I'm content with my paleness.

[SarahB]

When I was younger, I'd feel bad every Summer like I was a big dork because I couldn't seem to get tan enough. Finally, I pretty much gave up. What gets me is how many people still do it knowing the health risks? Maybe if you're medium toned, but I had a class tonight and there were a couple of young women (early 20's probably), all very fair-skinned who were burnt to a shade under lobster. Health risks aside, it catches up with you as far as aging as well. Once I hit 30, I began to notice more of a difference between sun-worshipers and non-sun-worshipers in how they age.

I'm all for being active and being in the sun, but wear sunscreen if you need it and don't say I look ghostly because I lack much melanin and take care of my skin. It never fails. Every year I hear this from people. If I hear it this year, I'm calling them "prune faces". Rant over. :grr:

[HEyHEY]

1. Hey, wear that pale with pride

I do

[SarahB]

8. Exactly

:hi:

[Taverner]

2. Awww SB you don't look ghostly

[SarahB]

11. Really? You haven't seen my swimsuit picture. Here it is:

[Taverner]

19. LOL

A G-G-G-G-G-GHOOOOOOST!!!!

[belladonna]

3. I don't bother with the whole tanning thing anymore

The sun I get just doing my thing during the summer, or at the pool or beach, will suffice for me. I see these women totally addicted to tanning beds and their skin looks like leather.

[SarahB]

17. Yeah.

I don't get the tanning bed thing either. Why?

[texas1928]

4. Well I have a dark complextion

I can go out in the sun and I turn dark quickly. by the end of March I have a dark tan already. My wife is fair skinned though, she only burns when she gets to much sun, so she knows your pain. Don't be ashamed. Girls with untanned skin are pretty too.

[SarahB]

15. I think we can be.

For some people, getting darker just happens. For some of us, it's work. I guess when it is work, you just gotta say, "Why am I doing this?"

[texas1928]

27. I can not help it, even with sunblock I tan.

I have always been this way. I can get a sunburna nd the next day it is a tan. I have only blistered one time and that was from spending the whole day in the pool. I take after my grandfather. If I took after my dad's side of the family I would be pale too. They are Irish and Scottish. Lots of red and blonde hair in that family.

[StaggerLee]

5. Isn't it a wonderful thing that we all DON'T look the same?

It's aggravating when people just assume they know everything about you and what you need to do and what you're doing wrong. Don't you just want to, to set them on FIRE???

:D

[SarahB]

12. Yes it is.

We all all beautiful in whatever our natural form and tones are. :)

[Eye and Monkey]

6. I am content with my haleness.

Such as might even be called ruddiness.

It takes all kinds.

[SarahB]

13. Cool.

:thumbsup:

[Lorien]

7. we have the same coloration

same hair color (even hair style) too. I also used to get ribbed about my paleness (often called "the albino" in grade school). Now I just use self tanner if I want color, or dye my hair red if I don't want to discuss it. I've used sunscreen religiously since I was in my 20s, and I look much younger than my late 30s now. It DOES pay off in the long run!

[SarahB]

21. I've seen your picture!

You do look great. I aspire to Jen6 loveliness in the next few years. (I mean it too.) :D
I think it does payoff. I've been wearing it on my face for the past ten years and I don't see having aged all that much since then.

[Lorien]

38. Awww..Thanks SarahBelle!

:loveya:
And yes, I think we can do a lot to slow down the aging process.Some of it comes from genes (my mom didn't appear to age from 35 to 52. It was almost freaky! I don't seem to have her magic genetics though. I have to work at it!) Sunscreen-spf 15 minimum, is mandatory of course. Another great product is Cellex-C serum; it actually can reverse photo aging (unlike many products that claim to). My dermatologist swears by it, and I certainly saw big changes. The best price I could find was at www.skinstore.com, if you are interested.

[MrSlayer]

9. I've always been anti-sun.

I try to avoid it as much as possible. Laying around baking yourself is ridiculous and it's unhealthy for your skin.

[cally]

10. My sister had skin cancer at 30

we weren't sure she would live. Sun is not my friend. I do my best to put sunblock on and wear hats. I'm doing my best to make my kids do the same.

[SarahB]

20. My husband just had a spot frozen off his forehead a few months back.

Not the bad kind (melanoma) - just squamous cell carcinoma I believe, but he's pale and Irish and used to get himself 2nd degree burns at the beach every year in his 20's.

