The fake-bake debate

The fake bake debate

As a creature from the fairer skinned variety (natural red-head) I find the whole concept of fake tanning both fascinating and infuriating. To fake-bake or not? The same question seems to arise every summer without fail. I observe my friends who naturally caramelize under the sun, with unsubtle envy as I sit in the shade with my factor sixty caked on, the texture of cement. So should I pale in silence or do something about it? Of course there are those painful high school memories of fake tanning gone wrong, humiliation doesn’t even cover it! However, the years have gone by and I am still the palest girl on the beach, the one people sit next to to make themselves feel better about themselves. 
  Lily Cole’s collaboration with Rimmel has given us fair skinned girls the chance of a subtle, natural looking glow. But isn’t this just encouraging us to conform? With the likes of Scarlet Johansson and Nicole Kidman boasting the pale and interesting look surely we should feel confident enough to follow suit. Long gone is the idea that bronzed equals beautiful, take girls aloud Nicola Roberts who stands out from her fellow band mates where she once conformed to their wag-esque fake tan. She now wears her paleness with pride and looks far sexier and classier because of it. Fair skin can be stunning as these celebrities have proved, so why do women still feel the need to slap on the St.Tropez whenever the sun comes out? Hiding behind the bronzers seems to give them a certain confidence. “I just feel I look better when I’m darker. Tanned skin looks more attractive in a swimsuit and I blend in when I’m on holiday” was the answer I received by a young woman when I asked her why she insisted on lathering on the lotion. This kind of attitude is disappointing; women should not feel the need to resort to the peer pressures of summer society and should feel confident enough to stand out in the crowd.
  So here is my challenge to you, instead of following the crowd by fake-baking it this summer, go without! Wear you’re paleness with pride and embrace you’re natural skin-tone. You’ll be surprised how people with praise you for it!