I burn and peel. I freckle a bit because of genes (father is the most freckled man I have ever met) but I also burn and peel.
The trouble I have is that I walk two miles to metro every day for school, so I either wear sunblock or don’t. Fortunately most days the only things exposed are my hands, neck and face, though sometimes my forearms are as well.
Any of you remember the leathery woman in “Something About Mary?” Damn that was nasty. Just point anyone who’s going to spout the benefits of slowly killing your skin to that scene/woman. UGH!
You “white people” are just mad because you don’t have rythm.
Seriuosly though… My sister has always been a Sun-Worshipper too and she is now 42 with skin that looks well into the 60’s. Yet she still does it. I on the other hand burn very easily, plus it’s so fucking hot that I can’t imagine why you would want to lie in it just to look darker?
Perhaps more whites should have children with people of African descent so their children will be bronzed and not have to sun worship.
My paternal grandmother, who is 100% Swedish, goes on vacation every winter. Usually Arizona, California, or Texas when she stays in the US. She is really, really tan. She looks good for her age, I’m assuming. I have no idea how old she is. She does have liver spots though.
Another thing I don’t like about tanning is the lines. I’m with iampunha in that my skin is almost never showing when I’m outside. I always wear pants and sometimes (more often now than a few years ago) I wear short sleeves. So I have a “farmer tan”. My forearms and hands have more color than my upper arms and the rest of my body. So I guess I would tan, in the event that I had to wear a sleeveless garment, I wouldn’t want to look silly. That won’t ever happen though. Sleeves are always an option.
I am also pigmentally challenged and well on my way to being folicularly challenged… I am really going to have to start wearing a hat whenever I go out.
Lola on the other hand is dark like chocolate milk and might I add, just as sweet.
Neither one of us goes out tanning, for her it would be redundant and for me it would be just stupidity. I actually had one friend of mine suggest that I put some baby oil on to tan better. It would have been more like deep frying.
Our kids are somewhere in-between and they all have no problem getting a tan even when they are covered in sunscreen. How’s that for improving our gene pool?
We try to tell them that even though they can go out and tan they should still use sunscreen as all this sun will catch up with them later.
I’ve been spending a lot of time in my pool this year- I use SPF15 sunblock, but I still tan. I don’t burn, I use sunblock (45 on my face), and I still tan. I personally don’t see a problem with this and neither does my dermatologist. Unfortunately, I’m subjected to lectures from untanned people about skin cancer. Excuse me for having slightly darker skin- I’ll just sit inside all summer long and look at the pool from in there! It’s not like I’m slathering on baby oil and baking all day. Anyway, I just wanted to point out that you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. For what it’s worth, I never comment on other peoples tan/lack of tan. Who the hell really cares??
I’m with Zette…I tan no matter what sunscreen I put on. And I have a question…what do y’all think of self-tanner? I use it a LOT now that I work…I don’t get to go out as much. It’s not like I’m actually going and getting burned, but I’m still tan. Opinions?
My boys are outside all the time with the day camp, in the pool there,etc.
I am very fair, and burn easily, so I use sunscreen, and stay in the shade as much as possible. I use waterproof SPF 30 on the boys, and they are golden brown!!
My older one is really getting brown, he has a tan line on his eyelid! The younger one (because of a burn scar) has to keep a t-shirt on at all times, even while he swims, so his torso is white, but his face and arms are tanned. And the younger one never goes out without his ‘gilligan’ style brimmed hat. The older one wears a ball cap when he thinks of it.
My actual question is: is it harmful for them to be tanned if they are using sunscreen? Should I do anything else?
I don’t think an “unintentional” tan is bad, but still, you should still keep slathering on the sunscreen, reapplying every so often, stay in the shade when you get out of the pool, having a hat, etc…
I mean, you don’t have to hide inside your house like a vampire, but going out in the sun to bake yourself isn’t exactly healthy.
I always get SOME color, even with tons of sunscreen, so it’s okay…just don’t overdo it.
Zette: I don’t have a problem with tan people. I have a problem with tan people hovering over me trying to convince me that I need “some sun”. No thanks.
Falcon: Self-tanners (as in lotions, foams, gels, whatever) are fine with me. Like I said, I don’t have a problem with tan people no matter how they get that way. Although I have to laugh when people use too much.
I’m with Silver on this. If you can use the fake tan, more power to ya! It made me look a bit funny, my husband laughed for a few days, so I gave up on it.
I grew up in Southern California, where the tan is an art form. I think a tan looks great on a lot of people, I just choose not to partake of sun worship anymore myself. My friend’s dad recently passed away due to skin cancer, it was amazing how fast it spread once it developed.
All of my friends tease me for how pale I am also. Even when I do tan, it’s still such a light tan that no one notices. I don’t even burn anymore, except for my nose and forehead which makes me look sort of strange and perpetually angry-looking. I don’t wear sunscreen anymore which I guess is a mistake, but I don’t go out much anyway, and when I do it’s usually evening.
I go on mission trips at least once every couple of years. What I hate is when people say things like, “Are you sure you went to Mexico, Welfy? It doesn’t show.” or “Did you ever go outside in Costa Rica?” GAAAH!! I don’t go on mission trips to sunbathe! Good grief! Besides, Mexico in November is pretty chilly and people tend to wear long sleeves then. And I went to Costa Rica during its rainy season. I was out the entire day, but 80% of the time it rained. No tan there either.
And I can’t wait for the day that I go to my 20th high school reunion and all the girls that went to those tanning beds for Prom and sunbathed for hours a day to acheive that “perfect tan” to match their dresses all end up looking like leathery lizards, and I’ll be sitting there all creamy-skinned and beautiful. Haha, I can only wish.
My, my, and your first post is in the pit too! Brave soul, you are. Please make yourself comfortable, have a look around, grab something to drink.
Up in the right corner of this screen is a little search button. You might use that to look up some of the more commonly used expressions around here in the pit - such as “squick”, “felch”, and “queef”.
Or if you have any questions on the use of such words, see Coldfire, our resident expert on such matters. Just call him clogboy, he loves it.
