Don't know about you, but I can remember the days when we WANTED a tan. We didn't want to burn because that looked and felt terrible and peeled - icky! - but who hadn't gotten a few burns in pursuit of a tan? Some of us only burned, some of us, like me, could slowly deepen in color until we were very dark - and we prized those tan lines!
Laying in the sun for hours felt GOOD even if it was on the concrete of a pool side and we thought we looked good. Better to show off those summer clothing colors like WHITE, LIME, PINK, better to show off the pink lipstick and nail polish .
It felt healthy and athletic to be tan. No one was worried about skin cancer. We used lotion to make us tan like Coppertone; the smell of it still says SUMMER to me!
We also used BABY OIL! (Talk about treating your skin like steak!)
Maybe we cherished tanning so much because we were indoors for 9 months of the year, in school, and in the snow belt.
Now I live in a place of ENDLESS SUMMER - Southern California and guess what?
I tan without trying to.
I tan without going to the beach!
I don't have "tan lines." It's as if my skin has adjusted to a different weather system!
Now I wonder, why is it that I tan but many of my family members burn? Is it my Hungarian DNA?
YOU?
