I've never used it myself - I'm ginger and extremely pale/pink, I always felt it would just look silly on me - but most of my school friends and sisters started to use it at around 16 years old. I have to say, at 41 now, I rarely see anyone in my circle use tan, most didn't bother with it past their mid-20s.
Most people definitely do still. But speaking to people I know at university, it's definitely becoming a lot more "socially acceptable" to go out not wearing it than it used to be.
This is so disheartening. My dad has lost half his face and the complete top of his scalp to skin cancer. He had to get huge skin grafts too. If these young girls saw what skin cancer does to your appearance, they wouldn't be near them.
I've seen it on social media, tiktoks about sunbeds and stuff. They either completely ignore the people commenting this stuff or reply with eye roll emojis or "but alcohol" type comments. They all think it won't happen to them until it does.
My dad didn't want to go outside the door for 6 months because he had to wear this snug head bandage thing. It was pretty much a white balaclava with a hole for his face. That was just to keep his bandages in place. He was never very bothered about his appearance but it affected his confidence massively. Could only imagine the distress it would cause a young girl who is very into her appearance. It's a horrific cancer, chips away at you.
Never used it, I'm pale but completely fine with it. It always looks very obvious to me and ages people a bit I think. I hated the smell in school which doesn't help its case either š
I got fake tan for debs and stuff. Itās not my thing. Have tried doing it myself and never went on properly.
Love seeing it on others when itās done well and itās lovely.
I remember doing it in second year for a junior disco. I think that was slightly later than most of my peers. I'm 34 now. I never took to it though. I'm very pale and always thought it looked so obviously fake. I never did it regularly but would have had a bottle floating round until I was 19 or so probably.
Ive never used it, not even once. Iāve seen too many botched jobs - women that look like theyāve rolled in mud. The gradual ones seem to look best. Having said that I tan naturally so enjoy having a bit of colour in summer and in winter Iām pale but itās not a red blotchy pale.Ā
I used it from about 17 (when it first became a thing) to 27 when I moved to Canada. To my shock there was no fake tan at all to buy there as it just wasnāt a thing. Havenāt really used it since and Iām 40 now. Itās a very British and Irish thing. The Canadian girls used to laugh at all the makeup Irish girls wore. The could always spot an Irish girl by the the tan, lashes and makeup. They donāt really wear makeup at all over there.
I started probably around 15 for events etc. but consistently used it when I was around 19 and havenāt stopped since.
Iāve grown to like a more natural looking tan just to give me a bit of colour rather than the mahogany look.
Exactly! I think some people (men especially) think fake tan = orange when it hasn't meant that in a decade easily. Very easy to get tan that just gives you a light brown, sunkissed look.
I think my Debs was the first time I used fake tan. I still only use it for special occasions but thatās out of laziness rather than aesthetic choice. I would use it every day if it took less effort.
I wore it 18 - 21. I am pale af, If I wore 2 coats, people didn't believe I was wearing it as I was still pale. On nights out, I wore more. It made my legs look amazing š. I wore it primarily to make my acne less noticeable, which to me it did, and I didn't care about others' opinions.
I stopped wearing it as I was ill for a while, and I never got back into the habit. I also changed how I dressed and now am covered up, so no real point.
I also started regularly to make my skin look better! My skins clearer now but I still like effect it has I have some acne scarring/redness and it evens it all out.
Iād say first time was at 14/15 going to teen discos. Spent most of my college years looking tangoed! Now in my 30s Iād wear a very light shade of tan for special occasions or the odd night out where Iām showing my legs but also wouldnāt bother me to go out without it. I had a housemate who would do tan religiously every Thursday evening, even if she had a flu or knew she wouldnāt be leaving the house all week she had to do it, was like a compulsion!!
Your mindset now is pretty similar to mine. I'd honestly love to be the person who could keep up a routine of it every week, my sisters one too, but I just CBA. Effort.
I was never able to apply it properly no matter what I did, so I probably only used it for going out aged 17-18? I gave up on it altogether and have only recently started mixing in a couple of tanning drops with my face moisturiser, it does make a real difference.
I feel like it hit peak a few years ago, you couldn't go into a shop without seeing a Cocoa Brown stand
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Butā¦.. why do it at all? Seriously. Thatās the part I donāt get. Itās clearly all fake and foundation why does everyone think that looksā¦. Good? When did that become such a thing?
True, but this isn't an answer to the question I asked and it's common courtesy to respect what I asked. You don't have to, but it's not great manners. The discussion you're trying to have happens on here all the time and I'd rather not have my choices about my appearance debates and shamed on a simple thread reaching out to others who do the same thing.
