I know it's bad for you and can cause real health problems but bloody hell, aibu to think everyone looks better with a suntan?

[Eeepsh]

Just that really!

It's a balancing act and there's no risk-free answer

For sure, but I literally come out in an itchy red rash as well as burn so yeah, not going to do that I'm afraid. Unless you've had polymorphic light eruption you dont know what its like- its vile, its horribly itchy and painful at the same time and when you do scratch it- and its hard not to, it forms tiny painful blisters on your skin. The fact my skin reacts this way (and yes, I've tried anti histamines and they make no difference) means my skin does not want sun on it.

I’m fair skinned with rosy cheeks and dark hair, in my early 50s. I try and avoid the hot sun as much as possible. Always wear a hat. I’m very conscious about thread veins getting worse (being so rosy) after sun exposure and also pigmentation. I have splodges on my face that I didn’t have 10 years ago (and even then I wasn’t actively sunbathing).

My legs are ghostly pale - we laugh about it - but I don’t care! I wear rash vests when swimming outdoors - saves the palaver of having to constantly apply sunscreen. I also don’t want a wrinkly décolletage.

While I’ve never been a sun worshipper, I wish I’d paid more attention to my skin 20-30 years.

I have this as well, horrible. Not everyone could handle being in the sun for 20 mins no sun cream - i would be BURNT

We are all different

Depends how you look after it. I take really good care of my pale skin and have a smooth "alibaster" look. You can shimmer and cover up blotchiness and redness on pale skin just as well as you can tan skin but because the products don't have 50 shelves in boots people don't think the products are there. Pale skin that is well protected it is less likely to eventually kill you than the burnt roast beef look too.

Also you can tan as much as you want but if you eat like shit, don't drink water and don't protect your skin to some degree you will just end up looking like a "glowing" pile of crap.

Depends which part of the world you are from. I was once in a shop in Thailand where two of the utterly gorgeous shop assistants came up to me to say how much they loved my (very!) white skin - but I would have loved their tanned skin (and their tiny figures!).

It’s hard to find a facial moisturiser where I live now that doesn’t have skin whitener included - if I used that I’d disappear! But it’s obviously the favourite look here rather than tanned. Just another way of telling women that their natural state isn’t good enough . . .

@AngryBird6122

It's rather peculiar you think any change in skin colour makes people look better
I'm not the one telling people what colour they should or shouldn't be though am I.
I am saying that skin tone changes throughout the year and people look fine whatever their colour.
You on the other hand seem to have quite militant opinions

I’ve just seen pictures of my friends DDs skin from their fabulous holiday where they all got tanned. I saw the actual tan in person, then i saw the holiday pictures and heard the screaming all night stories ( their other child told me about the screaming and keeping everyone awake). Friend and her DH are all about the sun and tans, but I was really taken back with how much they let their child get burnt especially given they are both medical professionals. They even let her go topples to try and even out the tan after they “soothed” the burns down. Yes I did say something but it fell on deaf ears. The irony is, they don’t post pictures of their children on social media for safety reasons but then let them get burnt to the point they are screaming in agony 🤷‍♀️

That’s disgusting. They are not fit to be parents.

I think I look better with a 'tan' albeit as a redhead my version of tan is just slightly golden / not pinky white. Also needless to say it 100% comes out of a bottle. I do also love it when my freckles come out a bit more but as I always wear factor 50 on my face they don't get a lot of chance to. But there is a part of me wishes I could achieve that naturally as it would be a whole lot less faff.

Yikes that makes me wince just reading about it, and yes I would be fuming at the parents too for failing to protect them.

This is shocking but not uncommon unforunalty
On a cruise 2 years ago , was queuing up at end at customer service to sort out my bill, young family in front of me and their 2 kids ( both under 5) were burnt bialy, i couldn't help but stare. I couldn't believe it. There was a shop you walked past to get to the pool selling suncream. The damage done

I wouldn’t know, really, as my skin doesn’t tan. It just burns and peels, then goes back to white.

I’m Australian, though, and very careful about sun protection. When I lived in the UK, I was surprised by the general love of sunbathing and tans - I equate it with the damaged, leathery skin sported by many Aussies of my parents’ generation. Not worth it.

I think to be fair it depends on the person. Some people look incredible with their naturally fair skin. I naturally tan dark and look a lot better with a tan than I do untanned, a sort of unremarkable not beautiful pale but not tan colour in winter.

For people that are naturally bronzed from being on holiday, outside etc it is attractive because it evokes the idea of being outside, living well, soaking up Vit D etc. A burn, obviously not so much - but there are lots of people that tan without burning and without really trying.

I remember friends comparing their 'tans' when in reality they were comparing varying degrees of sun burn. People see it as a competition or something to be proud of. I just look at them and can't believe how stupid they are.

I go on cruises a lot and it’s incredible how many people stay on their sun loungers all day, all through the hottest part of the day. Prime candidates for skin cancer.

I bet they all look like hams

Im quite pale, don't really tan and my MIL would grab my arm and hold it against her own while laughing gleefully at the colour difference. Used to piss me off

Yes, the implication that if you haven't got a tan, you're not trying hard enough!

I've always marvelled at this- on holiday, there are people who lie in the sun from 8am until 9pm - literally all day long, every single day.

Their skin must end up like a leather handbag in years to come. My nan used to do this and by age 60 her skin was awful- covered in damage, sun spots and crusty pre cancerous lesions. It was like an addiction with her as even then she still sunbathed and wouldnt stop.

I look much better with a spray tan. I do it once every couple of years when I can be arsed if I'm going on a holiday where I might wear a swimsuit. It's a faff.

I'm red headed, fair skinned and freckly and never tan - just go red.

I think often it's a question of wearing clothes that don't wash you out or look harsh. Different skin/hair tones really make clothing look really different on different people. My DS and DD (older teens) have hair of the same dark colour, but DD's skin is a tiny bit lighter than DS's. A sea green colour looks lovely on DD but brings out yellow tones in DS's face. I think it's better to get clothes that suit you than to tan your skin to suit your clothes. White clothing can be very difficult. It looks ridiculous on me for example. So I don't buy it.

And the disbelieving looks when you say you don’t tan…..

Urgh YES- and then all the "helpful" suggestions about what oil to use or take supplements etc. I dont bloody tan, it doesnt matter what I use on my skin, I always burn painfully, peel, then remain white. The only thing that makes me tan is actual fake tan, not the sun! People are so bloody weird about this- why would anyone lie about getting horribly burnt?! I wish it wasnt true but it is