why do you all hate fake tan??!!

[mummee09v]

....i have noticed in the "vile trends of the noughties" thread lots of you seem to dislike fake tan!

and i was just wondering why?? as we are all aware these days, real tans are not a good thing at all, they are dangerous (risk of skin cancer) and very very ageing. i just can't understand why people would rather risk their life and looks to get a real tan when fake tans these days are so good?

personally, i think fake tan is a brilliant invention, i am a BIG FAN! i don't go overboard with it and the kind i use looks very natural.

i do agree that the orange look is terrible though. but I think that comes from really awful cheap varieties of fake tan.

most people who think they look 'very natural' with fake tan don't.

I don't think the people who are saying that they dislike fake tan are saying that they prefer 'natural' tanning or think that it is is the better option. More that they would rather not be tanned at all, fake or otherwise.

FWIW, I have used fake tan. I always think it will look ok, no matter what formulation I try, how much I exfoliate, moisturise, blend, don't blend, how lightly I apply, it always looks fake.

At the end of the day, it's personal choice.

I HATE acrylic nails, I think they look cheap, naff and really icky, but I appreciate that other folk like them. Horses for courses. Same as I like not wearing make up most of the time, some people might think I look plain or like I don't make an effort, but so what ? Horses for courses.

Cheap or expensive, they all STINK, as the 'fake tan' ingredient (Dihydroxyacetone or DHA) is the same in all of them and it is that which smells.

DHA is also the stuff that turns you orange.

They can add all the exotic oils and moisturisers they like and charge you £50 for it, it won't hide the stinky orange beast that is DHA.

theres nothing wrong with NOT wearing fake tan though as you say s.r its horses for courses. but was just a little surprised that some ladies said they would rather have a real one coz they are sooo bad for you.

good for you sausage rocket for not wearing make up, i bet don't look plain, i bet you do't need it anyway. i like to have no make up days from time to time but not sure i look very good au naturel! lol.

cider...yes they ALWAYS stink dont they if only the makers could find a way to get rid of it!!!

ps- i think acrylic nails are awful as well!!! uurgh - WAGtastic

I am a huge fake tan fan too... but I tend to only use it on my legs, or sometimes my arms, shoulders and chest. And I think it does look very natural these days - even my sister, who teases me mercilessly about my lily white skin was impressed with my tan over the summer and assumed it was natural.

Sorry, but to those of us who neither sunbathe nor use fake tan, you can ALWAYS tell
if someone is using it. Fake tan only looks natural if you and everyone around you also uses it, which I suspect is an age thing.

And it is possible to get a healthy bit of colour through natural sun exposure (NOT sunbeds) provided you use a high-factor lotion.

It's an expensive and time consuming business, and environmentally unsound to boot. Slathering your skin in chemicals can't possibly be a good idea can it? It's just a fashion thing. Back in my day, (adjusts lorgnettes) an overly-tanned skin, whether natural or chemical, was regarded as unspeakably naff, very chavvy and the province of Page 3 Wannabees.

Just for the record, a young friend of DH's got married last year and was shocked to discover the time, effort, mess and sheer expense involved in his DW's fake-bake habit. He found the smell of it very offputting in bed, as well as the fact that it came of all over the sheets. (Men are such bitchy gossips! )

Poor lamb, he hadn't even realised she used the stuff until they moved in together because we've all got so used to seeing orangey ladies everywhere.

Disclaimer - I have Celtic colouring - very dark hair and eyes and my skin is so pale I get my foundation made up by Prescriptives because it's impossible to buy the right shade over the counter. So I don't see what's wrong with being pale and interesting! .

Prefer my human beings less orange.

Hang my head in shame and confess I make the same snap judgement about orange people as I do about people whose children have "unique" names and a Burberry check pushchair.

Innit.

I love it Mix with moisturiser and stop looking deathly Only do a really light layer on body in winter and v little on face but it eradicates eye bags uneven skin etc and means I can nip out make up free and not scare the neighbours

I think appearance-wise (forgetting the pong for a minute) whether it works at all for you depends a lot on your natural skin tone.

