4 ms·

I appreciate your and other commenters suggestions, but I've been down all these roads. I spent a whole summer slowly "working my way up," 5 mins a day the firs

by smeej 2y ago

I appreciate your and other commenters suggestions, but I've been down all these roads. I spent a whole summer slowly "working my way up," 5 mins a day the first week, 6 mins a day the 2nd week, 7 the 3rd, etc. It doesn't matter. As soon as I hit 12 minutes once, I turn bright red. I can do 11 for as many days as I care to and my skin looks like I've not been outside in months. I know it's not just subtly changing either, because I don't end up with tan lines even though I always wear the same basic swimwear. I've also tried dminder, low SPF, all kinds of things. As far as I know, there isn't anything congenitally "wrong" with me or anything, but I wouldn't know what to look for to rule it out. I even had someone tell me the GAPS diet would fix it, but I did that for two (very boring) years, and it didn't help either. It could be that it's just hopeless, but it's bizarre to me that I should end up so evolutionarily unfit for my home planet.

lamp_book 2y ago
I would look at a UV index chart for your area and act accordingly - e.g. deliberate sun exposure soon after sunrise and soon before sunset. But you might just be SOL, it sounds like you have skin type I on the Fitzpatrick scale which is no ability to tan or extremely difficult to tan. Something I considered is considered personally is moving somewhere further north and probably cloudier, just reality. Where I live now our max UV today is extreme - nearly 12. There is also supplementation you can look into but the science for isn’t concrete. I know there’s a thread on the tanning subreddit near the top of all time with a list of them and how they might help.
- smeej 2y ago
  I just checked and the nearest city I could find results for and we have zero extreme days, 25ish very high, and more than half the year very low. Unfortunately (for this purpose; I generally love it here), I'm about as far north as I can get without moving to Alaska or another country. I think I just have to choose between the risks of skin cancer and the risks of whatever else might happen if I don't get enough sunshine. The latter is a bit more nebulous for the time being, so I guess I'll just keep making sure I don't go out without clothing coverage or high SPF.

by smeej 2y ago

lamp_book 2y ago

I would look at a UV index chart for your area and act accordingly - e.g. deliberate sun exposure soon after sunrise and soon before sunset. But you might just be SOL, it sounds like you have skin type I on the Fitzpatrick scale which is no ability to tan or extremely difficult to tan. Something I considered is considered personally is moving somewhere further north and probably cloudier, just reality. Where I live now our max UV today is extreme - nearly 12. There is also supplementation you can look into but the science for isn’t concrete. I know there’s a thread on the tanning subreddit near the top of all time with a list of them and how they might help.

smeej 2y ago
I just checked and the nearest city I could find results for and we have zero extreme days, 25ish very high, and more than half the year very low. Unfortunately (for this purpose; I generally love it here), I'm about as far north as I can get without moving to Alaska or another country. I think I just have to choose between the risks of skin cancer and the risks of whatever else might happen if I don't get enough sunshine. The latter is a bit more nebulous for the time being, so I guess I'll just keep making sure I don't go out without clothing coverage or high SPF.