Being pale has long been a curse in the US, in the age of tanning beds, fake tans, and California babes. We look at redheads with pity; freckles are terrible bothers; skin whiter than it is dark is shameful; and tan lines should be nonexistent, or else. Once summer ends, you look around and find people whose tans have yet to fade, and somehow, they bring back that beautiful whiff of summer – reminders of the crickets chirping late at night, the long, warm, lazy afternoons by the pool, and that fantastic vacation you went on in July. But somehow, you never seem to tan – you always turn red as a ripe tomato and start to peel.
Well, according to ScienceDaily, that will change. Tans are caused by a pigment called melanin in your skin, which protects you from UV rays. New research has come out saying that, while scientists once thought that the reason some people burn is because they have no melanin, this has now been proven false. When isolated, melanin from pale skin was able to make as much of, if not more than, the pigment than that of olive skin. The only problem was that fair skin also seemed to make more of the chemical that causes sunburn.
The article says that there must be something else blocking pale-skinned people from getting tan, and that further research will attempt to make this clear. Next time you stare at your freckles in disgust, think that one day, your face may be tan as the rest of America’s. And in the mean time, always protect yourself from skin cancer – maybe pale skin will come back into fashion!