Does very pale skin and brown hair/eyes look sexy or gross?

I'm Norwegian ethnicity and have naturally very pale skin. I've been using self-tanning lotion regularly throughout the summer and I feel sexier when I use it, but my mom tells me it looks horrible and I should just leave my skin how it naturally is. I hate the idea of using a tanning bed though and I always wear sunscreen when I'm outside because I don't want to get skin cancer or age prematurely. Having healthy skin when I'm older is important to me but I don't want to look like a ghost while I'm young. I think pale skin looks good on redheads and blonde/blue-eyed people, but I have dark brown eyes and light brown hair, so I feel like it doesn't look quite right, like my skin should match my hair and eyes more. I know some female celebrities are really pale also and manage to pull it off, but I never hear guys in my age group refer to them as "hot." Should I continue fake-tanning or is it possible to still look sexy as a pale brunette?