I dislike blush on myself-it’s so girly, and I prefer not to wear color except in the form of lipstick. It’s not because I want to create the illusion of being tan, but because it livens up my face in an instant, making me look less tired and healthier in a way that blush doesn’t. All legitimate skin health concerns aside, the idea of tanning is just unnatural to me: My skin color is my skin color, and wouldn’t I look weird any other way? I feel pretty strongly about it, to the point that I’ve completely denied editors’ requests to get a spray tan and write about it for laughs.Įven though I’m more than fine with my fair “porcelain” skin, I couldn’t live without bronzer. I’m a very pale person who’s never set foot in a tanning salon, slathered on self-tanner, or spent a beach day without a huge sun hat, an umbrella, and a jumbo tube of SPF 50.