Historically, even before it was discovered how dangerous the sun could be, it was seen as being unattractive to have tanned skin. However, in a modern twist of irony, the idea of what is fashionable has completely changed. Now it is extremely desirable to have a sun tan, even though we know about dangers such as UV exposure and skin cancer. Because of this, new sunless skin tanning products have been developed, which aim to tan the skin without the danger of a real sun tan, even so, these products can still be quite dangerous in some cases.
There are many ways in which a person can achieve the tan they want. The tradition method is sun bathing, however this is not as popular as it was in the 1970s as there are concerns about the risk of skin cancer, meaning that most people now decide not to expose themselves directly to the Sun’s harmful UV rays. Those people who do decide to sun bathe usually wear a sun tan lotion with a low SPF value; these are designed to block out some of the rays while at the same time allowing the skin to become tanned.
One way of achieving a tan without exposure to the sun is by using a bronzing product. These come in the form of creams, powders or lotions and are applied to the skin, to give the appearance of a sun tan. However, this is only temporary as the bronzer is easily removed by washing.
Spray based tanning booths are an alternative which are becoming more and more popular. The person has a tan applied to their skin by being sprayed with an air compressor or airbrush. They may also decide to use tanning accelerator products or tanning pills. The accelerator comes in the form of a lotion, or sometimes a pill, which contains tyrosine. This is a chemical which increases the formation of melanin in your skin, which in turn accelerates the tanning process. Tanning pills contain cathanxanthin, which changes the colour of the skin, and hence aids the tanning process.
A tanning bed, or tanning lamp, exposes the skin to UV rays without the person having to be in direct sunlight. However, the UV rays can be just as damaging as traditional sun bathing, as the skin is still exposed to these rays.
Sunless tanning lotions and sunless tanning sprays are products which contain di-hydroxyl acetone, or DHA. This is a compound which changes the colour of the dead cells inside the skin, and can offer a tanning effect which lasts for approximately one week.
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