The Western world in general seems to love a tan. You see all sorts of brands such as bali body popping selling oils to increase tanning in the sun. Bali Body in particular has an Instagram page featuring many pretty girls that eat well and work out, who many people should aspire to be like.
However, that tan line! Who could some one want this? Sure, the colour really suits her, especially in that bikini, and tans do show case muscle more, but, this is crazy. Don't these beautiful girls realise that exposing themselves to the sun with this kind of intensity is going to destroy their skin completely?
You may not believe me, but let me explain what you see around Europe. In the south, in Italy, where my grandmother is from, the older women tend to look older than they actually are. You see it all the time in sunny countries. My Italian Granny is almost 70, and her skin is terrible, she would always wear SPF 30 suncream on her body everyday of summer, and her skin on her whole body is leathery wrinkled and covered in freckles. It looks like the photo below but more loose.
Sad isn't it? Her husband on the other hand, is English, and despite being older than her, he looks far younger. Even though England is a western country, famous for sunburn, the rain and the clouds have saved the country from skin cancer and damage. His is wrinkled (duh) but not leathery and spotty like this!
Compare this again to my Mother's side of the family. My Russian/Chinese side, where it is crucial to them to stay out of the sun. Have you never wondered why Chinese, Japanese and Russian women look so young for their age? They seldom go out in the sun, and wear SPF 50 suncream every single day. That is the only way to save your skin elasticity and age elegantly. If you want to go the extra mile, you should also wear sunglasses, every bright day, because it protects the delicate skin around the eyes from the sun, and also stops you from squinting, which causes wrinkles too.
Do either of them have leathery, damaged skin? No! Don't say that you like wrinkles, because I'll think you're the strangest person ever, if people liked wrinkles, there would not be a million anti ageing skincare products out there. One if the biggest desires in society is to be young forever.
If you're one of those annoying racists that won't take is unless it's from a caucasian person then let Miranda Kerr tell you.
Miranda is gorgeous, started her own non-comedogenic skincare brand and is now married to a billionaire. Well done girl. Do you also notice how she looks 25 when she's actually 35? Yeah she does not tan. She used to when she was in her early twenties, but after that she has only ever used self-tanners. Her favourite place is Japan so I'm pretty sure she learnt some of her skin secrets from Asian women. Just stare at her a bit longer, she's stunning. She wears SPF 50 every single day.
Don't even talk to me about tanning beds, I can't even.
Please... don't do it, you'll destroy your skin with ultra-violet light and you suffer from a high risk of skin cancer too.
And sunburn, holy sh*t, don't laugh when you get sunburnt, it's not funny, even though the upper epidermis of your skin cells renews itself. Getting sunburnt, just once every two years, will triple your risk of skin cancer. Why can't people grasp that something that changes the colour of your skin cannot be good for you. Take a minute to think about how dramatic a tan is, it is frying your skin to a darker colour. Does that not scare you?
That's not saying you can't tan at all. In London at Daniel Hershesons' hair salons they also do James Read tans. If you don't know who James Read is, he is like the God of all tans. He goes round all the model's houses and matches their skin colour to a tan colour, and then paints it on. They don't cost much either. Why not just get a professional tan instead of destroying your skin permanently?
And at home tans cost like £20. Seriously.
But be careful with the self-tanner... cue nervous laugh.
And yes, you can still tan under the sun.
If you do this once a year, it's not going to destroy your skin, it's okay, you can do it. But. But, your skin will never be like Miranda Kerr's or Jamie Chua's. And, oh for the love of god wear suncream. Please. Don't be that person who says 'I'm going to use factor 15 because I want to tan' either. Don't do that.
So girls and guys, if you read all that I'm impressed. Wear suncream and shades. Don't use tanning oils. Never let yourself get fried.
May you all age like Miranda Kerr and George Clooney. <3
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