Do sun tans actually look sexy ?

[heartlock]

My bf is blond and has super fair skin and gets cooked within minutes in the sun.
We were at the beach yesterday and he was literally covered in sun tan lotion and had his bucket hat and sun glasses.
His skin from the top side on his arms turns a light brown colour and the same with his face apart from where he wears his sunglasses. It looks horrible like he's been inside a burning building. He suffers hugely from painful blisters and burns.
I think it's damaging being in the sun for so long. I've had boils on my back .
Why on earth do People go for sun tans? Or say let's go to the beach on a really hot day?

I look better with a bit of colour but never sunbathe and hate fake tan! DD is half Arab so she goes a lovely colour just from looking at the sun

Not everyone suffers the way you describe, I tan very easily due to olive skin and have never had sunburn, I just go brown! I definitely feel and look better with a tan, I don’t think I have ever seen anyone who’s come back from a holiday with a lovely tan and thought to myself they look shit! Red burnt peeling skin however is definitely not attractive and if I had skin like that I would certainly never attempt to get a tan.

I think the contrast is nice - that you dress different in winter v’s summer. Sunburn is horrid and not nice, but if you manage it sensibly than a tan looks great! I think excess sun is clearly not healthy. A well managed tan/sun I think IS good for you. Vit D and being outside.

I tan really easily and top up with a gradual tanning cream. I think I look better with a tan.

Depends on the person, there is little I'd think is universally attractive. As for why some go to the beach, some people like beaches, some people never blister and never-to-rarely burn so it's not as much of a thought (though as a pp said, that may change with the climate).

I spent a few hours yesterday in the woods and having leg spasms today, I have to plan accordingly that my body is like that, but I don't wonder why people do what I really enjoyed it at the time and am now having to deal with the consequences of failing to hydrate, rest enough, and care for how I know I am to reduce the risks of this.

My natural skin tone has varied a lot over my life and right now it's a weird opposite tan: my face, lower arms and legs are significantly lighter than parts of me that rarely if ever see the sun. No idea why, I've joked it's because my history of Vitamin D deficiency means those part that see the sun are trying to get all they can, but I remember my father got pale for some years around this age and then darker again as he got older so I'm holding onto hope I'll even out naturally soon as it does make me consider self-tanning and similar (as I know my father tried) cause it's really weird sometimes to be so uneven and to feel like I'm so much paler than I 'should'/used to be. I've even had HCPs say 'You look pale but it looks natural...' and struggled to explain it maybe is, but it also isn't...

or Madge from Benidorm 😁

I think most people look better with a tan absolutely! X

Genuine tans can look nice, but fake ones from chemicals or when a person clearly spends half their life under tanning lights just looks tacky, and I can tell the difference with one look.

It's a sore topic for me. I have naturally olive skin and go very very quickly a really dark colour, and I actually look ridiculous naked because my legs and arms are so much darker, so I feel stupid during the summer. I don't have the time or the inclination to sunbathe in a bikini or whatever to tan evenly all over. But I do enjoy being outdoors so it just happens.
The amount of people that comment on my skin colour baffles me, its not the, you've got a nice tan, that doesn't bother me, it's the wow look at the colour of you 🙄, I think it's rude. And I hate that people might think I'm caning the sunbeds, but what can I do, cover fully up?

That’s sunburn not a sun tan, and no sunburn doesn’t look attractive it’s bloody idiotic. Was he wearing factor 50 and re-applying regularly? If not he’s another idiot.

i LOVE a suntan, I feel much healthier with a little sun kissed glow.

I feel much better with a tan. Luckily I tan super easily - I'm out running most days and have gone really brown.

Gotta shift these bright white feet though!

I'm normally v pale but do tan, I think I just look healthier, probably because I'm normally bordering on blue in colour

or Madge from Benidorm 😄

im Irish and freckle but love a light tan.

at weekend my back was exposed to sun for no more than 15 mins and it burnt. I have to use sun tan cream always!

The sun also I think can warm and relax you - plus the feel good vitamin D. But one should be careful. Small doses and if fair sun tan cream is my motto. A dip in the sea is nice too where possible

ps I don’t “sunbathe” my face though.

Is it sexy? It can be an enhancement perhaps, but what’s the starting point? Nearly all the men on Love Island, with their tans and pecs, leave me cold. An interesting (sexy) mind though 😋….

*I think suntans are very unattractive as well as being (obviously) unhealthy.

I like to stay as pale as possible*

me too. I don’t find tans attractive at all. To me they’re in the bin with HD eyebrows and those nails so long you can’t use your hands properly.

sun exposure is extremely aging as well. If you want to look your age crack on with the sunbathing.

i burn very easily. I hate the look of tan lines as well. So I cover up or stay out of it.

Sounds like your bf got burnt rather than tan.

I used to think tans looked great when younger.
I'm so happy I didn't bake(baby oil) like my friends did. I wasn't allowed to.
The difference in aging now that we're late 50s is drastic.

I think I look nice with a light tan but it’s not worth it, it’s all sun damage even if it’s light. There’s so many nice cheap facial sun creams and light face tanners etc you’d be a mug to frazzle on purpose.

I used to protect my skin, especially my face, from the sun. Combined with good genes it has kept the worst of ageing at bay.

But now I’m in my 50s I don’t give a shot about ageing so get a tan every summer. Being outdoors a lot means it happens without too much effort and no burning. I definitely look and feel better with my natural tan colour and hope to be active and healthy enough into old age to go for the leather look! I’ve only seen it on active elderly people, the type who sail/walk/row/swim.

Two really unsexy things, which I saw a lot of this weekend as I live near the coast: bright glowing red sunburn, usually accompanied by equally bright white ‘missed bits’, and really badly applied fake tan. Over the weekend I saw variations of orange stripy, and blackened feet, depending on variety of fake tan.

I think that healthy skin looks the best! Whether that's with a slight tan or not at all

I'm a redhead, I don't even know what a sun-tan is. 😁

I think a fake tan is nicer than a visit to dermatology to be told your cancer has spread from what started as liking a nicer colour. Some ridiculous comments.

I generally think most people look healthier with a tan but I’m aware this is probably something I’ve been conditioned to think.

lots of people go too hard with the sunbathing and it can look so ageing. I know lots of people in late 20s to 40s who haven’t looked after their skin in the sun, they look tanned but their skin looks way older than their age. You can wear high spf and still get a tan.
Agree with pp that sunburn or bad fake tan is not a good look either!

One more thing:

fake tan:

1. The smell?
2. stained sheets?

these make it a no-no for me ….