Last week, Melbourne was confronted with a 28 degree day.
For a spring that has featured plenty of umbrella weather – and a fair amount of trench coat weather, too – there was a mild sense of panic in the air.
“Where will we tan?” my flatmate quizzed me the night before. “Should we go to the beach? The gardens? A BOAT?”
I looked gingerly out the window to the vacant plot of land that sits next to our inner-city apartment building.
“Well, they have just mown the grass,” I said, before we both burst out laughing.
Tanning. It makes people do weird things.
Despite the fact we are a multicultural nation of people who overeat and rarely leave our office chairs, there is a general understanding that the classic ‘Aussie’ look for women is that of a lean, tanned, Ocean Girl goddess.
Um, yeah right. I lived in Bondi for years, and even in that neck of the woods the au naturale surfie girl look is reserved for but a handful of women.
The deep brown tan, for some obscure reason, remains the calling card of our wide brown land. It’s an obsession that has become so profound that for those of us who aren’t naturally bronzed, it’s a year-round effort to become so.
Top Comments
Well I'm going to keep fake-tanning. I wish I had lovely clear pale skin that looked like the pics you've shown above, but I do not! I have purple-ish pink/white skin with orangey brown freckles which does not look nice with anything. I've tried to give up because it can be hassle to do every week, but I just don't look as good and I like looking good! I spray tan every week (not too dark) and I think I will forever!! To each their own I say!
Yep, I'm with you on that one. Not stopping the fake tan anytime soon.
I go in the sun because otherwise I have really bad vitamin D deficiency and would much rather go in the sun for 30 minutes than take an artificial one. I was very sick from this due to being an office worker for so long.
I get that there's huge risks and have had it in my family too but it's all about being careful and not going overboard and taking safety measures where possible.