I need to do a little mentoring today. If you are younger than me, this post is for you. Let's talk about why I'm bringing pale back. Ladies, one day you will look in the mirror and notice that the landscape of your skin is different. Older. Drier. And what are those lines? There is no way to know when that day will come, but it will come. It could be sooner than later, especially if you fool around with your skin. When that moment comes you will kick your own butt for not taking better care of it. Unless you have tons of money to throw away at the dermatologist, once it's done, it's done.
The best way to preserve the beauty of your face for the future is to wear sunscreen now. And don't forget your neck. According to an Oprah show I once saw, we will all feel bad about our necks one day. But we don't want to be feeling bad before all of our friends are, right? It's a no-brainer to wear sunscreen when you're swimming. But don't forget to choose moisturizers and foundations with sunscreen in them. We expose our faces to the sun when we're simply driving our cars or shopping at an outdoor mall, neither of which are things I have ever thought to put on sunscreen for.
I was so bummed (horrified, really) last summer when post-pregnancy hormones caused my skin to tan in weird blotches on my face that took almost a year to fade. My doctor says my skin will probably act that way for the rest of my life. So my motivation to wear sunscreen is two-fold. I can already see areas on my face that are showing damage from all the years I tanned and didn't worry about it. Since I tanned easily and didn't burn much, I thought it was okay. Apparently it's not.
So if anyone wants to join me, I'm bringing pale back. Wait, was pale ever in?
Pale in Missouri thanks you for sweeping the nation with your cause! I support it! :)
ReplyDeleteI went into one of those swanky cosmetic stores last summer looking for some cream for the fine lines that are developing around my eyes. When I asked the woman at the counter about some good wrinkle cream for my eyes, she responded with this question, "Are you at all concerned about the deep lines on your forehead?" Oh, yes. She did. So since that moment I have been all about bringing pale back. I also decided that that wasn't the best sales pitch I have ever heard in my life so I left without buying a single thing. I'm thinking about your question about if pale has ever been in...Snow White was the palest of pale, and she ended up living happily ever after!
ReplyDeleteIn the days of the Bronte's and Jane Austin, pale meant royal, set apart (maybe even holy? well that's a stretch!).
ReplyDeleteBeing older, my tanning days have brought freckles and spots that will never go away. I wonder if one day, all those days of tanning without any SPF, Hawaiian Tropic, anyone? (just frying really) are going to cause our family distress. 'Hope not!
What a good word, but it's still really hard for me, because I love the sun! Here in Colorado we're almost a mile closer, too.
No matter what, Amanda, I think that you look bee-u-tiful!
Amanda! I don't know whether to laugh or cry! I will take heed to your mentoring as one a little younger than yourself (24).
ReplyDeleteI too am one who doesn't burn, and tans easily. I also have Cherokee Indian in me from my Mom's lineage. Add that in with the fact that 'home' (apart from college and pursuing my masters) is at St. Simons Island, GA, which makes me a professional beach bum whose epidermis transition during the warm weathers is a bit...well...uhmm....wanna bee Hawaiin tropic you could say!? lol.
I have actually been thinking about this recently as I have gotten older (or so I feel!), and even applied sunscreen to my cheeks yesterday. I trust to be delivered FROM my tanning oil TO Mr. Sunscreen. (insert big sigh of surrender!)
I'm cracking up, but I'm being serious. I'm going to have to tell you that Jesus used you to confirm the fact that I need to start giving my temple some help :) I had already planned on including some pictures in my blog later tonight for what 'not to look like' (in lieu of my falling asleep on the beach today - just call me lobster). Ladies! Learn from me! :) And thank you big sister in Christ! I think we could bring pale 'back in!'
way to go on this post...preach paleness! a combo of the hormones in my BC and the sun made me, too, get brown splotches on my face. my derm. prescribed tri-luma, which has faded them to near oblivion! i highly recommend it. don't forget the backs of your hands and your knees. i've heard they age like the neck! man, i don't want one of those turkey necks sooner than i have to.
