Red & White

   When I was younger, I used to be self-conscious about my fair skin and often wondered why my genes had been skipped over by the Greek vein that runs through my father's side of the family and found it's way into my younger brother, Henry.  I was endlessly jealous of him, olive skinned in the winter and beautifully brown the rest of the year, I,on the other hand,had to seek shady corners,to avoid heat rash and was embarrassed by my pasty zinc coated skin. My youngest brother also to join me in those corners as we represented the very Irish side of the family.

    Now that I am older I have come to terms with my pale skin and... actually like it now. I still have to watch my skin and lather sun block on, but my mother reminds me of how less sun equals less wrinkles. Fingers crossed! Sometimes this comment flies right over my head when I think of the many years I have ahead of me, but when I see the beautiful faces of Anjelica Huston or Costanza Pascolato of Vogue's Brazil, I understand more and more of what it means to take care of yourself when you are younger.

  Another bonus of fair skin is the, "red and white look." In the winter I take advantage of my skin at its fairest and add deep red lipstick and I love it. When I look at the pictures above all I can think of is how striking and fresh faced they look. Sometimes I am sad to see the winter go because it is often when i look my most striking. A nice benefit of avoiding the sun.

kiss