Does everyone look better with a fake tan?

If you’re a pasty ginger like me, fake tan is either your best friend or your worst enemy.


On one hand fake tan can make me look like a glowing goddess, and less like a recluse that never steps outside into sunlight.

On the other hand; it has the potential to make me look the same colour as my hair, whilst ruining my bed sheets in the process.

To tan or not to tan – that is the question

So what’s so great about fake tan? Well, first of all it allows me to wear colours that normally I wouldn’t go anywhere near. If I’ve fake tanned I have no problem wearing that nude leotard I bought and promised myself I’d wear, or that cream vest top from Urban Outfitters that I convinced myself wouldn’t wash me out. The world is my oyster!

The other great thing is you glow. Seriously though, you can literally glow. All the products are called things like “radiant’ or “glow”. They even have fake tan with glitter in it, which I think is great if you want to look like a stripper or straight out of Twilight, but everyone has their own opinion. Fake tan seems to make you pop, colours seem brighter and more eye-catching against your skin.

But fake tan isn’t all sweetness and light, it has soooooo many drawbacks. There have been many occasions when I’ve run out of fake tan and borrowed my housemate’s (who uses several shades darker than me). This has then resulted in me been the same colour as my hair, which wasn’t a good look. It’s also so much effort fake tanning if you’re lazy like I am. Plus if you don’t exfoliate (and sometimes even if you do) it goes blotchy and horrible and you look like you’ve got some kind of skin abnormality.

Oh, and the staining, oh god the staining. God forbid you bring your ONS back and have forgot to wash your bed sheets the day before.

My own personal best friend/worst enemy

Sometimes though, it’s nice to not bother and to embrace your pale skin. Dark, block colours look great on pale skin anyway! Who needs that cream vest top? Who needs fake tan?! The thing is, you can’t say everyone looks better with a fake tan because it depends on so many different things; your outfit, your hair, and more importantly your own opinion.

I don’t feel like I have to fake tan because I look better, I fake tan because I want to. It’s nice to be able to alternate! With fake tan one day you can be a sun-kissed goddess, the next an English rose.