Understanding How Sunless Tanning Works

The governments of the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia are leading the pack of nations that are starting to warn people over possible cancer risks brought about by sunbathing or indoor skin tanning.

In the recent years, more scientific evidences have been made public over how excessive and unhealthy levels of ultraviolet radiation can prompt the body to produce too much melanoma, a cancer-inducing substance produced in the layers of the skin to produce darkness or tan. Such assertions are practically among the reasons why sunless tanning has become popular.

Baby boomers could easily relate to the process of sunless tanning. That is because it was in the 1960s when sunless tanning was initially introduced to the market through a ‘quick tanning lotion’ launched by a skin tanning and sun coloration company that is still active these days.

During those years, sunless tanning was characterized for the orange hue people who used the sunless tanning products got. Sunless tanning was an instant hit that in a matter of years, research about the process further developed and many other companies followed suit in offering to the public different types of sunless tanning products.

Overall safety of sunless tanning

To date, sunless tanning is still considered very safe, compared to the health risky factors identified with the two other methods of getting a tan, namely, the traditional sunbathing and the popular indoor tanning using tanning beds and tanning booths in skin salons. Sunless tanning can be considered artificial tanning.

Looking at exactly how sunless tanning works in the skin would explain why the procedure is much safer and is much more convenient and advisable unlike its counterparts.

Usual sun tanning activities like sunbathing and indoor tanning usually induce production of melanin, skin pigmentation substances in the deepest layer of the skin called basal layer of the epidermis. When too much melanin is produced, a cancerous substance called melanoma accumulates and is spread in the skin cells, and possibly to other body organs like the liver, the lungs and the brain.

Comparatively, in sunless tanning, skin coloration occurs in the outer layer of the epidermis called the horny layer or the stratum corneum. Because skin pigmentation is occurring at the outermost layer, sunless tanning does not induce production of cancerous melanoma. There is also reduced risk of accidentally or unknowingly exposing the skin to too much supply of harmful ultraviolet radiation.

Basic sunless tanning products’ active ingredients

The American Academy of Dermatology has three substances that could serve as separate active ingredients to products made to produce or generate sunless tanning. These substances and their basic functions to produce skin coloration or tanning are as follows:

Dihydroxyacetone or DHA – This substance in nature is a colorless sugar that is known to interact with the skin’s dead cells located at the outermost layer of the skin. The reaction of DHA with the dead cells facilitate the skin coloration change, bringing about the orange hue apparent in the skin.

The skin naturally has dead skin cells, and those cells usually stay in the skin for about seven days. This is an explanation why sunless tanning usually lasts just about a week.

Tyrosine – Tyrosine is an amino acid that has the ability to instantly raise the formation of melanin in the skin even without much exposure to much ultraviolet radiation from the sun and other artificial sources.

No wonder, tyrosine has been identified as a tanning accelerator. It can be found as an active ingredient to many sunless tanning lotions, sprays and gels.

Canthaxanthin – A distinct orange-brown skin color is usually identified with sunless tanning products containing canthaxanthin. This substance is usually used as a food additive to enhance color of food products.

You can observe some types of foods to turn brown when exposed to air for some time. That is the idea behind canthaxanthin as a sunless tanning ingredient. However, safety of this substance for skin tanning is still in debate as studies remain in place to prove is disprove the canthaxanthin’s overall safety.

When using sunless tanning products, you are reminded that the tan would last for just up to a week. That is because dead cells in the skin are constantly and naturally worn off and removed from the ski within that period. And as dead cells get off, so do the effect of sunless tanning.

However, there is no need to worry, because it is safe to re-apply sunless tanning products to the skin when the previous sunless tanning application has gone off.