Myth: “Native British cannot tan well but Nordics and Germans can”

[slaog]

The third girl has a unique look. She must descend from the original Britons.

Asian.

[Anglo-Celtic]

Asian.

Ya' think? I guessed Welsh.

[Oliver109]

English in general often seem to tan better than the Scots, especially southern and eastern English, i think that many English when it comes to skin tone are really no lighter than most French though that discounts the fact that properly pale toned types are much rarer in France than in England as the general tone seems to be more of a pinkish yellow.

[Avicenna]

It's not really a myth , although I have seen some native Brits with a golden brown skin . When I came back from holiday at the airport , I kid you not I saw pretty much most ukranians ( pretty sure they were Ukrainians) with feep brown tanned skin .

[Loki]

What is the origin this myth? I think it is clear that any of those ethnic groups cannot tan well.

Many Brits are similar to Scandinavians genetically, and can easily tan a golden colour, especially in Eastern England. But then again, there is a certain segment of the population with very light skin, often prone to freckling, sometimes combined with red hair. This type has a skin that is sensitive to the sun, and cannot tan.

[Loki]

The third girl has a unique look. She must descend from the original Britons.

I hope you're not trolling. She's obviously an immigrant, possibly Filipino.

[Nurzat]

well a mild tan does seem to improve appearance in anyone, especially on lighter pigmented people that slight red/orange/yellow note of a slight tan seems to look good

[Arūnas]

it's a myth or I do have British genes

after driving a car:



an hour later

[Grace O'Malley]

I do not consider this map very reliable, even for Spain type V it is very exotic.

Most of these are from Skin Cancer studies. I know the Irish figures are from this study.

Abstract
The Irish are generally considered to have a fair complexion. We surveyed the distribution of skin type in an Irish city population (n = 1000). Skin type prevalence was as follows: type 1: 26%, type 2: 49.6%, type 3: 19.7%, type 4: 4.3%, type 5: 0.3%, type 6: 0.1%. Sunbeds were used by 16% of the population. Malignant melanoma occurred in 1.4% of patients, non-melanoma skin cancer in 6%. The high frequency of sunbed use in a fair skinned population and the high incidence of skin cancer is disturbing and highlights the need for ongoing public health education regarding ultraviolet radiation risks.


https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02944190

I'm not going to search for the other countries but I think some of the other countries are correct. I've seen a Danish and Finnish study for example and the figures look similar.

It's all to do with percentages anyway. Even some Irish can tan well but a lot of the population has skin that isn't the best at tanning.

Yes Aussies tan but they have one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world.



Whether Scandinavians can tan or not they appear to have high melanoma rates. So maybe they should not be going for that golden brown tan.

[Oliver109]

Many Brits are similar to Scandinavians genetically, and can easily tan a golden colour, especially in Eastern England. But then again, there is a certain segment of the population with very light skin, often prone to freckling, sometimes combined with red hair. This type has a skin that is sensitive to the sun, and cannot tan.

Yep, i think this map points things out quite well: you can see how different eastern England is and Wales despite being less blonde is also paler skinned something i really noticed when i was in Cardiff 2 weeks ago.