the decline of an aesthetic standard that marked the 20th century

Around 4 p.m., in the alleys of Die, in the Drôme, Agnès, 59, stops her walk to put sunscreen back on her arms and her face, even if she wears a cap. For the fifties, protecting yourself from the sun is no longer an option since small white spots appeared on your body two years ago. Until then and since her adolescence, she let herself go to many excesses: “I was coated with fat to milk, coca-cola, monoi … I got drinking to sunbathe faster. »»

Everything was good to brown your skin. “The sun was my beauty product,” she sums up. Métis with naturally matte skin, Agnès sought an ever more accentuated shade. Mauricette, of the previous generation confirms. At the age of 75, she explains that “coming back tanned from the holidays was one of the pleasures of life”. An era that seems to be over today. If tanning retains a certain aura, it has stopped being a social imperative. We bronze less, but we bronze better – and above all, we no longer bronze for the same reasons.

This change of gaze marks a cultural break. For decades, tanning has been perceived as a sign of modernity, freedom, even success. It was in the 1920s that it all started, when Coco Chanel, accidentally tanned on vacation, involuntarily launched a trend.

“Very early on, some doctors alerted to the dangers of sun exposure,” recalls the historian Pascal Ory, author of The invention of tanning, “But the company does not care about these warnings”. The new fashion is relayed by the female press,, as Marie Claire, And partly supported by a scientific discourse which defends the benefits of physical and sports activities outdoors, such as sea baths.

The misdeeds come out of the shadows

This movement towards golden skin also accompanies a key moment in female emancipation, first carried by women of high society. With this “cultural revolution” of tanning, it becomes a symbol “of good health and prosperity”, adds the philosopher and writer Margaux Cassan, author ofUltra -purple . This evokes the “Rastignac du Soleil”, in reference to the character of Balzac in search of worldliness. Little by little, in the years 1970-1980, tanning established itself as an aesthetic and social norm. More than a pleasure, it becomes a status marker: “By sunbathing, one sought to be recognized by others as part of a caste, of an elite. »»

“The French still do not protect themselves enough”

Beyond the cosmetic aspect, the modification of the complexion constitutes a “physical materialization of the adage” when you want, we can “. Bronzer allows you to change skin, assert a personal metamorphosis. But the moult has a price, including Annabelle, 43, remembers very well. As a child, his parents took him to the beach all day in the sun “and it didn’t matter, in the evening we just put a little biafine”. She inherited stinging sunburns and beauty grains to watch. In the year 2000, prevention campaigns on the harms of the sun multiplied, but Annabelle is already protecting itself. Today, she refrains from repeating the same mistakes with her children. “They systematically carry anti-UV lycra for swimming and cream on the face,” she explains. Measures all the more essential as the family lives in Nice (Alpes-Maritimes) where “we are likely to catch a sunburn even at Christmas”. The forties claims to always have cream in her bag. Morgan, 35, feels just as concerned. Out of the question for him “to have cancer at 40”.

These precautions are not isolated: in France, sales of solar creams increased by 9 % between May 2024 and April 2025. On a global scale, the market represented $ 14.56 billion in 2024, and projections estimated it at 22.6 billion in 2032. A sign that sun protection is better integrated, but still far from being a collective reflex. “The French still do not protect themselves enough, tempers the Dr. Catherine Gaucher, dermatologist. She recalls that all skin cancers are linked to excessive sun exposure, but that many false ideas continue. Thus, 20 % of French people still think that artificial UVs prepare the skin in the sun. An ignorance as far as damaging as the number of skin cancers has tripled over the past three decades. According to the dermatologist’s experience, “people are less afraid of cancer, which would only happen to others, than aging”.

Dangerous trends on social networks

This fear of wrinkles, Marie particularly feels it. It fears, of course, skin cancer, but also premature aging. The 33 -year -old consultant admits to appreciate having a halé complexion but does not try to “be too tanned, because it is not very elegant”. It is even “a little unhealthy” for Lena, who takes advantage of the sun in Parisian parks. The 23 -year -old Breton with milky skin “likes to be tanned at the end of the summer” but wants to be reasonable in her exhibition.

Just like Lou-Anne and Agathe, aged 18, and used to spending time at the beach and the swimming pool every summer with the family. Today, before going out, young women consult the UV index to adapt their protection. “Being a little tanned, it looks good and self-confidence but it is not the goal of the holidays,” says Lou-Anne. This does not follow the latest Tiktok trends – burn lines, tan lines, sun tatoos (tanning marks or solar tattoos promoted to excess), which worry to the Ministry of Health.

If health and aesthetic issues have their share in this more moderate approach to tanning, Margaux Cassan also attributes it to a new perception of luxury by an economic elite in search of “eternal youth”. An aspiration incompatible with solar exhibition, recognized as responsible for skin aging. A sign of times: what was still dreaming yesterday is now watched with distrust, even irony. The tan remains prized but a page now turns: after a century of hegemony, the cult of tanning loses its brilliance.