I wish the economy was as easy to calm down.
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*When I was a kid sunscreen was not really discussed.
Oh sure there was the Coppertone baby.
But seriously more often than not it was an oil for the purpose of frying your skin.
I was the gal that lathered myself in baby oil with idodine. Anyone do that?
I put Sun-In in my hair (a beautiful orangy tint) and I would go out in the back yard or to the beach and bake for hours.
But as I got older I was able to fly for free because the computer company I worked for was owned by an airline.
I spent my free time flying to areas where I could work on my tan.
An ass you say? Why yes, I agree I was an ass.
Why not Rome or England or anywhere with culture and was more than sand and surf?
I used to say it was because I lived in the cold dark tundra and I wanted sun.
I have been to almost all of the Caribbean Islands.
Best tan? Netherland Antillies/ABC Islands/Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao - hands down for me.
But today you can't even buy a sunscreen under 50.
There is no more tanning in my life. So I remain Casper.
To say I am thankful that all that sun didn't age me is an understatment.
I see women my age with tan wrinkled knees. Have you see this phenon? Ooh my.
(Maybe I got the icky neck instead of the icky knees)
I am sure I'll get there but thankfully in my 50's it has not arrived.
I have a friend that is wrinkled beyond belief from years of sun abuse.
I used to envy her tan but now not so much. I wonder how I faired so well?
Some times I think it's my greasy Italian skin and all that olive oil I ingest....just slides right off.
In fact without any tanning oil I don't even get tan .
I am very pale and I can be outside with no sunscreen for hours on a boat no less and I may get a tiny bit pink if I'm lucky.
Weird huh?
But now I don't care if I am tan.
I am not embarressed to say that I have become that woman who now wears a hat, sunscreen, and tries to keep the aging at bay.
Now I wish I had gone to Europe instead of St. Barts.
Someone said to me yesterday, 'I wish my old self could talk to my young self.'
I nodded in agreement but as I thought about it I realized something....My young self would have told my old self that I was an old broad and didn't understand anything and I wouldn't have listened anyway.
11 comments:
my young self would have done the same thing. :)
i used to use sun in too. i wonder if they still sell that stuff? if the do, they shouldnt.
when i was a teenager i used to sit out in the sun and tan a lot. i really didnt like it but i did it to fit in. eventually i gave up because even with a tan, i wasnt popular. one more reason i love the PNW, here the folks with a tan are the freaks. :)
I remember those days. Go out and lay in the sun during the peak tanning times. I was so proud of my tan and how dark I could get with just a little time in the sun. Fast forward to now: I see a dermatologist once a year for a full body check. I have had numerous pre cancerous/melanoma spots removed.
Yea, I would love to go back and talk to my younger self, but like yours, it won't listen either..
OMG Tammie that is funny. You are correct when living in the PNW I fit in perfectly with my ghostly pallor. And I do believe they still sell sun in. scary huh?
I'm a tanner.
I don't look as old as most of my gfs my age but they were big tanners as teens, me not so much. But now I do. I know I will regret it but I cannot stop. :(
Roc - I understand. I so get it!!
Peg....have you tried the Jergens Natural Glow Moisturizer? I love the stuff.....I use it every day, and keep a nice light tan color to my face, neck, arms and legs. And it's not orangey, like so many of the self tanners.....it's a really nice tan color.
I haven't layed out in the sun since high school; a lady I used to babysit for had an ultra dark tan....she was beautiful, but her skin was kindof leathery looking, then when I was about 20, I heard she had died from skin cancer. That's all it took for me!
Regan - You know I think I am self tanning impaired. I have tried that lotion and I got a bit streaky. I even tried a spray tan. That was a nightmare of a horrible smell and it made my knees, heels and feet so black it was gross!
I am destined to be pale. (well except for the bronzer on my face)
I, too, did the baby oil/iodine thing. Even with a pool in the yard, I'm ghostly, now, and wrinkled and OLDER than my years. 20/20 hindsight would have been great, before the fact. Too late now.
Ms A - something tells me that you are not wrinkled beyond your years! we of a certain age just are too hard on ourselves and compare ourselves to the people who can afford plastic surgery. Seriously Joan Rivers is around 80. Society thinks it's okay to look like a Charpay if you are a man but God Forbid if a woman has smile lines!! I can't watch movies anymore because I stare at their faces that no longer look like they used to (meg ryan)
I'll bet there's not much free flying these days.
Mike - well there is no free flying for me. But all other airline employees still get to fly for free. Still have friends in the industry either airline or computer company. It's something one always misses when it's taken away. (ask my parents - I think they miss it more than me!)
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