4 posts tagged “tanning”
…a continuation of Is She Hot?: The Quintessential Question
This video has changed my life. I knew that models on the cover of magazines had a large crew take care of their face, hair and eyes but it never occurred to me that all the images in a magazine underwent Adobe Photoshop. The model did appear more dull and pale than the face in the advertisement. Notice how color, depth and glow were added to her skin with makeup. Then it was enhanced with Adobe Photoshop. It’s true! I’ve been watching YouTube video after YouTube video marveling at all the amazing things that Adobe Photoshop can do.
This is a video about a girl from diet.com who is in very good shape but is still undergoes Adobe Photoshop. The video is campaigning against retouching photographs. It addresses the issue of an unrealistic standard of beauty that is set by magazines and advertisements but also shows the miracles of Adobe Photoshop. The photographer in the video has taken pictures of many beautiful women but always feels the need to touch them up on the program. It surprised me the most is that celebrities have personal touch up artists and their photographs are not publicly released without the touch ups. I’m really in awe of Adobe Photoshop. It does tanning for you. There are tutorials available online so that you can learn how to get the right tan on the program.
This is an instructional video on how to make you look more tan using Adobe Photoshop. In this video they took a picture of Rose McGowan who is naturally pale and gorgeous and they give her a bit of a tan using different layers, brushes and backgrounds.
No wonder women are so unhappy with the way that they naturally look. The images that surround us aren’t what people actually look like but instead highly manipulated images created by artists. The standard of beauty represented in these pictures is unobtainable and like he said in the video even if you were a professional athlete you could only get close to having the ideal body. Just hit a few buttons on the program and you can adjust your skin tone to any color you want. Is this the future of tanning?
[1] Segrave, Kerry
2005 Suntanning in 20th Century America: McFarland & Company.
Tanning is a fashion trend. The ultimate fashion authority – Vogue Magazine, proves this statement. In 1929 they said, “the 1929 girl must be tanned,” (1). This mantra has stuck ever since. Today, there are many ways to tan but because of the risks involved overexposure to UV-light including (but not limited to): wrinkles causing women to age faster and cancer tan-aholics have turned to the safer self-tanning alternative. This has created a large market for self-tanning products. The products provide a variety of ways to appear more tan. From manipulating light to using colored topical creams so a sunny complexion can be achieved anywhere, anytime. I’d like to discuss the invention of products designed around the tanning fad. The following are all mass-market products.
1. Self-Tanning Gel.
It seeps into your skin and makes the pigment darker quickly.
2. Tinted Lotion.
This is a new product. It appears to be a mix of lotion and cover up. You can move the dial to match your complexion. It just sits on the surface of your skin.
3. Estee Lauder.
This is an entire line to keep you looking sunkist all year 'round. I think it's called "Bronze Goddess". These are also topical products.
4. Bronzer.
Dark pigment powder that you apply to key areas on your face to make yourself appear more tan. It's used instead of blush. Washes off.
5. Lotion.
This product gradually makes your skin look more tan. It is used to even out your skin tone. My mother uses this on her legs all year 'round because she fears having to wear a skirt and having to reveal "pale pasty" legs.
6. The Backless Dress.
This is used to show off your tan. Perhaps this is why people try to tan evenly on the beach. Backless tops were popular when I left Beijing last summer but girls wore it with a contrasting tank top underneath.
I'd really like to find out why people buy these products and how frequently the buyers use these products. Do you like the way it works?
[1] Segrave, Kerry
2005 Suntanning in 20th Century America: McFarland & Company.
Once upon a time, when I was eight years old I looked into my vanity mirror and saw the damage that sun exposure did to my skin. I was very tan. Milk chocolate tan. I felt so unattractive! I was so ashamed of how dark my skin was but I couldn't help it! At the time I was living in Manila, Philippines where everyone has a pool in their backyard. I went swimming often and my family liked to go to the beach on the weekends. I would never be able to escape the sun! Despite my efforts to apply sunscreen every hour I would always return to my room darker than I was when I left. I would never be pretty.
My ideal of beauty were the women on the SK II commercials. They all looked just like Snow White with fair skin and their beauty radiated through the television screen. I wanted fair skin so badly that I begged my parents for whitening products to make me prettier but they told me that I did not need whitening products because I was already pretty.
The Emperor clung to the spot and would not turn away
From the soil along the Mawei slope, under which was buried
That memory, that anguish. Where was her jade-white face?
(A Song of Unending Sorrow by Bai Juyi)
The poem ends in sorrow because the Emperor is unable to find this woman. Her legendary beauty is timeless. Women in the east continue to take great measures to keep their skin fair. In the summer they carry parasols and some women even wear long pants, long sleeved shirts and evening gloves to ensure an even skin tone.
My ideal of beauty has not changed since I was eight but I have come to terms with my skin tone but I still believe that fair skin is more beautiful. I envy my friends and relatives who are able to keep an light complexion and I continue to religiously apply sunscreen. I limit my exposure to the sun during the summer and I do own two UV umbrellas. I even own a bit of whitening lotion.
Americans don't seem to share these ideals with me. In fact, most don't take any measures to have fair skin. They prefer to tan. I know this because when I moved to the United States for high school I was shocked to see American tanning culture. No more SK II and no UV parasols! American supermarkets carry tanning products. Celebrities and models are tan.
Americans find many different ways to tan all year round: self tanning lotion, spray tanning booths, tanning beds and sunbathing. Why is tan considered to be beautiful? How do people make the choice to tan even with knowledge about skin cancer from tanning? I would like to better understand tanning culture.
