I've been v strict with the SPF and now I look like I've died

[WitchesofPainswick]

I've turned 50 and about a year ago SUDDENLY started taking care of my skin.

I've been using tret and so have been SPFing it up during the day.

But MY GOD I've never looked this pale and drawn.

Do I need a tinted moisturiser? How do I counteract this? I'm wondering if I'd look better as a lined crone with a slight tan. Help!

Oh i am so jealous of you! I don’t tan with or without SPF, and really wish i did!

Nothing at all. Just saying how much money is made by adding vitamin D and tanning drops to the mix.

I think a bit of sunlight isn't going to hurt unlike when people roasted themselves into leather handbags back in the 80s.

I wear spf year round, I use a tinted moisturiser, helps pick my colour up but not too much.

Not RTFT but I’m the same. Self tan doesn’t really work with me on tret. As your skin turnover is so fast, self tan can look really patchy and will only last a day so I gave it up.
i currently mix my SPF 50 with Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi drops which are lovely. They give a gorgeous bronze glow.
I also use the By Terry Tea to Tan bronzing spray under my foundation. This is really light and sheer.
I find these two give a lovely bronze glow but sometimes also use powder bronzer on top if I want to look brown.
i haven’t linked anything as I’m on holiday in Spain at the moment so the links are showing in Euros.

Thank you for the reminder OP - I thought the same this morning. I'll put my Dove gradual tan on now as home for the rest of the day

I think bronzer works best for me. Just a powder one slapped on (I usually apply it without my glasses on and hope for the best!) and people often ask if Ive been anywhere in the sun.
Although I am quite freckley so I always have some colour!

If you are using tretinoin you must absolutely continue with SPF and keep out of the sun. I’m a total face sun avoider, I am naturally fair and am 50 so use tinted moisturiser when I want a bit of colour. Also I have recently found the Heliocare tinted facial spf which I really like. I’d say try and go glowy rather than tanned, but I guess if you are used to seeing yourself tanned then it might take a bit of getting used to? Obviously it’s better for your skin not to tan but I think it’s horses for courses. I have friends who live to tan, they do look older but I don’t think they’d have it any other way and that’s their choice.

Are you pale because you have a white cast from your SPF or because the tret has stripped all the pigmentation, freckles etc? I'm the latter but its the price for smooth, glowy skin. I do tan a little bit with SPF50, or rather the deathly pallor is slightly less unsettling at this time of year.

I just have to put colour back in with make up. Love the blush blind trend, or just any kind of blush or bronzer. Hair colour makes a big difference too, lighter hair tends to make your skin look less pale because there is less of a contrast. But the older I get, the more I am just embracing I am destined to be pale, bronzer can often look at bit dirty on me.

Be wary though, you may be looking at a nasty Vit D deficiency come winter

@coxesorangepippinI supplement with Vitamin D so will hopefully avoid a deficiency. The sun is incredibly ageing. Not just that it causes wrinkles but also causes uneven pigmentation which is really ageing. Not to mention skin cancer-I’ve had a dodgy mole removed from my back so really don’t want to take any more risks.

I use tret on my face, wear a spf 50 primer every day & also use self tan drops on my face. They don't go streaky, but i do have ti use them more often because of the tret as it doesn't last as long. I also use gatineau gradual tan on the rest of my body.

I have a sun-kissed look rather than a deep tan but I like it.

The self tan drops I use for my face are mixed with my moisturiser & i use tanologist face & body drops from superdrug. Not too expensive & they are buildable as you choose how many to add to your face moisturiser & how often you do it.

I use ‘sun drops’ by the skincare brand TROPIC. I put a drop in my sunscreen every day and it gives me a lovely glow. It’s a slow build facial tan. Looks nice and natural.

I use factor SPF 50 every day as I have melasma and hyperpigmentation… so the sun never touches my skin.

I’m interested to read this as I also have melasma and hyperpigmentation - do self-tan drops make it look worse or do they help to conceal it? I want to try something like that, but I’m scared it will make my hyperpigmentation look worse.

Hiya,
i find that the sun drops sort of ‘blend’ my melasma and give me an overall glowy look, rather than disguise the melasma. So I look a bit like I’ve got some sun, but not tanned one colour. I don’t feel like they highlight my melasma patches , but blend them in a bit.

the drops are glowy / tan when I add it to my spf then it washes off at bedtime , rather than a tan building tanning product… but apparently if you use it a few times a day it also slowly builds up. They are brown, rather than clear so I can see how much I’m using and don’t get a shock by it ‘developing’.

I generally hate bronzer as I find it makes me look muddy, but the sun drops have been working pretty well for me.

In the guardian today (of course that is not in the context of using tret but still an interesting pov): He advises using sunscreen when the sun can harm your skin and not bothering when the UV index is less than three, which in the UK is generally from mid-October to mid-March.
link to the article: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/aug/06/should-we-be-more-worried-about-sunscreen-or-the-sun-itself-suncream-health?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Thanks all - this has been SUCH an interesting thread for me! I'm going to ease up on the tret/50 SPF sunscreen in the summer I think, but also add self-tanning drops.

Personally I would only use tretinoin in the winter. I use spf but not diligent enough with the reapplication in the summer to be using tretinoin.

Thanks for the reply, I might give them a go then and see what happens!

Re bronzing drops
Both with tannologist and tan luxe, for some reason I don't think they would work at the recommended paltry number of drops.
I was completely wrong!

To update! Thank you for this recommendation. I bought these and started using them.

It's made SUCH a difference: even DH has noticed and some of my friends asked if I'd been sunbathing all summer as I looked so bronzed. It's wild.

So this is a definite Top Tip!

I use high speed every day if im going out for more than 15 mins as I think this perfectly balances out the need for absorbing vitamin d without sunscreen against the risk of burning.

Perhaps something similar may work for you? Because I think I read that any spf reduces vitamin d absorption.

Don’t forget that the sun and its rays are not like back in the 60s, 70s or even 80s. It is much stronger because of the ozone damage. Be careful about sun exposure. I’m sure you don’t want to end up looking like Ulrika Johnson or Goldie Hawn.

I’m mid 50s and have always tanned easily. I put on factor 50 (several times a day) on Med holidays, but much more relaxed at home. I do put spf face cream on and I still look pretty brown. I have rosacea so often use rosalyque.

A little light colour is fine in my view, I mostly use factor 50 in sunny weather but not in winter or spring. Think it's fine in southern Ireland.

I’m so glad you like them! I absolutely love Tropic products and the sundrops are my favourite ever product… even if Im not bothering with any makeup I will add a drop or this to my sunscreen every day , I feel it makes me look really healthy (I’m naturally very pale and my melasma makes me look quite blotchy).

i was initially wary of Tropic - I joked that it sounded like a dodgy pyramid scheme when my wife’s boss invited us to a Tropic party… but I’m a total convert. Sign me up to the pyramid!!!!