsh blood coming out in me.

It did cause problems during pg with HCP insisting I must be anemic and then very surprised I wasn't - it got annoying. Probably just as well as during third pg MW lied about iron levels we suspect take HB option of table - but I was so surprised and knew HB and iron levels weren't clear cut so asked for levels which when she failed to provide twice - I wrote to GP for them - there was some subsequent behavior as well which did lead to us reluctantly complaining which unfortunately lead to much worse health care despite management assurances.

I'm Irish and Scottish heritage, with dark hair, fair skin and blue-green eyes. My skin should burn, it certainly looks as if it should. And yet if I spend any time in the sun I go a deep brown, and when I'm abroad it's assumed I'm Italian or Spanish.

Genetics is a funny thing.