“Do they provide you with sunscreen or bug spray?”I get asked that a lot concerning my time on Naked and Afraid. The answer is…no.
This photo was taken a few days after I got back from South Africa last year. At first and I thought I had permanent visible skin damage. I have always had freckles on my nose but never on my forehead, and now I was covered no them. I actually really liked how the freckles looked; I did not like knowing I got them from the sun basically, uh, burning my skin through my dermal layers. I was darker than I had ever been, and since my time in South Africa I tan a lot easier.
I have heard before that once a person gets severe sun damage, it is “easier” for them to tan afterwards (based on raised melanin levels or something like that). I’m not sure to the validity of that, but I can definitely testify that I since Africa, obtaining a tan comes MUCH quicker for me.
These freckles wore off after a month or so. The tan stayed forever, heck it still might on me a little. I’ve always tanned easily thanks to my Native American blood, and last summer I felt like I was getting darker much quicker. I’ll never be that tan again but looking back at this photo, boy was I looking like someone who was taking one-too-many-trips to the tanning salon
