Every year for Carnival, in spite of all the sun block I slather on, I always manage to get a few shades darker than my post Carnival complexion; one year I was sun burnt to a crisp, but that is another story! So, I was very happy this year that the costume consisted of a collar that I thought would protect my back and shoulders from getting those dreadful bikini tan lines. Little did I know the top of the collar, close to the nape of my neck, had a small space and the straps of my tankini which were unwittingly open to the glorious sun, are now branded unto my back! I guess I have to be thankful for small mercies in that it rained on Carnival Tuesday so the tanning effects could have been much worse, but my chest did not fare any better. The part of my breasts that were exposed in the tankini and now several shades darker than the other areas, so I am once again stuck with a weird tan on my chest and on my back!
Now I know the only way for a tan to fade is to give it time, however I was quite peeved to have this X on my back which shows when I wear a tank top or cami. Therefore I took some advice to try and fade the tan by getting another tan......makes sense doesn't it? Well NO it did not work! Instead of just making the X darker I now have tan lines from the bikini I wore to the beach! And this after I spent time in the sun at Maracas and Tobago! The photo above I took on Monday, which is after spending all day on the beach at Tobago on Saturday and Maracas a few weeks ago. I have to say the X did get a little "tanned" and now looks a little better than it did than on Ash Wednesday.
To get the desired effect, which would be to tan the X to match the rest of my back, I would have to sun bathe topless, face down, for a few hours to make any significant change. Since I am not up to doing that any time soon the tan will have to stay,unfortunately. When I go on vacation in May and June I plan on spending lots of time on the beach, hopefully the tan will eventually disappear. To speed it up I am doing lots of exfoliating; body scrub galore whenever I take a shower.
The funny thing though, is that once the weird tan fades away and your complexion returns to normal it is Carnival once again and you are stuck with another tan for the next few months! The one part of my body which normally gets tanned and did not get so much of a tan this year is my face. See I wore a hat on Carnival Monday and that helped protect my face a lot, and it was overcast most of the time on Tuesday so that saved my face as well. I can still use my regular make up and it does not look off so I know I did not get much of a tan at all.
How many of you are now sporting a weird tan after Carnival and what are you guys doing to help your tan fade? If you have any advice on getting a tan to fade faster or a story to share, let me know! You know what they say, misery loves company.
How many of you are now sporting a weird tan after Carnival and what are you guys doing to help your tan fade? If you have any advice on getting a tan to fade faster or a story to share, let me know! You know what they say, misery loves company.
28 comments:
i'm doing the same thing like you, exfoliating to no end!! : )
my upper body has a tan line from where my bikini was and my face is now two different shades, so i'm using a darker foundation on my forehead and the same shade i was using before carnival on the rest of my face.
only thing though is that i'm off to antigua for vacation in april so this tan ain't going nowhere soon, if anything i guess it will get worse : (
ah, well u can sunbathe topless in Antigua at the hotels lol.. so that might work in preventing further tan lines!
i was thinking about doing that! hehehehe
which hotel are you staying at and have you ever been to Antigua before?
If you want some more Antigua info, email me and I will direct you to my Antigua website ;)
i've never been there before but i'm staying at the galley bay resort!
SAWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!! It is supposed to be one of the best hotels in Antigua!!
If you want to do a really great tour of the island check my friend Eli Fuller:
http://www.adventureantigua.com/
You can also visit his blog for more info as well:
http://antiguaisland.blogspot.com/
Last time I visited Antigua was in 2004 and I personally find it is a beautiful island with amazing beaches.
At that time I stayed at Jolly Beach which was recently renovated and it was pretty good. But recent reviews on tripadvisor.com have not been great at all. The beach there is AMAZING though :D
Have fun and do the tour with Eli, you will have a BLAST!
thanks saucy - much appreciated!
well I came back to DC with a tan but thanks to the cold it is almost gone,but as one said as soon as it is gone its back to Trini for more sun,fun,burns
Having so many european friends, I have learned the art of removing as much of your bikini as possible while tanning without actually being "topless", close tho hehe
Yuh jes have to make up yuh mind ;)
As you probably read on my blog, I'm doing the exact opposite of you and trying my best to KEEP my tan. For me, it almost feels like I am wearing my vacation on my body, so I want to hold on to it for as long as possible, because it'g going to be quite a while before I have an opportunity to sunbathe again.
But exfoliation, and patience, is really the only answer if you want it to fade. If you use a product containing salycilic acid, that might speed up the process, but some people find it too drying or irritating.
ttfootball, yuh peak meh curiousity - how do you do dat?
for us up here in the land of ice and cold (well for me anyway) it is a sign of prestige and honor to return with a tan...as to say...