ReplyDeleteLet's just bring wrinkles back and then it won't really matter....:)
ReplyDeleteOkay, I found it--t-shirts that say "Pale is the new tan." The only problem white t-shirts don't look good on us pale to bluish types...and I live in Texas! And I have Cherokee blood in me--but I guess more Irish...Skin is in, and good skin is better without the tan glow at 47, y'all. Here's the site:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cafepress.com/dipshirts/1194078
I know this was not specifically for me because I am MUCH older than you but I can remember my mother telling me to stay out of the sun and to always wear a hat. Of course as a teenager I did not listen. I do however now take every precaution to get as little sun as possible. As I have told my oldest grandaughter (14), going to the tanning beds is not any better. It is never too late to start taking care of your skin.
ReplyDeletePale was definitely in during the mid to late 1800s. Remember Ma Ingalls (in the books, not the show) always telling Laura to put on her sunbonnet or she'd be "brown as an Indian"? And as teenagers, Nellie was envied for her very white skin like "girls back East" would have. Yes, pale was in. :) As someone who rarely tans, but rather either freckles or burns, I'm all for bringing pale back in. (Sunblocks cause cancer too, so unless you just stay in the shade a lot, it's a lose-lose situation.) Maybe we all need bonnets and parasols again.
ReplyDeleteAs one who has always been the palest person in any crowd, I thank you for your public service announcement.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever tried a mystic tan? I used it to build up a nice tan a couple of years ago when I attended a summer wedding and for some unknown reason, chose to buy a linen skirt approximately the same shade of winter white as my leg.
But I really can't be bothered to commit to something like that, long term. So I'm glad to know you've declared pale to be perfect! I couldn't agree more!
I to am about 10 years older than you, but last year I said bye bye to tanning booths.. I know not good, but tan does make me look a lot better. But, I could not justify the risks to look a little darker.
ReplyDeleteI saw today on QVC that Mally cosmetics makes a great bronzer. I may go that route :)
I enjoy your blog. You are a blessing.
Pale is back in my book too.
Kim
Hey, I'm on the pale bandwagon with you guys - pass the sunscreen, please!
ReplyDeleteGirl, I've been bringing pale back all my life. Those of us who are tan-challenged don't really have a choice. But like you are saying, now that I'm getting older, I am thankful to have been so vigilant about sunscreen all my life. I hope my skin will thank me for it. Pale is the new tan, don't ya know.
ReplyDeleteI'll donate money to the cause!
ReplyDeleteChris from Canada
pale has always been in for me. i'm with you, sister.
ReplyDeleteMy generation did baby oil and iodine. Yes we did! Just slather it on and fry both sides--turn every fifteen minutes!
ReplyDeleteAmanda, you are precious--a skin mentor! You have chosen a good cause!
Pale and proud of it in Alabama.
ReplyDeleteI'm tan IN MY MIND. But seeing as how I have absolutely no melanin in my body, a golden glow has always eluded me.
So I'm all for making pale the new brown. SPF 45'ers unite! :-)
Thank you for bringing pale back. I've decided to bring pale back for my sister's wedding. I'm wearing a strapless dress with shoulders who really haven't seen the light of day since last June.
ReplyDeleteSPF rules!
i'm with ya, girl!!!!!!! preach on! ;)
ReplyDeleteSimilar to Teri's situation, my mom mentioned this weekend via phone that I needed to wear a hat more b/c I was getting wrinkles around my eyes...I am 27 and a relatively new mom, who moved out of state 5 weeks before the birth of her first grandchild...are my wrinkles really the best use of our time together?
ReplyDeleteYAY!! I was just about to feel rediculous because my brother's wedding is this weekend and I look like paste. But this post made so excited and proud to be a white chick!
ReplyDeleteRock on, girl...you're not that much older...but feel free to mentor us anytime ;)
I'd thank you to bring pale back.
ReplyDeleteMy pale freckled skin might be in style for once.
I NEVER tan -- just burn and turn back as pale as ever.
And with each of my children - I have 3 - I got 1 nice brown age spot on my face......so wonderful all that those hormones do to a girl!
As one who gets those unsightly blotchy spots in the perfect form of a mustache, I am with you. No tan is worth being mistaken for a teenage boy with a sad mustache at the pool.
