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.
