Perfectly Pale

Having just been on holiday I have found myself obsessing over how tanned I’ll be coming home. Drowning myself in what is practically cooking oil and sizzling myself in the sun until I am faint from the heat. Maybe it’s not the best route to take for the health of my skin, yet apparently that’s not enough to stop me doing it.

Unfortunately for me I do not have the exotic gene of dark skin, instead I am eternally cursed with the transparent skin of the Celtic. But is it actually a curse? Or are those of us who are pale somewhat blessed with prolonged youth and healthy looking skin?

Don’t get me wrong a lot of this is coming from ultimate jealousy of the deep sun kissed skin of others, but I can’t help but find some comfort that there are some celebs such as Emma stone, Lindsay Lohan and Dita Von Teese that embrace their pale skin and don’t shy away from the fact that pale can be a blessing. Back in the day it used to be that women would want to make their skin paler as it was seen as more attractive, but as time has gone on it seems to have reversed and we now find women spending hundreds on spray tans and sun-beds, but why??

The truth is that it all comes down to wanting what we don’t have. If we are pale, we want to be tanned, yet a lot of people that are tanned want to be paler to make themselves look younger. Us girls have a constant upkeep of fitting the ‘ideal woman’ category and battle with ourselves on a daily basis, pointing out the things we hate about ourselves. Me included. There will always be things we don’t like about ourselves, but I think it’s time us, as a nation start loving ourselves a little bit more. Whether you are brilliantly brown or perfectly pale, flaunt what you have, because one day we will all be old and look back at old photos and wish we still looked like that! Always make your girlfriends feel good about themselves, us girls have got to stick together!

By Connie O’Neill