As my wedding fast approaches (only a little more than a month left now – yikes!), and the weather is warming up, I am now starting to watch out for any tan lines I might be making. My dress is strapless so I don’t want to have tank top lines or any other strappy lines. I don’t plan on baking myself to a crisp, but I do want just a little of some “healthy” color. I would hate to be as white as my dress!
As I was having my first dress fitting, I noticed that the center of my chest (up by my collar bone) already has some color to it. There was a slow gradient outward to the pasty white of my winter skin. At first I wondered how I could be so tan there without trying to be, and then it clicked! There is where my skin is unprotected! With all the collared shirts, and scoop necks and v-neck shirts, my upper chest is always exposed to the sun and the elements throughout the year. It has constant access to the sun’s rays!
I’m not someone who religiously slathers sunblock on daily before I leave the house. My face is protected with my moisturizer that has spf in it, but I really don’t think about my chest or arms – especially in winter and early spring months! Why would I? I sit in an office all day. I know that overcast days are often the worst time since you don’t have the heat as a warning to your exposure, but that knowledge is easily forgotten when you aren’t spending the day outside.
As I get older, and mother nature inevitably takes it’s course, I am more conscience of the harm the sun (or too much of it) can do to my skin and the unwanted changes it causes over time (exsessive wrinkling and “pruning”, sun spots and discoloration, and worst case scenario – cancer!). So, seeing the proof of my sun exposure, when not intended, has been an eye opener for me. I’m not going to become a sunblock slatherer, but I will be more careful and more thoughtful to using moisturisers with protection in them throughout the year, not just in warmer months.
Tanning is such a no-no now! I agree with your comment though about wanting “healthy” color, although some people would argue there’s no such thing. I have olive-toned skin and tan really easily and I invariably get comments in the summer about my “tan”. It makes me crazy! I never lay out and bake myself, I just love being outside and even with a high SPF sunscreen, my skin darkens. No one would ever think to tell someone they look unhealthy because their skin’s too pasty! You’ll look great for your wedding no matter, I’m sure!!
I may just be the pastiest (is that a word?) person around.. I do NOT go out in the sun without extreme sunblock on. My mom had to have a cancerous mole removed from her chest because thats wear she gets all her sun exposure too, just like you said Katrina.
I’m a big fan of the spray tan for that healthy look. Just make sure not to go overboard and end up looking like a umpaloompa! Make sure to give yourself a few days after to have some wear off, and you’ll have the perfect “almost” tan!
My friend worked in a tanning salon and said the spray on tan is cocoa based. Don’t you worry about the dog licking it off after you get back from tanning?