If you know me, then you know that I have some sort of love affair going with pale skin. I adore my skin, and go to great lengths to preserve and protect it. I slap on the spf at the slightest promise of sunshine, and revel in the fact that even the palest foundations always look the tiniest bit orange on my skin.
It hasn't always been this way. Until I was about fifteen I tried desperately to achieve the same golden hue that my school friends coveted. I baked myself on the beach, stained my skin with gradual tanning lotions, and my heart would sink when the arm-tan comparisons began around mid-May, my arm looking distinctly milky beside my friend's sun-kissed limbs. Much to my dismay, my skin was a surefire giveaway to my Irish heritage. My sunbathing efforts were rewarded with cutesy freckles and angry sunburn, and I gave up on the fake tan after an embarrassing school trip incident which resulted in some crisp white towels receiving an unexpected dye job...
It was time to come to terms with the fact that I was, and always will be, pale.
So I began to embrace it.
It was around about this time that I started dying my hair red regularly. I learned to love my new look, and my friends and family showered me with compliments regarding how lovely my vibrant hair looked against my fair skin. Unfortunately not everyone was so accepting. At school I was nicknamed 'Moonface', and was routinely mocked for looking like a vampire, corspe, zombie, etc. I was told to get a tan, that 'fake tan is your friend'. I was truly amazed by how much attention I received purely by refusing to join in the annual tanning competition.
I am so glad that I ignored the criticism and saw my decision through. My pale skin has become such an important element of my image, and it's nice to think about all the good those years of dedicated spf use has probably done my skin.
Our cultural obsession with tanning scares me. There are age old arguments against the two most popular tanning methods; sun beds are a concerning contribution to skin cancer rates, and fake tan has a habit of a) smelling like stale biscuits, and b) resulting in a rather unattractive shade of orange. However, despite both methods having inherent faults, social pressures urge women to alter their skin tone, and we continue to stain and bake our way to a 'more desirable' colour.
Pale skin was once considered beautiful, and I truly hope that someday soon our infatuation with tanning comes to it's long-overdue end. Natural tans (and by natural, I mean those that can be attributed to natural skin tone or day-to-day lifestyle) are beautiful - I simply wish that girls who are blessed with naturally pale skin didn't feel so pressured to change themselves. Pale skin is beautiful, just as beautiful as any other skin tone, and it should be embraced. It's far healthier than baking yourself, and it's my honest belief that everyone looks the most beautiful when they embrace their natural colouring. Even when people do pull off fake tan without the orange tint, in 100% of cases I think the person looked just as stunning, if not even more so, before they altered themselves.
No one should feel the need to manipulate their skin tone. You were born with it for a reason, and the chances are it's the shade that suits you best.
Without any further ado, here are my top five pale beauties -
1. Karen Elson
THE ETHEREAL BEAUTY
Karen is an inspiration. She's a model, she's a singer, she's a song writer and she
even ran her own vintage boutique. She's a true English beauty, with her glowing
red hair, piercing eyes and, of course, her striking fair complexion.
Karen Elson (source unknown)
2. Dita Von Teese
THE QUEEN OF BURLESQUE
Dita became one of my idols when I first started to embrace pale skin.
She is living proof that 'sexy' doesn't mean endless, golden legs, and that
there is nothing quite like a slick of crimson lipstick on porcelain skin.
Dita Von Teese (source unknown)
3. Florence Welch
THE POP CULTURE ICON
Florence took pale skin mainstream when she shot to stardom, and with
her glorious ginger hair and fairytale stage ensembles she looks like a creature
straight from The Tales of Mother Goose.
4. Astrid Berges-Frisbey
THE FAIR FACED MERMAID
When I first saw Astrid in Pirates of the Caribbean I fell in love. She
is exactly what I imagine a mermaid would look like, and even out of
costume she looks like a little doll with sweet rosy cheeks.
Astrid Berges-Frisbey (Vogue Italia/Ellen von Unwerth)
5. Emily Browning
THE PORCELAIN DOLL
When A Series of Unfortunate Events was released, I was an
impressionable twelve year old, and Emily's pretty pale skin made
me stick to the shade for the entire following summer.
Emily Browning (Bullett Magazine/Simon Procter)
