what happens to you in direct sunlight?
By jb78000
@jb78000 (15139)
November 5, 2009 9:19am CST
do you turn into a rock? ashes? a lobster? or even, god forbid, freckle? . or are you one of those very boring people who just goes a bit darker? in my case my hair bleaches - it starts off dark and then develops some truly hideous tangerine streaks. just in case people think this is deliberate and i am trying to be a footballer's wife it often gets dyed when i am in a hot country (you very rarely get direct sunlight here). and if that was not bad enough i rarely burn but i do get some freckles.
7 people like this
23 responses
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
5 Nov 09
Hi jb, i try and avoid direct sunlight and only venture into it when walking between shops and whilst in the sea, always with high factor on. Just from that it makes my hair blonder and my shoulders tan but the dangers of burning are all around me with the scarlet tourists so I just have more sense. I would burn though, whilst my son goes as brown as a nut.
1 person likes this
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
5 Nov 09
I am English born, with very fair skin and bright red hair (OK so it has faded somewhat now, but I'm still a redhead!).
When we arrived in Australia I was 11 years old and I lapped up all the sunshine. Back then there were no warnings about the dangers and no such thing as sunscreens. Because I wouldn't spend any more time at "home" than I had to, I would be out cycling the streets from sun up to sun down, apart from the time in school. As soon as I was old enough I bought myself a motorbike to replace the pushbike.
I had sunburn on sunburn, blisters on blisters. Now, so many years later, I can't understand WHY I still have my English complexion. It should have been frazzled. The only consequence of my stupidity was one melanoma on my left inside leg, just below the knee. It was removed in time, but a piece 13cm diameter and 3cm deep was cut out. Because the blood vessels, muscles etc were interrupted that leg gives me a little trouble sometimes.
Now, I almost never go in the sun - and in Queensland, Australia that isn't easy!
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
6 Nov 09
jb: I CHOOSE not to go in the sun. The sun is VERY hot, especially when it is also humid. The older I get, the less I like the sun. I am usually the first person to move into the shade if talking outdoors. I just don't LIKE being in the sun.
Holly: So, you don't know everything about me yet! Just wait until we meet and don't stop talking for days. Actually, that melanoma was caught just in time. It had been there for years and I had ignored it as another freckle. Then one day while I was in the doctor's with my son, without any forethought, I asked him about it - and next thing, I was under the knife.
@JodiLynn (1417)
• United States
5 Nov 09
I have olive toned skin, so I take forever to tan, but when I do, I morph into different nationalities with a quick color job (which is EASY since i have 2 hairdressing kids!). Blonde makes me look like an old beach bag, golds are better, auburns & brunettes are bestest for me and black is to extreme.
I get "reverse" freckles on my arms, most go away, but I have two permanent RF's that stay year round. No regular freckles here....
Sunlight makes me happy...get all warm n fuzzy...kinda like a rabbit....
1 person likes this
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
5 Nov 09
Hello, Judith. I have Lupus, which means my face is sensitive to light and sun, so I have to wear Factor 40 sunscreen all the time. This could be a real problem living in Spain, but I still manage to get a really great tan. I have a sprinkling of freckles on my arms, but they look quite good with the tan as it happens. I also get fair streaks in my hair, but not a lovely tangerine shade like you. The main thing that happens to me in the sun is that my poor arthritic joints don't hurt any more, which is wonderful.
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
6 Nov 09
Never thought of it before, Judith, but being a were-something might be influencing my serial killing activities. I'll get Tony to lock me in my cage at the next full moon! Thanks for the potential life-saving information.
@sunny68 (1327)
• India
6 Nov 09
yup!!...i am just one of those 'boring people'..... so i will have to wait till the ozone layer depletes to become 'interesting people'.....
your hair getting tangerine streaks may as well mean keratin deficiency.....you should seriously consider to start eating carrots......
1 person likes this
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
6 Nov 09
That's lovely, actually. Freckles.. I don't have it. Worst come to worst, I'll go bronzed. And then when the weather cools down for some periods of time, the bronze will lose some of its color. Here in my country, it's mostly tropical, and beach activities are quite common. My idea of a fine relaxation. Sun block must always be there..
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
5 Nov 09
hi jb blue bunny oh I burn red all over any exposed area, and am so uncomfortable I am just grouchy as sin. I do try to keep sunscreen on now,but its too late, got the freckles all over my
arms. I am very fair complected and burn very easily.wonder if red goes very well with blue green eyes and silver hair, as in sunburned to a crisp. he he.
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
6 Nov 09
I turn to dust I burn easily and my hair lightens from dark blond to really light and I do experience freckles on my face.
@celticeagle (168478)
• Boise, Idaho
6 Nov 09
I am a vampire(creature of the night) and I am not in the daylight much. In the Winter months that is. My hair gets lighter in the summer months if I am in the sun alot. I used to freckle. Not so much anymore since I am ancient now and my skin is also. I cover my head and most of my body and use tanner. I am sorry to hear you don't get direct sunlight where you are. I hope you take a Vitamin D supplement so your health doesn't suffer. Do you have any mood changes due to the lack of light? I have S.A.D. so that is why I ask. I used to burn but since one year I took some pigment tablets I don't anymore. Weird,huh? This is the only thing I can contribute to this phenomena.