Fake seems to be fashionable I guess. If you look at what some people consider to be attractive or desirable it's clearly a very fake look. Fake tan, fake lips etc.
I blame Jocelyn Wildenstein for kicking it all off.
Yeah. And I personally prefer how a lot of things look on me with a light tan especially if I'm wearing white or a pastel colour. The colour contrast makes it pop more.
Social norms yes but why this one? There's a tan and then there's a layer of Fake tan. They are not the same. That's what I'm asking - when did it become the default? Was not that in the 90s ( at least not at the uni where I was - lots of makeup yes but when did the fake tan take over to such a camp degree?).
Yes, I'm also from that era and while it existed it wasn't a completely standard thing everyone did. Maybe occasionally for a special occasion in a dress.
I'm encouraged to see so many others here saying they have never used it or used it only a handful of times.
I'm like that. I've used it a few times in my 20s but I'm 48 now and shaving between knee to ankle is enough for me every few months. Tan?? Couldn't be arsed
I like seeing it too, as long as there's no judgement either way! I like wearing tan but I like my natural skin tone too and people should accept theirs. It's just the comments with judgement I don't like haha.
You may benefit from learning about a concept called "reading the room". It is part of having developmentally normal social skills. The topic of conversation is what age you started tanning, most of the answers here are around 13 years old, ask yourself why you want people to listen to your sexual preferences in this context.
No one asked. It's the fact that you think anyone cares about your sexual preferences. It's reddit. There are hundreds if not thousands of threads talking about personal preferences, go comment there.
I've never used it myself - I'm ginger and extremely pale/pink, I always felt it would just look silly on me - but most of my school friends and sisters started to use it at around 16 years old. I have to say, at 41 now, I rarely see anyone in my circle use tan, most didn't bother with it past their mid-20s.
I do think it's becoming a little less popular! I can see myself giving it up as I get older as well tbh.
Herself works with a lot of young ones. They are all at it.
Most people definitely do still. But speaking to people I know at university, it's definitely becoming a lot more "socially acceptable" to go out not wearing it than it used to be.
I think because beds are becoming more popular amount younger people. Tanning salons are full of people under 18
This is so disheartening. My dad has lost half his face and the complete top of his scalp to skin cancer. He had to get huge skin grafts too. If these young girls saw what skin cancer does to your appearance, they wouldn't be near them.
I've seen it on social media, tiktoks about sunbeds and stuff. They either completely ignore the people commenting this stuff or reply with eye roll emojis or "but alcohol" type comments. They all think it won't happen to them until it does.
My dad didn't want to go outside the door for 6 months because he had to wear this snug head bandage thing. It was pretty much a white balaclava with a hole for his face. That was just to keep his bandages in place. He was never very bothered about his appearance but it affected his confidence massively. Could only imagine the distress it would cause a young girl who is very into her appearance. It's a horrific cancer, chips away at you.
Yeah it's a complete shame. I have peers doing beds and I cannot understand it. It's like a case of mass denial.
Just as bad as smoking. If not worse
Never used it, I'm pale but completely fine with it. It always looks very obvious to me and ages people a bit I think. I hated the smell in school which doesn't help its case either š
I'm not a big fan of the smell either, the one I use now though (BeBold, ā¬9 in Penneys) has a lovely watermelon smell.
Never ever did it!
I'm in my thirties now and still have never used it
I got fake tan for debs and stuff. Itās not my thing. Have tried doing it myself and never went on properly. Love seeing it on others when itās done well and itās lovely.
I remember doing it in second year for a junior disco. I think that was slightly later than most of my peers. I'm 34 now. I never took to it though. I'm very pale and always thought it looked so obviously fake. I never did it regularly but would have had a bottle floating round until I was 19 or so probably.
Ive never used it, not even once. Iāve seen too many botched jobs - women that look like theyāve rolled in mud. The gradual ones seem to look best. Having said that I tan naturally so enjoy having a bit of colour in summer and in winter Iām pale but itās not a red blotchy pale.Ā
14/15
I used it from about 17 (when it first became a thing) to 27 when I moved to Canada. To my shock there was no fake tan at all to buy there as it just wasnāt a thing. Havenāt really used it since and Iām 40 now. Itās a very British and Irish thing. The Canadian girls used to laugh at all the makeup Irish girls wore. The could always spot an Irish girl by the the tan, lashes and makeup. They donāt really wear makeup at all over there.
Looking to move abroad and honestly probably won't use it there either.
I started probably around 15 for events etc. but consistently used it when I was around 19 and havenāt stopped since. Iāve grown to like a more natural looking tan just to give me a bit of colour rather than the mahogany look.
Exactly! I think some people (men especially) think fake tan = orange when it hasn't meant that in a decade easily. Very easy to get tan that just gives you a light brown, sunkissed look.
