The popularity of self-tanning products is surging, showing that Americans are becoming aware of thedangers of tanning. They're putting their money where their skin is. Self-tanning products, or sunless tanning lotions, work by temporarily dyeing the top layer of the skin. The color slowly fades as the skin cells slough off, and usually disappear within a week unless the lotion has been reapplied. That's a lot more healthful than a suntan, however, because while suntans also start fading after a few days,the harm done to the skin is permanent. Getting a suntan breaks down the DNA in skin cells,but using self-tanners causes no such damage.At worst, sunless tanning products present a minimal risk of irritant or allergic reactions. Recent improvements in these sunless products have made the demand skyrocket. "They're easier to use than ever, the color appears more natural, and some lotions even contain sunscreen with a high sun protection factor (SPF)," says Stanley B. Levy, MD, adjunct clinical professor of dermatology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill. Butjust because your skin is darker doesn't mean you're protected from UV rays. DHA in self-tanning lotions — the ingredient that darkens the skin — does offer some protection, equivalent to an SPF of about 2 to 4.That's barely any protection at all, remember, even if the lotion contains a sunscreen, the protection lasts only a couple of hours! After two hours in the sun at most, you should put on more sunscreen." Sunless tanning lotions come in light, medium, and dark tones. People with dry skin can buy brands with emollients or humectants added for softness and moisture, while people with oily skin may find that gel or alcohol-based products work better. And recently, ingredients such as vitamins, herbal extracts, antioxidants, and alpha-hydroxy acids are being added to some products in an effort to expand their benefits. A last caution from The Skin Cancer Foundation: Don't be misled when products sound like self-tanning lotions — "Tanning amplifiers," "tan accelerators," "tanning promoters," "tanning enhancers," and worst of all, "tanning pills." Many of the products interact with the sun to create the tan, so they actually end up accentuating the damage done to the skin.The pills — which are commercially banned in the U.S. — are the worst. They contain the carotenoid chemical canthaxanthin (the same pigment found in carrots), and have been associated with hepatitis and urticaria, a condition that involves relentless itching and skin eruptions. "Read the ingredients on the label of all these products carefully," says Dr. Levy. "Unless their active ingredient is DHA, they're not bona fide sunless tanners, and they could very well be harmful for your skin."
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