Some people have a perfect tanning gene, while others may never get the tan they want no matter how hard they try. Whether your skin tans or burns after sun exposure depends on your level of melanin pigmentation (shown by how dark your skin is or can get).
Yes, it is possible for individuals with very pale skin to have difficulty tanning. People with fair skin typically have less melanin, the pigment responsible for skin color and tanning. This can make them more prone to sunburn rather than tanning.
People with predominantly pheomelanin (like skin type 1 or 2, 2-3; cool or neutral undertones) mostly either sunburn, people with predominantly eumelanin have naturally very dark skin that doesn't get noticeable tans.
Because vitiligo spots have no melanin, they can't tan. If the skin isn't protected with sunscreen, vitiligo patches may burn or scar. Getting a tan on the rest of your body will only highlight the white patches, especially if you have light skin.
Fair Skin Is Capable of Tanning, Too. As the summer sun starts to heat up, people flock to the beach to work on their summer tan. For the longest time it was believed that people with fair skin and red hair were only capable of turning tomato red under sun.
Therefore, what will determine whether a person can tan or simply turn red is both the amount of melanin produced by their skin cells and its quality. Or, the ratio between “good and bad” melanin.
Type IV – Brown skin color, brown hair, and brown eyes, tans more than average, rarely burns, and rarely freckles. Common ethnic background: the Mediterranean, Southern European, Hispanic.
Individuals with fair skin have a low production of melanin, which increases their sensitivity to the sun's rays. This skin type is particularly prone to sunburn and often struggles to tan. However, it's not impossible for fair skin to achieve a slight tan.
When learning how to avoid sun tanning, remember to wear dark and bright-coloured clothes as these absorb more UV rays and restrict those harmful rays from penetrating your skin. While wearing sunglasses to prevent sun damage, you can also use a hat with a brim. This will protect your face from direct sun rays.
Basically, hypopigmentation is skin that won't tan, or looks lighter than the rest of your normal skin color.
Sensitive skin can be difficult to manage, but it doesn't have to stop you from achieving a glowing tan. Whether you've been longing for a sunny day spent lounging in the park, or dreaming of a beach holiday, with the right levels of protection you can keep sensitive skin feeling fabulous all day long.
Everyone has a limit. Your body can only create a certain amount of Melanin at a time which means that your tanning will only go so dark within a day. It also means that if you exceed this time frame then you could put your skin at risk.
However, even though skin colour influences its ability to tan, all skin types can achieve a sun-kissed hue. This will, of course, occur to varying degrees and will not require the same duration of exposure.
Today, having a tan is associated with people that have an active, outdoor lifestyle. A tan therefore makes people look healthier and fit. Pale skin is often associated with sickness (e.g. anaemia) which is another, indirect reason why a tan makes people seem healthier.
Dendrites become shorter as the melanocytes age, making it difficult to place melanosomes and pigment evenly throughout the spinosum layer, thereby reducing the epidermal barrier defence. 7.
The primary stimulus for melanogenesis and subsequent melanosome production is UV radiation, which upregulates melanocyte production of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) and its downstream products, alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).
The incidence of this change varies, and depends on the type of medication involved. Some of the most common drugs involved are NSAIDs, antimalarials, psychotropic drugs, Amiodarone, cytotoxic drugs, tetracyclines, and heavy metals such as silver and gold (which must be ingested, not just worn).
Genetic factors influencing sunburn and tanning
Certain genes influence melanin production and skin color, affecting whether you tan or burn. People with fair skin have less melanin and are more prone to burning, while those with darker skin have more melanin and are more likely to tan.
Paleness may be the result of decreased blood supply to the skin. It can also be due to decreased number of red blood cells (anemia). Paleness of the skin is not the same as loss of pigment from the skin.
When the skin is damaged by the sun, the sunburn may tan, but with every burn the chance of developing non-melanoma skin cancer increases. Sunburn can also lead to hyperpigmentation (darker patches of skin) and photoageing (when the skin ages prematurely).
Golden skin tones are medium skin tones. This skin tone is usually seen in people of Asian and Southern European ethnic descent.
Pale or white skin burns easily and tans slowly and poorly: it needs more protection against sun exposure. Darker skin burns less and tans more easily. It is also more prone to develop postinflammatory pigmentation after injury (brown marks).
“Darker-skinned people tan more deeply when compared to those who have lighter skin. People having lighter skin tones cannot create enough amount of melanin pigment,” Dr Kapoor added.