If you tan easily anyway, the orange tones blend better with your skin. As long as it's applied lightly and skilfully (and not to stupid areas like the palms of your hands and your underarms) it can look okay.

But if you're naturally pale and pinkish, the orangey streaks are even more obvious.

I think on the whole most people look better with a bit of a tan, and it is preferable to get this from a bottle than the sun. So we're led to believe.

I do fake tan in the summer, my legs look awful otherwise. But I do hate the faff involved and the smuged sheets, and the nasty smell, but vanity prevails.

In winter I just dust face and collarbone area with bronzer. I love winter with long sleeves and thick tights!

cos it's orange.
And get over this "tanning is so unhealthy" crap - a bit of sunshine is actually protective as it produces natural vitamin D and melanin (the stuff that makes your skin tan naturally) - vitamin D protects against DNA damage, ageing, free radical production etc.
Vit D deficiency is now returning to a population that should not have to suffer from it - rickets has been seen in children recently; and it may be linked with Alzheimer's and other degenerative disorders.

I am v. pale and freckly but would rather have a bit of sun (about 15 mins a day) and pick up a slight colour that way (and it really is slight!) than paint myself with unnatural goo to go orange.

Apparently any change in the colour of your skin is evidence of sun damage, and healthy tanning is a myth. (so I read in the paper once.)

What do the chemicals being abosrbed into your skin do to your health?

Agree with you mummee09v, I think fake tan is a brilliant invention. Also agree with Cider, it can depend a lot on your skin tone and also, I think, matching best fake tan brand for your skin. I have been finding the newer fake tans or better formulated fake tans are more brown/yellow based than orange. Going orange and streaky can also just be a matter of having put a bit too much on - better to layer it than slap one thick coat on.

Fair headed blondes can use it (like moi), just have to be a bit more careful. Once you have found the right one for you and get the application right, then it can look completely natural. Of course you can always notice the crap looking ones, but I know for a fact that you can also be easily fooled by a good fake. Also I have noticed a worrying trend in fair-skinned Brits baking themselves senselessly esp overseas. I was on a snorkelling trip in Oz with a group of pale skinned Irish girls most of whom were already ruddy with old sunburn, who spent the whole trip sunbathing. The aussies meanwhile slapped on sunscreen and spent most of the time in the shade...

St Tropez Everyday looks really natural (if you want just a minimal glow of a "tan") and has barely a trace of that tell-tale smell.

hate it for face, as looks ALWAYS fake.

LOVE it for legs, people always say my legs look nice in summer, I use the Nivea summer glow one, sparingly, and that seems to go well with my natural skin tone (mind, I am naturally olive skinned, as not British. On that lovely pale rose English skin it can look harsh, I think.)

I use fake tan sparinly and think it looks ok.

I'm not orange at all though and to be honest it just takes away my natural pallor.

what kind of stuff has parabens in then?nothergenuibe question>

If you want a tan though, and it's a toss up between known skin cancer risk and a more vague 'you just don't know', the choice seems logical.

obviously more logicla to never take any risk, but vanity is not logical.

I do look better with a tan. I don't want to sun bathe. I want to look better.

the answer is???

nearly every cosmetic/lotion/shampoo etc. has parabens in - they are preservatives. There are 4 commonly used: methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl paraben.

I don't get the thing about modern formulations being better - all fake tans have always been based on DHA, haven't they? Yes it might be in a nice spray can and contain nice oils or whatever, but the active ingredient is the same.

Also certain fake tans being formulated for certain skin tones - it's surely just that the ones for fair skin have a bit less DHA in them? You could get the same effect by diluting any fake tan with body lotion.

The only one that I've come across that has additional dyes in it is St Tropez mousse - they seem to have added purpley colouring to offset the orange, which does initially give a better colour result. But the purple washes off fairly quickly, leaving behind the same old orange.

So all cosmetics have parabens, and the risk of parabens is?

Google 'paraben free' - it does seem to be a thing that's catching on now, and a demand emerging for paraben-free products. There may well be something in it.

It's also one of the reasons why the OCM (oil cleansing method) is getting more popular.