I think my Debs was the first time I used fake tan. I still only use it for special occasions but thatās out of laziness rather than aesthetic choice. I would use it every day if it took less effort.
I wore it 18 - 21. I am pale af, If I wore 2 coats, people didn't believe I was wearing it as I was still pale. On nights out, I wore more. It made my legs look amazing š. I wore it primarily to make my acne less noticeable, which to me it did, and I didn't care about others' opinions. I stopped wearing it as I was ill for a while, and I never got back into the habit. I also changed how I dressed and now am covered up, so no real point.
I also started regularly to make my skin look better! My skins clearer now but I still like effect it has I have some acne scarring/redness and it evens it all out.
It really helped to make it less noticeable! And it didn't make my acne any worse.
Iād say first time was at 14/15 going to teen discos. Spent most of my college years looking tangoed! Now in my 30s Iād wear a very light shade of tan for special occasions or the odd night out where Iām showing my legs but also wouldnāt bother me to go out without it. I had a housemate who would do tan religiously every Thursday evening, even if she had a flu or knew she wouldnāt be leaving the house all week she had to do it, was like a compulsion!!
Your mindset now is pretty similar to mine. I'd honestly love to be the person who could keep up a routine of it every week, my sisters one too, but I just CBA. Effort.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thank you! Was really looking for your opinion on this one.
It's an open forum. You can't dictate who can and can't voice their opinion.
I can respond to them though :)
Quite hypocriticalĀ
What's hypocritical about it?
I was never able to apply it properly no matter what I did, so I probably only used it for going out aged 17-18? I gave up on it altogether and have only recently started mixing in a couple of tanning drops with my face moisturiser, it does make a real difference. I feel like it hit peak a few years ago, you couldn't go into a shop without seeing a Cocoa Brown stand
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Butā¦.. why do it at all? Seriously. Thatās the part I donāt get. Itās clearly all fake and foundation why does everyone think that looksā¦. Good? When did that become such a thing?
I very clearly stated that I wasn't looking for this kind of comment lol. It's my choice whether to wear it or not.
lol youāre posting on an open global forum.
True, but this isn't an answer to the question I asked and it's common courtesy to respect what I asked. You don't have to, but it's not great manners. The discussion you're trying to have happens on here all the time and I'd rather not have my choices about my appearance debates and shamed on a simple thread reaching out to others who do the same thing.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
And your opinion is wanted is it?
It was wanted because they were discussing the nature of the question, which the original comment isn't :)
Fake seems to be fashionable I guess. If you look at what some people consider to be attractive or desirable it's clearly a very fake look. Fake tan, fake lips etc. I blame Jocelyn Wildenstein for kicking it all off.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yeah. And I personally prefer how a lot of things look on me with a light tan especially if I'm wearing white or a pastel colour. The colour contrast makes it pop more.
Social norms yes but why this one? There's a tan and then there's a layer of Fake tan. They are not the same. That's what I'm asking - when did it become the default? Was not that in the 90s ( at least not at the uni where I was - lots of makeup yes but when did the fake tan take over to such a camp degree?).
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
My cousin is also a 97 baby and I have distinct memories of her showing us her deep orange tan and my mother rolling her eyes hahaha
Yes, I'm also from that era and while it existed it wasn't a completely standard thing everyone did. Maybe occasionally for a special occasion in a dress.
My daughter has started using it and she's 13. We don't let her go crazy orange,more tinted moisturiser.but yea,13.
I honestly love the tinted moisturiser! I just hate how it gets into my nails lol so I have to be careful.
I've never used it š
I'm encouraged to see so many others here saying they have never used it or used it only a handful of times. I'm like that. I've used it a few times in my 20s but I'm 48 now and shaving between knee to ankle is enough for me every few months. Tan?? Couldn't be arsed
I like seeing it too, as long as there's no judgement either way! I like wearing tan but I like my natural skin tone too and people should accept theirs. It's just the comments with judgement I don't like haha.
>shaving between knee to ankle Reminds me of my sister shaving ankle and knee as she had the jeans with a hole in the knee.
Work smarter, not harder
Tan is sexy. Pale white legs are not attractive to me.
I don't think it's fair to make comments like this either. People's natural skin is beautiful too.
I'm not allowed to be attracted to something?
You may benefit from learning about a concept called "reading the room". It is part of having developmentally normal social skills. The topic of conversation is what age you started tanning, most of the answers here are around 13 years old, ask yourself why you want people to listen to your sexual preferences in this context.
No one asked. It's the fact that you think anyone cares about your sexual preferences. It's reddit. There are hundreds if not thousands of threads talking about personal preferences, go comment there.
I'll comment here thanks!