ReplyDeletePlease of please bring it back! Otherwise I'll be forced to go "goth" just because my skin is best suited for that look! :-)
ReplyDeletePale was in at the same time big rear-ends (bustles, anyone?) and small boobs were in... My body is an anachronism!
ReplyDeleteOh, what a convicting word you speak!! I too am a lover of sun. And, not gonna lie, I love to be tan!!
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard for us girls who don't burn and tan quicker, we really think we're doing our body (and image!) good! How wrong we are!
I've been good though, my dermatologist is making me! (I just keep thinking about Anne Hathaway(sp?) and her beautiful pale skin and how absolutely gorgeous it is!!!)
I agree with Abby, feel free to mentor us anytime! :)
I am all for bringing pale back with a little self tanner. They really aren't that bad if you don't overuse them. I just need a hint of color. Neutrogena makes a face lotion called Healthy Defense with SPF 30 and a sheer hint of color. I love that stuff especially when I am feeling really pale. Amanda I just found your blog a couple of days. I love it. You girls are inspiring me to create a blog:)
ReplyDeleteI'm with you! And my prayer for my 18-mo-old daughter is that she'll grow up to love her porcelain skin and relish being different from the KFC-colored masses.
ReplyDeleteI have you to know that just last night, before reading this post, Peyton had me scratching her back and boo-hind cause she was itching from the tanning bed!!! She has her eighth-grade dance on Friday and is wearing the cutest strapless dress...except for the unsightly bathing suit lines that were shining like bike reflectors!!!!
ReplyDeleteThankfully the lines are just about filled in...and we shall nix the tanning bed right after. Girl I used to tan like an addict, and I have lines around my eyes to prove it!!
Loves you ♥
Yay For Pale!!!
This redheaded freckle-faced sister in Christ says, "AMEN!!" I use the fake tanners, but now that I have 3 kids under the age of 10 with one more on the way, I'm always WAY too exhausted in the evenings to apply the bronzing lotion properly. So each morning I wake up with interesting golden designs all over my body.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm still convinced that it's better than being the only pale chick in Texas.
The insanity MUST stop!
I had forgotton about the iodine in the baby oil..BUT that was the only way to go way back then....I am now paying for such silliness but being the palest of the pale i was willing to do anything to get a tan....In my extended family are muslim women who have been moderately covered (just a fashionable scarf and long dress) most of their life and have amazingly youthful skin (and beautiful HAIR, too) without the help of any cosmetics growing up!!!! I hope many willl join your cause!!!!
ReplyDeleteAll I could think of was your mom demonstrating the Mystic tan and then talking about getting in the pool with you and it all floating away in a stream of orange! Talk about ROFL! But, anyway, pale is a great idea. My sunning consists of taking my shoes off at baseball games so I don't have lines. Once I get a sock line, that's it. But we are getting a pool this year, so I'll will have to work hard to resist the tan temptation.
ReplyDeleteAmen girl!
ReplyDeleteI am turning 40 next month but people are always shocked to hear that I have a 19 year old because they think I'm younger. And I want to keep it that way!
I wish I would have been as smart as you at your age, but better late than never!
How about Nicole Kidman? Has anyone ever criticized her for not tanning? I'm using a moisturizer with a little self-tanner in it, so I'm not orange. I just don't want to look ghostly white for a wedding this weekend in my pretty new backless dress!
ReplyDeleteI've never had a tan in my life. Not once. A darker shade of white, but never tanned. My mom would say to me: "Today's bathing beauties are tomorrows wrinkled prunes." That word picture has always been enough for me. You have another supporter here in Vermont.
ReplyDeletePerhaps next you could start support for the non-shaving, all matters of body hair sporting trends that seem to be all the rage, here in the "green" state! :) (Bleh, it's just gross!)
-Andrea
I have had 13 skin lesions removed from being a red head in S. America. Girls, wear the sun screen! The last one required plastic surgery on my nose. Not fun and very visible.
ReplyDeleteAs a fair skinned redhead...pale has always been in for me and I wear it proudly. I must say now at 38, I no longer am upset about all those summers as a teenager that my friends all had tans and I didn’t because they all have lines and I have very few. But believe me as a teenager I never dreamed I would one day feel this way. (lol)
ReplyDeleteI'll have to really pray about that.
