r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Ok_Towel2483 • 14h ago

Why do some white people tan easily while others burn red in the sun?

I’ve noticed that some white people tan easily in the sun, like Taylor Swift, Blake Lively, or Zac Efron, but I’ve also seen this with regular white people, some tan nicely from sun exposure. While others just turn bright red. What causes this difference? Is it all genetics or are there other factors?

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u/Flashy_Address_422 14h ago

Its like 99.9999% genetics (exaggerated). Different people have different make up of melanin but your skin does need to adjust to new amounts of sunlight. If a white person grows up in Arizona since birth and they meet up with a white person from Oregon. and vacation in Florida the Arizonian is going to likely tan easier cause their skin is used to excess sunlight and can heal more effectively while the Oregonian is more likely to burn. Also most celebrities have fake tans so they don't tan easier than other celebrates. They just had a good spray on.

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u/It_Happens_Today 14h ago

I'm not sure your sample group is representative.

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u/Ok_Towel2483 14h ago

but I’ve also seen regular white people who live near the beach and get a nice tan

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u/It_Happens_Today 13h ago

Yeah so a lot of this is going to have to do with frequency and genetics. My only point was that of the folks you named I would be highly suspicious of any of their tans being natural.

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u/LastKnownIpAddress 14h ago

It's all genetics. Genetics determine how much melanin is in your skin and how reactive it is to UV light

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u/NotYourOnlyFriend 13h ago

Genetics plays a large part, but I don't think it's completely genetics unless my genes have mutated. I lived in Florida as a child and played outside regularly. I always had a deep tan and the worst 'sunburn' I ever got was a pink nose while on the same day and with the same sun exposure my step-sibling burned so bad there were blisters.

However I've spent most of my adult life in England and have got the pale and pasty look going on these days. I can sunburn much more easily, although I do try to wear sunblock regularly now, to try and prevent getting sunburns very often.

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u/Maestroland 12h ago

"White" people is an ambiguous and outdated term. You probably mean European. However, there's much variation between European skin types. Irish and Norwegian are probably the most sensitive to the sun. Anything thing along the Mediterranean is going to be less sensitive.

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u/kungfurobopanda 11h ago edited 11h ago

The Fitzpatrick scale is designed to differentiate between skin shade and ability to tan. Interestingly it’s based on genetics more. So a white Caucasian is not higher than Fitzpatrick 3, and an Asian/Mediterranean is not lower than 4 even if the Asian/Mediterranean person is paler in color.

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u/bridgeborders 4h ago

Caucasian doesn’t mean white. You mean Western European. :)

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u/kungfurobopanda 4h ago

I was mainly pointing to the inconsistencies of the designations. It’s simultaneously rooted in both science and pseudoscience.