Beauty

[Shanus]

A very long time ago, being pale was a sign of wealth. It was assumed you had people working outside for you. Then it switched to being tan meant you could afford a tropical vacation and therefore wealthy. Now most people equate not being tan with just plain old fashioned common sense. 

[Kardi]

It seems suntanning really got popular back in the ‘60s when I grew up.  We all listened to The Beach Boys and longed to look like surfer girls.  That’s when the first self-tanners came out.  Years before that a suntan was not a desirable look.  Pale skin meant you were a member of the wealthy class.  A tan meant you had to work at manual labor outside.  No matter how hard I tried, I didn’t ever get brown, so gave up.  So glad I did.  Some friends look much older for having cooked themselves.

[SilleeMee]

In the Far East pale skin is considered a thing of beauty and for many Asians having white skin is an obsession.

[Shanus]

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@SilleeMee wrote:

In the Far East pale skin is considered a thing of beauty and for many Asians having white skin is an obsession.

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@SilleeMee  The Geishas?

[Scorpio1971]

I know someone who has sat in sun for 50 years using baby oil & a foil reflector!  She has been told by dermatologist to not sit in sun at all because of skin cancer she had removed.  She disputes information and is in sun at every opportunity at her pool, others pools or lakes, or goes to beach, but now uses sunscreen believing that will help.  Unfortunately sun screen is only partially helpful if used from a young age and she is still adding to the damage inflicted for 50 years. She is constantly RED and it is so unbecoming.  Looks like a wrinkled prune all over, face, neck, chest, arm, thighs, legs, but feels she does not look good unless she is "tanned" but her version of tan is "red".  I think this must be a self-image body issue, similar to others that unfortunately have body image issues with their weight (anorexia, bulimia) and those with their looks that want plastic surgery.  Just hope she is not diagnosed with more serious skin cancer.

[2blonde]

I used to spend hours at the beach (Lake Erie) when I was young.  That was when a tan was "in" and you never thought you'd be old enough to see the long term negative results.

I gradually lost interest in tanning and my trips to the condo pool usually meant a couple dips and maybe a half hour of enjoying the sun, then going back home.

This summer we had a brand new pool, but I only visited twice!  I'm a jogger, and I still get tan from doing that, but I have some pretty weird tan lines (looking in the mirror after a shower it looks like I'm still wearing my jogging clothes).  I'm just lazy about putting sunscreen all over, and  I can't even reach my back anymore.  I am diligent about protecting my face, though.  I have to use darker makeup or my face doesn't look like it belongs to my body.

At nearly 70. I can say without reservation that the sun does age your skin.  My skin was always very thin and transparent, but now it's like tissue paper.  If I could put on some weight, it might fill out a little I suppose.

[SilleeMee]

Geisha makeup is really an artform to be learned. It takes a bit of training to get it right. The skin underneath the makeup has to be smooth. Before it was known about the dangers of lead, many Geisha and Kabuki performers got ill and some died of lead poisoning found in the white face makeup. Today not so much. @Shanus

[Shanus]

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@SilleeMee wrote:

Geisha makeup is really an artform to be learned. It takes a bit of training to get it right. The skin underneath the makeup has to be smooth. Before it was known about the dangers of lead, many Geisha and Kabuki performers got ill and some died of lead poisoning found in the white face makeup. Today not so much. @Shanus

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@SilleeMee  Wow. Didn’t know that about their makeup. Good info. Glad no longer dangerous.

[haddon9]

It's funny what one will notice.  I'm a medium olive tone and can tan very easily.  However when I go to the beach I always sit under an umbrella.  Over the summer I will tan a little but to me it's really not much to think about or notice with other people.  Maybe if I were very fair I would tend to notice it more. 

However I hate my legs and knees in particular and always notice women who have great legs with envy!

[SilleeMee]

@Shanus,

Another trivial thing about the old-day Geishas...many of them were bald on the top of their heads from wearing their hair pulled up into a very tight ponytail and then having wear the heavy ornaments in the hair made it pull even more. Eventually many resorted to wearing wigs because of their balding.