[Duncan Grant]

14. This is why you have 'pale' gay friends, SarahBelle...

http://www.baindesoleil.com/abcreme.asp

Consider it a "Will & Grace" kinda secret. ;)

[SarahB]

24. I done that before, but they never look right.

I think to achieve it so it looks good, you have to go to one of those salons that will spray it on for you, but that's big bucks over time. On second thought...could be fun. :7

[supernova]

16. I don't tan either

I haven't "laid out" for many years. And I do use sunblock when I go outside. I also avoid the heat of the day from about 11-3pm.

And I do look better than some others my age because of it.

There was the makeup thread this afternoon. And I have to say I'm a lot more interested in skin care than I ever was before.

[TheWizardOfMudd]

18. Those brown and black freckles and bumps aren't attractive

I love pale. Look at Geena Davis. Gorgeous!

[Amaya]

22. delete

double post.

[Amaya]

23. I'm pale as you know.

I know what you mean. I see some women(and men) walking around looking like leather belts. I for one am pale and I think it looks good.

[SarahB]

25. It does look good.

So do you. :hi:

Hey, do you think Matcom's gonna give directions for next week or what? I'm psyched.

[Amaya]

26. Thanks! And so do you!

I hope he gives us directions :) I'm really excited too! Can't wait for some grown up fun. You too?

[Lestat]

28. I've been pale for about 300 years.

You'll get used to it. :evilgrin:

[LastKnight]

29. seriously, get some sun...

not like its gonna kill ya.

-LK

[Red State Rebel]

30. I Glow In The Dark And I'm Proud!!

My mom always said "do these 3 things and you will never regret it..
Wear good bra's, moisturize, stay out of the sun!". She was right.

[guitar man]

31. porcelain

Yes, a porcelain complexion, that which I most often associate with goddesses. ;)

[BigMcLargehuge]

32. pale is beautiful

all pigments and shades are beautiful in their natural state... sit in the tanning booth until you resemble Im Ho Tep though... and the lustre fades pretty quick.

I am also somewhat sun sensitive, moreso than my brothers (they are more olive than I) but I try to avoid the sunscreen for the most part when I am doing yard work. Guess I'm a sucker for punishment...

Sarah, you're skin is like that of a porcelain doll :)

[flamingyouth]

33. I'm somewhat blindingly white

But that's what you get when you're born to Swedes, I guess. :D

[sundog]

34. I don't really burn -- just get darker... not fair skinned...

--

[LastKnight]

35. i like em pale...

girlfriend is pale, im pale... together we go places and people think we are angels, cause we reflect so much light we look heavanly...

but yea, aint nothin wrong with bein pale... if i see somone in the sun and im in the shade... i burn outta sympathy... ok, maybe im not that pale... but you get the idea.

-LK

[Lestat]

36. I love the redhead chicks...

because of their paleness (and that hot red hair, too. ;))

[LastKnight]

37. you know me too well. nt

[Pithlet]

39. I'm pale

Even my freckles are pale. You can barely see them. I agree with you on the aging thing and staying out of the sun. I'll be 32 in August, and nary a fine line on my face. Now, the gray hair is another matter :( Thank God for hair stylists.

[VOX]

40. I can get a sunburned face walking across a parking lot in December...

So we're talking pale here, too.

In my teens and 20s, I used to "live" at the beach. Then, I'd spend a lot of time at the desert, even in the summer.

It came as no surprise that I had skin cancer on my forehead at age 35. To date, I've had to have four skin cancers excised.

I don't go out in the sun unless I'm slathered with an SPF that's approaching four digits.

[justjones]

41. I don't get it.....

So many people I know are ashamed because of what they consider as their "pale" skin. I even know some women who won't wear skirts because they think their skin is too "pale," which always strikes me as odd because it isn't something that would ever enter my mind. They may be lacking in the melanin department, but IMO it looks just fine.

Maybe it's because my ancestors hail from the "dark continent," but I don't see what the big deal is....I never look at a fair-skinned person and think to myself they need sun. Their paleness is their paleness just as my brownness is my brownness.

However, there are plenty of white people who I see and think to myself they need to stop tanning. In fact, they'd do better staying out of the sun period. The sun isn't kind to tanners in the long run.

So, SarahBelle, you stay content with your paleness. I'd take pale over prematurely aging skin any day.

[huellewig]

42. I like pale,

I call it milky. It's much better then the 10 year old belt look.

To be honest I have only been with pale girls. And they have all had soft skin. And I like soft skin. Soft and smooth skin stuck to curves.

I always just assumed tan girls are like sandpaper. I don't touch sandpaper for fun so I never bothered with tan girls.

I could be wrong.

And either the built in spell check here sucks or I have gotten much better at typing / spelling. </off topic>