Hi
I don't tan. Here's my life story. So let's just jump... right...
I get tan very easily, it's really easy for me to get tanned
Basically, if I go outside and it's sunny and it's summer, I will get brown/
yellow/ green sometimes
Immediately I get this kind of Olive tan and the more I'm in the sun the darker it is
obviously. So that's one thing.
So when I was a kid, I was obviously spending a lot of time in the sun so from late spring
Til the end of the summer. I was really I was super tan
I didn't really mind it because I was a kid like I didn't care about my appearance at all
So I was just like well, it's funny. It happens
and you know when you go in the sun does what it does to you. When I
Started to get a little bit older
I noticed that I actually don't like the way I look when I'm tan and it's not like I don't like people
Being tan because it's just a personal preference
It's just about what I don't like about my appearance, but I've noticed that when I get tan
There is just something about the shade of my skin combined with my hair
With my facial features that it all just kind of blends into this one spot of colour
I don't know why but I've noticed that when I'm really tan like in the summer
My facial features would blend and like my eyebrows would kind of disappear
My eyes would get smaller, my nose would get a little somewhere
And again, it is a personal preference, but I was kind of like well, I don't really like it, but you know it happens
It's sunny I get tan
but I didn't really get why my friends would do it on purpose and they would get really
Excited over how tan they were and they would come back from like their vacation and then would go like "look at me
I'm so tan" and I'm like, you look pretty much the same to me
your skin is just like a tone darker and my pale friends would be really
Embarrassed for being pale and they would just be like, "oh, I really need to get tan soon because this is ridiculous
Like I look like a zombie"
I was just really confused about why were people so obsessed about being tan? Like as soon as the first
Spring /summer sun broken. They would just go like, oh, let's go tan! In my case
It just happened because I was very active in the summer
and because I didn't really use any filter cream because I was too lazy or I forgot but I felt this kind of like
Pressure from my peers, even though I didn't like it, it didn't appeal to me
But I did feel like a lot of my peers were kind of like pressured into getting it
So let's jump to a short history of tan, courtesy of me. So it's funny because throughout the history
being pale was sort of like a status symbol and it basically happened because
Rich wealthy people wouldn't have to work outside
They could just stay at home the whole damn day
And even if they had to go outside, they would just be carried around in carriages or whatever
They just could afford to be pale whereas working-class people
They didn't care like they had some more important matters on their, on their
minds so they would just work their asses off in the sunshine and that is why their skin would usually be tan. So for centuries
There was a distinction
nobility and
Gentry would usually try to be as pale as possible
obviously there were a tonne of like
Naturally tan people, but the goal was not to get those skins any darker
So there was this fine distinction, quite racist actually, between pale as in
noble, and tan as in poor and then that, that began to change around
early 20th century when doctors started noticing
that sun actually has beneficial effects on people's health and they were like well
Maybe you actually need to go outside from time to time. And also as women
Began to be more involved in sports and more active at the end of the 19th century
obviously an
Attitude changed a bit. You still try to cover as much of your skin as possible to avoid the sunlight
But you also kept in mind that you might get tan, like it happens. Also a lot of people
Started going to the beach and in the early 20th century it sort of went from being a very strict
Environment where you had sort of like a bathing machine where you change and went inside the sea, and went inside a bathing machine.
In the early 20th century,
It sort of went into this whole beach culture. So you would no longer be
Constricted to this bathing machine environment, but you would spend more time on the beach. Basically
a lot of people just had fun in the sun. So around 1920s, which is after World War One
It was already so popular that it started to be a thing and all of a sudden being pale, though
it was not looked down upon, was not the only option. Like you could get tan and that suggested that you're really sporty,
you're really active, you're a sort of independent woman which, which suddenly
Was also a thing and all of a sudden people wanted to get tan because it meant that they were healthy
And outgoing and really active, and this is sort of the way it has stayed throughout the years, fast forward to nowaday's
Obsession with getting tan which sort of went from one extreme to the other. It went from going
Oh, I can't expose my hands to the sun or else I would be considered working class, to
If I don't get tan, I would be so pale that people would stare at me or think I'm sick
Which is also not the best option I think.
I think we should accept that some people get tans and people are tan naturally
but some people are really pale they get red as soon as they reach the
sunlight and they would never get a tan like a proper tan
I'm not one of those people
but I know a lot of people struggle, who struggle with that and
Are really frustrated because they go out in the sun and are like 'oh, all I get this is weird redness,
like I'll never get a tan!' So what? You'll never get a tan, but you have the beautiful pale skin like no one cares
It's not the reason why I don't tan though, but it's just something that made me think. Why are we so obsessed with it?
Especially that, not so long ago, it was exactly the opposite
So again, the reason I don't tan is because I don't like the way I look when I'm tanned
I've always liked myself more in winter. I'm a winter person like, I love wintertime. I love snow
I love autumn
I'm okay with spring. Summer is my least favourite time of the year, honestly
So why would I want to tan in summer and then have the consequences of that in the autumn?
Which is my favorite time of the year. I don't I don't think I like the sun that much. I don't like feeling hot
I don't like lying on the beach for a sole purpose of getting a tan. Like I get bored.
Around 2015 when I was, when I was more into a retro style
I think someone I followed on Instagram mentioned the 50 SPF filter and I was like
Oh
so those exists and I
honestly before that I kind of assumed there is no way of not getting a tan if you're really, if your skin is sort of
like 'tan prone'
But then I discovered now, there is actually a filter that blocks out the sunlight and maybe it's not the super healthy option
to just block out the sunlight the whole time but... it is an option so I bought it and I was like
Well, I'll try it and it turned out? Yeah, that's what I was looking for my entire life
Like I just don't want to get a tan and that's it. I'm not super obsessed about it
If I forget applying my sunscreen before I leave my house
I'll just leave my house cause I'm lazy. If I can go in the shadow instead of in direct sunlight
I'll go in the shadow, but that's more because I'll just be a little bit cooler
So I usually start using it around springtime
When it gets really sunny and then I use it throughout the summer if I remember to use it. I use it when I'm on
holidays because that's where I usually do a lot of sightseeing and you know beach time
So just so I don't get sunburned
It's probably for the better if I use it anyway
And usually my friends or people I meet they don't even notice that I don't tan because I'm naturally like my skin naturally
it's not super pale
So it's not like I'm super pale and you know, you notice that. No,
I'm just not tan. And it's fine because even though people don't notice that I don't tan, they assume I don't tan because I wear
vintage clothes, which is actually funny because in 1940's tanning was a thing, was a huge thing
It's not like they all wanted to be pale anyway, and sometimes people assume that it's not like I don't like getting a tan
It's like I'm obsessed with being pale, which I think are two different things. It's about maintaining
What skin I naturally have versus trying to get it pale
Like I don't use anything to make my skin whiter than it is
The thing is, like, I don't care what- whatever skin tone or skin colour anyone has. It's, it's honestly about my own preferences
When it comes to my own skin and it probably sounds kind of shallow to be
Bothered by something as simple as that
But I think we all have our own like quirks and things we don't like about ourselves
That we like to change in order to make us ourselves
Feel better because it's not really about looking better. Simple as that, if you like to tan, I'm completely fine with that.
Though I'd be happier knowing that you do it because you like being tanned. It's one of those social
Expectations that no one is really complaining about because everyone seems to agree on it, but I think it's I think it needs more conversation.
That's it. Go enjoy your holiday and get a tan or don't. I don't care.