"aha, you water cooler fools, I was away in the land of sun...see...look admire my bronze complexion...take in my sunkissed hair and sun burnt cheeks and lips...oh and don't forget my tan lines in case you forgot how much lighter I was when I left you sitting at your work station two weeks ago...you poor fools were here freezing your bums off."
hahaha! alas, when you don't have daily sun in yuh tail, it don't take long for those lands to fade. SO I CAN'T HELP MUCH.
but...oh until those lines fade...it's all the gloat and glory! (well for me anyway)
hahahaha!
i meant "lines to fade"
There are hint of a "reverse tatoo" where the body paint designs were on my arms, but they are fading fast. Maybe, the reason is less UV in New York City and winter is just finally going to sleep as spring takes a wake up yawn. Also, thanks to Saucy's Carnival Virgin tips, I deligently applied sunblock (SPF 70, for me taking no chances; I got sunburned several years ago) on my face, neck, and shoulders at least once everyday I was in Trinidad. My peeps in Trinidad said I got black (my godson, especially, called me "blackie"). In New York, my cousins said, "boy you got black" (the office folks also commented on a tan as well). Geez, I always thought I WAS black!!! LOL.
I love it saucy, when ever i see my tan lines...it reminds me of where i was a month ago.
LOVE IT!
I am in the same boat as Squeezle and JJ. I am trying to hold onto my tan as long as possible. Just yesterday someone asked me if I went to the tanning salon... :).
Saucy, do you remember the airbrush tatoos on my stomach - well after I scrubbed of the tatoo a nice tanned outline of the tatoo remains... :). It is my daily reminder that I was in Trinidad for carnival...until it fades :(
Well, i'm a darkie and I got purple after my trip to Trinidad....but I LOVE IT!!! I can still see my carnival bra top imprinted on my chest and I hope it last till next year! I love getting a tan because to me it smoothens out my skin and complexion... I look forward to it every year. Amazingly though, I can never seem to get a decent tan in the United States, in the summer I think I look crispy and not glowy like I do in Trinidad.
The comments are usually very funny to me, when I return to the office..."Dang girrrlll...u got reall bleck! What was u doin' jus chillin in the sun all day?" Dis time dem lookin pale pale pale....hehehe...if dey only know eh!
btw, saucy. dat's a nice lookin' back too if i could comment. mine has a few pimples and blemishes id rather not share at this particular moment, but yours is quite toned! you coulda been a "back" model! :-)
Saucy
As you can see you are talking to the wrong crowd. I FULLY agree with JJ tan lines are glorified here in the cold.
My only area of concern was my forehead, I'm sure you remember with the Nubians headpiece looked like, well Ash Wednesday I got up with a WICKED widows peak all the way to the middle of my eyebrows. When I got to Tobago I laid in the sun FACE UP to try and even it out, it helped a little but I had to resort to getting a side bang to cover it.
I tried to capture it with a picture for IP's Tan Lines contest but you see it best in person.
I didn't really get tan 'lines' per se probably because i wore a corsette. But my face and chest are now a nice brown that I actually like, then i went t othe beach 2 weekens straight after carnival which made me look browner, the only problem was the makeup not quite matching so I have been staying away from the beach since then. I actually don't want the brown to fade, i like it!
"Amazingly though, I can never seem to get a decent tan in the United States, in the summer I think I look crispy and not glowy like I do in Trinidad."
Caisoqueen I was always wondering the same thing. I get all kinds of "you're glowing" comments when I get back from the Islands, I got "you must of met a man", or "something about you looks so different". But a NY tan just make you look greasy and miserable. For weeks after returning from T&T I don't need any powder on my face, just my eyeliner, mascara and lipstick.
whey! Like I really talking to the wrong crowd LOL. I can't believe allyuh real liking the tan lines:D
Maybe I should take a pic of my breasts and allyuh will see what a state they in!!! The top REAL brown and the rest that was covered REAL pale.. in additon my arms are the darkest part of my body so when I look in the mirror I have 3 diff. shades going on! And my bottom half did not tan since I was wearing pants but I got a bikini bottom tan from the beach LOL.
Triniprincess are they going to post the tan line pics on IP's website? I am sure there were some interesting ones with the Goddess cage bra hehe.
jj thanks much, but girl yuh gots to know how to pose to hide all the lil sins lol.
LOL, I have 4 words for you, Sauce.
Goddess
and
Defenders
Frontline.
PRESSURE!! lol
Me too! I love my tan. And thanks to TRIBE and the clear bra straps, I didn't have any strap lines, just beautiful milk chocolate complexion from hairline to boobies!
LOL, not trying to get rid of the colour I got, it was nice it stayed for awhile, people told me I had a tan when I got back, although I don't purposely try & suntan, I use a lot of sunscreen & stay out of the sun. (trying to avoid cancer or any more freckles, yuck!)
Lol...too funny. A few yrs ago I tied a bandana around my head and it covered half of my forehead...needless to say i was not pleasd when I took it off Tuesday night! DOn't know what I was thinking lol. When I returned to the US my nickname was two tomed for a couple of months!
I use tanning lotion (NOT self tanner) on the tan lines and it reduces them.
I'm talking about the Jergens lotion with added tinter for a summer "glow" kind of lotion.
it help disguise them until they even out
buh what d ass allyuh complaining about??NOBODY IN HERE HAVE A WORST TAN THAN ME!! My Dragon tattoo STILL TAN into my back . STEUPS
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