@celticeagle (168478)
• Boise, Idaho
6 Nov 09
Interesting. No, the pills haven't turned my skin dark. This was years ago when I took them and my skin was alittle differently colored than normal but now it isn't. I recall my urine was orange then as well.
@jb78000 (15139)
•
6 Nov 09
well we do get daylight but it is often cloudy (and wet). not much sunshine . i don't like getting up when it is still dark and yes i don't like short days very much although i don't get s.a.d. interesting about the pigment tablets - has your skin gone darker from them or is it just not burning?
1 person likes this
@grandpa_lash (5225)
• Australia
6 Nov 09
In my case, my long distant aboriginal blood comes racing to the fore and I turn a deep chocolate brown. When I was young I also developed a shock of vivid white blonde hair, and my parents could always find me in the surf by looking for the Mars Bar with white icing. In later years my hair went truly white, and when wearing my mystical black faux satin cloak with my long hair unrestrained, from behind I look like a pint of Guinness.
Nowt wrong wi' freckles, lass.
Lash
@grandpa_lash (5225)
• Australia
7 Nov 09
I'm an avid fan of Dalziell and Pascoe (books and TV series), and it seems to be infecting me. Besides, my girl is Yorkshire bred.
Lash
@wonttakelong (3555)
• United States
11 Nov 09
my friends call me a vampire
and not just because I like my steaks extra rare and I get excited by the sight of blood
but because if I am in the sun for more than 5-10 minutes I burn to a crisp
I mean lobster red and blistery kind of burn
I have never tanned
I have two skin shades - pale and burnt LOL
@linamachina (521)
• United States
6 Nov 09
Hi jb, nor troll, nor vampire, nor a creature from the sea, nor a freckle I can see, but sunlight does affect me. (I'm testing out rhyming poetry.) Anyway, when I was younger, and playing out in the sun for hours, my siblings and I would just tan, never burn. My mom was not a sun worshipper, she wore hats, sun glasses and carried an umbrella, not when it rained but when it was sunny to stay out of the sun. So, she sort of instilled that "do not broil yourself in sun on purpose" mantra into my head. I put on the highest sunblock possible if I am going to be in direct sunlight. Now that I am older I have also developed rosacea and it gets worse in the sun (my face, particularly nose area gets really red and bumpy, I look like Rudolph the red nose reindeer) so, if I were to be in direct sunlight, without sunblock, I do not burn and everywhere the sun's rays would reach, but my nose, would tan. My nose would belong with the rest of the marine life as a lobster. Nothing happens to my hair that I am aware of.
@linamachina (521)
• United States
6 Nov 09
Oops, Jb, its not my nose that tans, its the rest of me, my nose just gets red and bumpy. Holly, the rosacea developed about 1 1/2 years ago and sometimes it would go away but always have a tint of red, nowadays it is really bad and rosacea acne accompanies it. I have tried different things to try to control it but...nothing seems to work, although staying out of direct sunlight is good. It's a good thing I have a winning personality or I might be really self-conscious (smile). Do you use anything special on your skin?
@linamachina (521)
• United States
7 Nov 09
That's the truth Holly! I also use Baby Magic! I sometimes will get it on my eyelids as well. I haven't found a good moisturizer yet. I was using this Dermacreme Regeneration (or something along those lines of a name), it was a free sample and it made the rest of my face feel great but its so expensive. So I'm still at trial and error. Thanks for the tips and the nice words!
@sudiptacallingu (10879)
• India
6 Nov 09
OMG this discussion started out so funny
Now that I have sobered down, well I am Indian so born and bred in the tropics and hot temperate regions so the sun is my all time friend. We are genetically brown so it hardly makes any difference to our complexion and its not really compulsory to use a sunscreen in the summer (your skin would not really burn to ashes, though the cosmetics companies would have you believe so). But I really dislike the sea beach tan…you can very well understand that with our brown complexion, if it gets darkened further at patches, how hideous we look!
@ladym33 (10979)
• United States
5 Nov 09
Well it has changed as I have gotten older, I don't know if it is me or if the sun is just stronger then it used bo. I used be able to stay out in the sun for hours and never burn, I would just get darker. Now I burn if I am out in sun swimming at the beach. I am usually OK in a T-Shirt and shorts walking around, but if I am in a bathing suit near water I will burn. My hair is also really dark brown almost black, but if I spend a lot of time in the sun it will get a little coppery read steaky thing going. It's not that noticable only in the sun and in certain lighting, but it is definitely there.
@AndrewFreyne (6281)
• United Kingdom
6 Nov 09
Well, I love the sun and it doesn't show itself often enough here in England! At the height of the summer though I do cycle on a regular basis and I pick up the sun quite well! My arms get very brown and surprisingly I don't burn! I'm one of those people that do pick up the sun quite well. When summer disappears and we start entering the winter months once more my tan fades and I became pale once more! Andrew
@PeacefulWmn9 (10420)
• United States
6 Nov 09
I get blond streaks in my brown hair, and a few freckles. Too long out, and I burn and then peel...ugly.
Just the right amount and I get tan.
@bluray (408)
• Singapore
6 Nov 09
I dont like direct sunlight.In winters I can still bear it but I hate them on summers.
My skin is very sensitive so it easily get tanned in direct sunlight and then i took lots of tome to improve my skin tone.I dont forget to apply sunscreen once I am out in direct sunlight.