ReplyDeleteLOL
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI had the same blotchiness start on my face while I was pregnant. I am just a few years older than you and I am starting to see a few wrinkles (ok many wrinnkles on my forehead and around my eyes). I am so much more conscious about my skin now and wish I had the wisdom years ago to stay covered up. I now go to the pool with my 2 little guys wearing a hat, sunscreen and glasses. Thank you for the wise words.
God bless your sweet self!!! :)
I am a pale white girl married to a Chinese man (my first time posting here). Chinese people actually highly value pale skin - they carry around umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun rays. I know quite a few older chinese ladies who look a decade younger than you'd expect - undoubtedly because of their hyper-attention to pale skin.
ReplyDeleteAMEN! Count me in...I'm leaving for the beach on Saturday and I'm packing lots o' SPF 45! I jumped on the SPF bandwagon a year or two ago...really, my old college roomate and I wear our sunglasses all the time in our cars...even if it's cloudy. Those little crow's feet sneak up from squinting too much! I'll do my part to keep them at bay, thank you.
ReplyDeleteI've found spray tans (from tanning salons) to be super great! I am a 28 yr old stay at home mom of a 2yr. old boy, so there no time for tanning. (Plus, I quit tanning a few years ago when I noticed many of my friends' skin turning to shoe leather as a direct result of tanning beds) Anyway, another GREAT product I just found THIS WEEK is Aveeno Continual Radiance self-tanner. It has a dial that allows you to select how dark you wish to be...so far, it's WONDERFUL...very natural looking...OH, and SO MOISTURIZING...which is a big YIPPEE for me, b/c my skin gets drier and drier every year! I can so scratch my name on my legs if I don't slather the lotion ALL OVER them. L'oreal sublime leaves a good color, but lacks some major moisturization.
Oh, if pale would just be "in" we wouldn't have to spend so much time testing all these products!
Fully supporting the whole pale movement.
Sarah, TN
I am with you! I used to tan ALL the time. I spent a fortune on tanning bed visits. Now, I have gotten really scared about skin cancer. Last Summer I just decided to go white as snow. I have decided it is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteahh yes...the tan. I'm getting there are just saying no. The problem is, we our out in the sun NONSTOP in the summer. I do apply sunscreen (I promise) and usually 45+, but I still tan.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I'm big on exfoliating and doing the microdermabrasion (sp?) so maybe that will help!
Good luck and keep up the paleness!
Oh...one more thing. I attended a Mary Kay party Monday night so I feel like I'm a skin expert now. The neck AND hands show the most age. So try and apply spf moisturizer to your hands throughout the day!!!
Have you EVER gotten some comments on this one??!! 43 as of now!! So fun to see what everyone takes a liken' to, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteHey, we've got an anniversary coming up! Me 15, you 5? Right?Wow, time flies!!
Love you Manda ♥
tammie
Last year we went to a tanning salon and we thought, hey, a spray tan, that should be safe and fun and we will look good. Wrong! I laughed my head off because, A. We got a spray tan a few hours before we were going to the beach(bad idea), I guess we went to the wrong place, it didn't smell pretty and hours later we were more of an orange color than tan. I decided right then, that pale was fine!
ReplyDeleteOn a serious note, I am glad you posted on this, I used to go to the tanning bed and when I went thru cancer and the surgeries that followed I often thought, was it the tanning that caused this? The doctor said it was just bad luck. I tell anyone who will listen, it's not worth it.
I love your blog! Have a great weekend!
Love,
Patty
i have rarely had time in the sun for YEARS until last summer and the summer before - now that the kids are all over the pool...
ReplyDeleteand I am paying for it now - the past 2 summers made up for all of my good girl years -- wrinkles sprouted all around my eyes and on my forehead.
This summer I am all over the highest SPF possible.
Blessings,
Karla
Bring it baby! My husband calls me "Mayonnaise". I am white as white can get. And I burn...I don't tan. I've been burned badly to blisters twice in my life. I grew up in the Philippines right on the equator. And I DO NOT go to the tanning beds. NO WAY! I'm scared of skin cancer. So bring pale back!
ReplyDelete