Unsolicited skin care advice, got to love it...

[BlaqueKatt]

And look for the leaping bunny logo to make sure there is no animal testing done on the product.

Sorry to burst your bubble-but FDA requires that ALL products manufactured for human use must be proven safe on animals first-NO EXCEPTIONS! they skirt the rules by paying a third party to do it. As a matter of fact a certain "cruelty free" haircare company pays a company in my city that a friend of mine works at to test their products(won't say the company name but the initials are PM and their symbol is a dove)

ome cosmetic companies promote their products with claims such as "CRUELTY-FREE" or "NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS" in their labeling or advertising. The unrestricted use of these phrases by cosmetic companies is possible because there are no legal definitions for these terms.

Some companies may apply such claims solely to their finished cosmetic products. However, these companies may rely on raw material suppliers or contract laboratories to perform any animal testing necessary to substantiate product or ingredient safety. Other cosmetic companies may rely on combinations of scientific literature, non-animal testing, raw material safety testing, or controlled human-use testing to substantiate their product safety.

Many raw materials, used in cosmetics, were tested on animals years ago when they were first introduced. A cosmetic manufacturer might only use those raw materials and base their "cruelty-free" claims on the fact that the materials or products are not "currently" tested on animals.

[BlaqueKatt]

"You need to get a tan! You're too pale!"

I normally reply to this by bursting into tears, saying something along the lines of....

"I just got through with treatment for skin cancer"

usually shuts them up, and makes them think twice.

my husband(who's younger than me) has been treated for skin cancer already, so it's not that much of a stretch....

[georgiab]

Just today I had a woman say that she liked that I had my hair pulled up I said Thank you she then said it makes you look like an adult..not a child..I said well i am 28 she said yes you do look like an adult now..what the hell...I look young yes but so what!!!!

[GingerBiscuit]

Yep, looked into it further, and you are correct. I rescind my earlier statement. And look for the leaping bunny logo to make sure there is no animal testing done on the product.

Or the vegan or vegetarian society logo, as they now try to make sure the company doesn't test on animals either. Plenty of non-testers can't afford the cost of getting signed up with the leaping bunny logo, or their policies don't quite fit. (for example, there are a few companies that don't operate on the fixed cut-off date that leaping bunny demands, instead not buying from companies that test, but buying from when they stop. This mean, that while they are still testing-free, they don;t get the logo.) But anyway. Back to our sheduled thread.

[Shabo]

Depends.
There are many companies that don't test, or buy ingredients from places that test.

Yep, looked into it further, and you are correct. I rescind my earlier statement. And look for the leaping bunny logo to make sure there is no animal testing done on the product.

[GingerBiscuit]

I read an article in a 'beauty' magazine that said 'studies show that tanned women look younger and are percieved as more attractive.'

Hmmm. Cynical marketing ploy to get women to tan more, and therefore wrinkle more (sun-damage being the worst thing you can do for your skin after smoking), and sell more anti-aging creams?

[tangrid]

And as to the OP, I have a health paleness about me that i go out of my way to nurture. Pale is Beauty!

Amen to that. Scot-Irish on my dad's side, German/English on my Mom's. Not only can I not tan, I can drink like a tank I've worn jeans/long pants for about as long as I remember, so if I ever go swimming, I tend to blind people with my shiny white legs. One year I went to DC and visited some family in Annapolis. We went sailing, and I didn't think to wear sunscreen. Long story short, we got stranded on the water for two hours, and I got to walk around DC with bluejeans over a lobster-red sunburn... ouch.

As for people who think that only tanned women are attractive, to hell with them. I happen to be a sucker for fair skinned women, and if she's a redhead to boot? I may as well toss in the towel, I don't have a chance, lol.

[GingerBiscuit]

[QUOTE=Shabo;208406]Technically, every commercial product is animal tested. It's mandated by law. However, the companies can get away with saying they don't use testing by buying results of tests with either similar ingredients or the same ingredients. They cover their bums and get to say they don't do animal testing, because technically, it's not them doing the testing. And the companies may not endorse the animal testing, but like I said, it's mandated by law.

QUOTE]
Depends.
There are many companies that don't test, or buy ingredients from places that test. Yes, the ingredients were tested in the distant past, but not in the last five years. In the uk a lot of companies have a 'five year cut off date', in that they don't use, or buy ingredients from, companies that have tested in the last five years.

The ingredients where testing is mandated by law are new, previously untested ingredients. Ingredients with a history of 'safe use' don't legally have to be tested in europe, at least, although the REACH policy may well change all that.

Would be interested to take this discussion firther, but not while we're hijacking the thread.

[Shabo]

non-bunny tested

Technically, every commercial product is animal tested. It's mandated by law. However, the companies can get away with saying they don't use testing by buying results of tests with either similar ingredients or the same ingredients. They cover their bums and get to say they don't do animal testing, because technically, it's not them doing the testing. And the companies may not endorse the animal testing, but like I said, it's mandated by law.

As far as being pale... I'm not translucent, but I'm definitely fair. There is a lot of Irish and British in me, and even though I'm half Portuguese... well, I still got the short end of the stick in skin color. My arms are a nice shade, but my legs? They look like I stole them off a mannequin or something, Although I do have "warm" skin, so that helps a little bit (you just can't see the olive skin shades until I tan a bit).

[GingerBiscuit]

I once burned having forgotten my sunscreen for half an hour at 4 pm. You wouldn't think anyone could burn that easy- but! Huge patch of burn on kym thigh that took three days to heal and is still slightly darker then the rest of my skin. Watching THAT part of my leg like a gawk in 10 years.

Anyway, I am milky pale with a faint pink blush at the cheeks. I never tan, or use fake tans and my skin is great. I'd rather be pale and interesting than look like one person I work with, who is pretty much orange and looks about ten years older because of her sun-worship. I like the slight biscuity-glow I get, I want no more than that.

Ooh, on the makeup front, I don't know if I'm allowed to post a link but there's a couple of sites who do makeup pale enough for me- in non-bunny tested and nasty-crud free formulas, no less, and they are REALLY good.
Search for Meow Cosmetics and Lily Lolo.

[morgana]

I'm what George Carlin calls "phosphorescent Irish". Except for the rosacea.

I'll have to try the "add white face paint to the foundation" trick.

[angelicafire]

I burnt once this summer through my clothes. I had on khaki pants and a dark red polo shirt AND SPF 50 all over my body.

Whenever I'm referencing the relationship between the sun and I, I describe it as "it's like putting a fork in a toaster... there's a lot of sparks and a lot of crying."

[Banrion]

I think I got a shot at the big prize, folks. I'm about as white as they come. If I wear shorts before applying self-tanner, the sight of my legs will give children nightmares for years to come.

I'm only white in the summer, in the winter I am closer to a shade of blue

[Boozy]

Looks like we need to have a contest to see who is the palest member of CS. Winner gets to hunt down Marxfan's customer and bitch-slap her.

I think I got a shot at the big prize, folks. I'm about as white as they come. If I wear shorts before applying self-tanner, the sight of my legs will give children nightmares for years to come.

[Banrion]

Norwegian/German/Irish over here...and I usually get fried during the summer. Even with sunscreen, I still get burnt.

What SPF do you use? And do you reapply every 90 mins - 2 hours? I have successfully avoided a sunburn for 3 solid summers now using SPF between 45 & 70 and religiously applying every 90 mins or so. I am talking some days of 14+ hours out in the sun with no shade, and still no burns. You can see how pale I am in the photo album. I thought for a long time it was impossible to avoid, now I know better, the sunscreen lies when it says for 4+ hours.