Last summer the new generation of sunless tanners (STS) rocked the $500 million sun-care products market with a growth of nearly 60 percent over the previous year. This year again, the lure of a fast fake tan that looks almost real, combined with growing fears of skin cancer, has launched a tidal wave of consumer interest. With 18 percent of total sun-care sales, “sunless tanners are the most explosive part of the market,” says Jack Surrette, a vice president with Hawaiian Tropic.
Some of the new STs sport glamorous French names like Creme Solaire Anti-Rides (Clarins; $18.50 for 2.7 ounces) and Lait Auto-Bronzant Personnalise (Lancome: $20 for 4.2 ounces), but they work on exactly the same principle as far less expensive potions from sun-care specialists like Coppertone ($5.25 for 3.75 ounces of Sunless Tanning Extra Moisturizing Lotion) and Hawaiian Tropic (about $8 for 6 ounces of Self Tanning Milk).
All the lotions and gels contain the same active ingredient: DHA (dihydroxyacetone). Reacting chemically with proteins in the skin’s upper layers, DHA turns it tan in about three hours. The color fades gradually over a few days as skin cells are sloughed away. How dark the shade is depends on how thickly the stuff is applied and the concentration of DHA. Some companies, like Estee Lauder and Lancome, make products in varying strengths; Elizabeth Arden, Biotherm and others offer gentle versions just for the face.
The sunless tanners of the 1960s also contained DHA, but today’s products have a “delivery system” that disperses it more evenly. To dermatologists, the new technology is a welcome breakthrough, because if patients can tan in the shade, they reduce their risks of premature aging and cancers of the skin. “It’s a sensible alternative to tanning in the sun or going to a salon,” says Dr. Nicholas Lowe, clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Doctors warn, however, that an artificial tan, unlike a natural one, provides no shield from the sun’s harmful rays; users are still vulnerable to sunburn. Some STs contain sunscreens, but because of their coloring properties, it’s impractical to slather them on often enough to get serious protection at the beach.
Sunless tanners are not entirely user-friendly. Applying them properly takes practice, especially on the thinner, more absorbent skin of elbows and knees. The products can also darken blond or gray hair. Lowe thinks the results “don’t look like a natural tan, except perhaps in artificial light, at night.” But to a lot of tan fans, as well as manufacturers, the new products seem like a dream come true: the look of a day spent grilling at the beach, with the only price paid at the cash register.
