Sunless Tanning: Facts And Myths
A Just A Little Bit Orange Feature. By Clara Pettitt. Copyright © 03/21/1999. Last Updated 04/29/2003. All Rights Reserved.
Introduction
You want a tan. You know that tanning in the sun or with tanning beds causes skin cancer and aging of the skin. Current sunless tanning products which use dihydroxyacetone to color the skin do not appeal to you. You are looking for an alternative.
What does that make you?
Vulnerable.
The drive some people have to get a tan is as powerful and all-consuming as the impulse of others to lose weight fast, thicken thinning hair, and restore failing virility. Which is to say: sensible people who look both ways before crossing the street will do foolish and dangerous things when it comes to getting a tan.
There is no doubt that there are medical pioneers out there making incredible advances. But they don't have you in mind. They are concerned with people who have far more serious problems than shyness about wearing shorts; still, you stand to benefit from their research.
Unfortunately, their efforts are misrepresented by others, just out to make a buck, who would like you to think they have the answer for you now. In addition, there are dangerous products that have been around for years which are always trying to make a comeback.
The purpose of this article is to examine what sunless tanning alternatives exist now, what may exist in the future, and what should never have existed at all.
If there is a safe and effective alternative to dihydroxyacetone, the active ingredient in all sunless tanners, you will find out about it here. What you will not find is a calm, detached tone, because I lost my cool about this a long time ago [probably not long after I received the hundredth or so email asking me if tanning pills "worked".]
Table of Contents for Sunless Tanning: Facts And Myths
Introduction
Beta Carotene
Bronze Blast Drops
Canthaxanthin
Deep Tan
Dihydroxyacetone
EluSun
Erythrulose
Mahakanni
Melanotan
MelanX
Melasyn®
OSI Pharmaceuticals
Psoralens
pTpT (thymidine dinucleotide)
Tanning Accelerators
Tanning Pills
Tantastic
Tyrosine
Conclusion
Or just start at the top and work your way down...
