Is a tan more attractive than being pale?

Question

I'm Finnish so I'm naturally pale as a ghost. I just realized that the summer is almost over and I don't even have a trace of a tan. Not that I ever get super tanned. I usually end up looking like a lobster.

I personally find (naturally) tanned people more attractive than pale people because in my eyes it makes them look more healthy. Don't get me wrong, I don't think orange is a good color for anyone and I realize that the UV radiation isn't healthy. I do fancy the sun-kissed look, though.

So, tanned, pale or something in between? Which one do you prefer?

curiousnorway · Accepted Answer

I thinks it depends on the individual on which skin color looks good. But I've a preference for tanned and brown people, and especially when it's natural. I've been into the South-European, Asian, Middle-eastern and South-American look for a very long time. Some people suits being light skinned and light skin looks can look good on some people. But I'm not into the K-pop look and it's just my taste.

Tan/brown people is rarer where I lives, so maybe that influence my taste in addition to the media and fashion. Tanned skin do cover skin imperfection and makes the best features more visible.

I thinks tan/brown like this is nice looking and in dating that skin tone is my preference in addition to black hair and brown eyes.
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I thinks some types of light skin looks good. Light skin on Spanish looking people can look good like how tan can look good. Blonde hair, blue eyes and light skin is a more average or standard thing I sees on 89% of the population here in the north.
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She's more of a standard. I sees people like this everyday.
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looneymalooney · Accepted Answer

I was always getting sunburned in the summer up to a few years ago, since I was spending a lot of time at the seaside and also in the mountains and believe it or not, sun was harsh there in the summer.
When we were kids it was very usual and nobody cared about the tan. Some were getting really black in a natural way.

Now not that much, just a bit darker on my arms and forearms. But did not get to properly take my shirt off.

But I noticed that now at this age, people that I stumble upon, do not necessarily care much about the tan either, but you can tell by their reaction that they simply asses whether you were on holiday or not.
And I also believe that they rate your holiday and how "Successful" it was based on the tan you got.
So for some it simply became a status symbol. "look at how tanned I am, it means I was on holiday in a sunny place, I can afford that"

sjoes006 · Accepted Answer

Honestly for me it's hard and what I prefer matters most. Lots of guys like my fair skin but don't object in the summer when I manage some color and a sunkissed face and hair that can make me look a evade younger if I'm in shape.

I don't wear foundation or really much powdered make up. I wear expensive moisturizer, toner and basically face care that makes stupid other unhealthy face makeup obsolete.

As far as my body o recently did an airbrush tan that was expensive but lasted two weeks and looked natural even in pasty skin in the sun.

estoydorado1 · Accepted Answer

Naturally tan. I like that glowy-bronzy look, not that orange film people get covered in w/ false tans. Some really pale people (like almost completely transparent skin) look like their skin is made outta tissue paper which isn't my thing. It depends on the person and the undertones too. Really pale people with really cool undertones look like ghosts to me (not my thing) but some pale people with warm or olive undertones can look really lively. It depends.

ElissaDido · Accepted Answer

Hmmm... I like something in between. I think that beauty srsly comes in all colors, but my preference goes for a soft natural tan (not too tan) for both genders. But I also like pale without redness.

LittleSally · Accepted Answer

I voted 'tanned', because in my country, as almost all western ones, tanned is considered more attractive...
Although I'm also very pale, I don't feel obliged to force myself to get a fake tan... I say fake tan because I can only burn in the sun... never tan...

MikkiM · Answer

You're lucky you have a white skin

In our country, philippines, people drink, inject glutathione to have a white skin,

And me, i have to use whitening soap for a month to make my skin white again

I have white skin previously, but due to summer swimming it didn't get back easily

there's nothing wrong with being white

And there's nothing wrong with being tanned too

Its just in the way you carry yourself
Im comfortable with tan skin, but i wished i have whiter skin at least

Well whats matter is that i can still smile widely and happy whatever i look

HaveAcookie · Answer

I think a natural tan is way better than a fake tan. Natural tan is better than no tan. If you naturally look as white as a vampire it would look better than a fake tan in my opinion. Also sun burnt is not attractive. If you burn easily it doesn't mean you can't tan. Put on tanning sunscreen then try going into a tanning booth for like 1 min a day. Then after two weeks go for a minute and a half, and progress like that. Don't get really dark fake tans like the celebrities do. Also tans don't look good if you don't take care of your skin. Hydrated healthy pale skin looks better than damaged tan skin. The main point is keep your skin looking young and healthy before worrying about tanning.

User513 · Answer

Tanned skin is not healthy. Naturally brown/black skin is healthiest and better equipped than pale skin to handle elements. I think this is part of the reason white people age quicker/do not age as well as black/brown people. To protect your pretty skin wear sunscreen and do not force a tan.

