After moving from Florida to New York City, I have become a victim of Tanning Culture Shock. I felt immense pressure to maintain a year-round tan in Florida. In New York, I almost feel pressure to be chic-pale sometimes. Maybe chic-pale isn’t even a thing and it’s just my skin-conscience telling me it is. Is skin-conscience even a thing?
Caught in the midst of this tanning dilemma, I decided to look back in history to see what everyone else has to say about the matter. Whose advice should I take?
Ancient Romans: They whitened their faces with chalk and shunned the sun.
Renaissance/Elizabethan women: These smart girls used lead-based white paints on their faces and painted on blue veins! The picture of health. Not pore-clogging in the least.
Industrial Revolution: If you were pale, you were poor. If you were rich, you were tan from livin’ the good life of lounging in the sun on vacay. If that’s the case, maybe I should remain pale to stay true to myself?
Early 1900s: The term “healthy tan” was coined. Well, I’m going for sickly-chic, so I guess that solves my quandary.
Present: Snooki.
Ok, pale it is.