What looks better is personal preference. I prefer a natural brown/tan tone like Halle Berry and Tobias (super model) to pale skin, because of the rich glow and how lively the person looks. However pale skin is beautiful too. We all have to learn to work with what we got.

AdamThomas · Answer

No, there's nothing wrong with looking pale and I find this obsession with tanning strange. My girlfriend is a very pale redheaded Irish girl, and she used to annoy me with her obsession with it. I even think a tan looks strange sometimes especially on a blonde girl, you're supposed to be pale, you're from up North. It's like encouraging a black African to be more white, why would they want to be?

dipta · Answer

In Europe, tanned is definitely considered more attractive, but here in Japan where people are more concerned with preventing wrinkles and sun spots white is - particularly females.
Of course in both cases there will be people who don't fit the stereotype and like just the opposite.

mermaidrocketship · Answer

I always ask my white friends what their fascination with tanning is. Some of them say if they get a tan at the beginning of the summer, they won't burn throughout the rest of it. Others have said being pale makes them look sickly. But I don't get it. If you're white, you're white. That's who you are. I don't understand that like I don't understand black people (like Sammy Sosa) who lighten their skin. People of all colors are attractive.

ManOnFire · Answer

I like in between. For me as a black person when I look at white women who are all tanned it sometimes looks kinda funny. When I was younger I thought pale skin was gross but now in my prime it can actually be very sexy on some women, especially redheads.

EpicDweeb · Answer

I find the tanned look to be very attractive. I often think people look better tanned than pale, however I have met/seen some people who I thought looked very beautiful/attractive due to how pale they were. So largely it depends on the person. And, to be honest, many people look really weird in a tan as well. I realize that wasn't a very definitive answer so I must apologize for that.

LeeA516 · Answer

It depends on the guy. I have strawberry blonde hair and a fair complexion. A lot of guys like that about me. I am sure there are some who don't. I used to tan all the time and now I regret it because the sun ages you so quick. I think you should do what makes you feel the most attractive and the right guy will be attracted to that. If you do like being tan I recommend spray tans and not the tanning bed or too much time in the sun.

BeerFarts · Answer

I prefer people with their natural skin color. Personally, I prefer a pale girl over a sunbaked tan. A little tan is good but some girls take it way too far. I see so many pictures of girls on social media that overdid it and I just think to myself that they would look so much better in their natural skin color. I guess for some people. the grass is always greener on the other side.

Cricket74 · Answer

I find milky skinned so hot! But I wouldn't turn down a healthy sun kissed glow either.
A healthy dose of UV is needed to develop vitamin D. In Russia the sit around UV lights in the winter when the sun doesn't shine enough. Caucasians are white because as we moved further north our skin lightened to allow more absorbtion of UV light. Conversely Africans are dark skinned to lessen UV absorption.
(Sorry, ranted a bit)

nickio · Answer

Tanned usually looks better cause it covers skin imperfections and gives more emphasis on muscles but I am quite pale and I appreciate pale beauties very much! Being tanned looks to me something like cheating cause 90% of the year you won't be as tanned as in summer

front2back · Answer

Brown people want to be pale. Pale people want to brown.

FutureMee · Answer

It really depends... tan skin can hide skin flaws a lot more than pale skin so in that sense it's better. But if you have perfect skin and are pale it shows more than if you have perfect skin and are tan. Personally i prefer girls with a more tanned complexion but mostly only if its their natural skin color. im irish so im pale myself but i do tan easy for an irish man.

Kelly6 · Answer

every skin is attractive,
problem is that no one likes their own skin color, and feel that other skin tone is better.
this is same as in career, one employ will think other is doing better and she has more easy job and getting paid more.
and other employ will be thinking same toward her.

fenixx0083 · Answer

A little makeup, styling your hair a certain way, going to the gym, wearing whatever clothes make you happy: cool.

Trying to change the color of your skin dramatically, plastic surgery ("restorative" surgeries are kind of a gray area, I guess, but the ones that are just to change the way you look), excessive tattoos, or *alot* of makeup: why don't you just try loving yourself?

godfatherfan · Answer

There are people that take it WAY too far. There is a woman at the bowling alley that must live in a tanning bed year round. It looks seriously ridiculous for a person to be super tanned in the dead of winter here in Michigan.

RetroAlpha · Answer

I think natural is hot. Look at Nicole Kidman. She is white as milk AND not young, and she's flawless. I like every shade of skin - don't worry about being pale :)

MarcoIsAFailure · Answer

Super male looks unhealthy. But super tanned, usually does not look good either. Especially if its not a natural tan. In between those two extremes, I just don't care.

scooogy · Answer

I think no, because the reason why to me, my latina crush looks far better than any tanned white girl is that she has these characteristics in addition, which make her beautiful to me. In others words: to me, getting tanned is like still being pale (regarding the missing characteristic) but with a darker color

Is a tan more attractive than being pale?

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