Remedies for Tanning: How Do You Tan Without the Sun
Tanning is the process by which skin turns from a paler shade to a darker one because of the darkening of skin pigmentation in the body. This process naturally occurs as a protection to the body from the effects of ultraviolet radiation, types A and B. The process of tanning is two fold. First, the UVA radiation can darken existing melanin in the skin by an oxidative process and UVB radiation causes a condition called melanogenesis, which results in increased melanin production and also a slower onset of the tan but more permanent. The absence of melanin results in a condition called albinism.
In some societies and even from ancient times, a darker shade of skin was considered healthy compared to a paler one but from a sociological point of view, higher echelons of society in some cultures in the orient placed a lot of emphasis on paleness. Despite these varied points of view, melanin in human skin is largely a product of racial lineage and people with a racial lineage from the tropics are clear winners in the race for more melanin in their skin, and this is for a good reason as well. Melanin has the incredible power to convert ultraviolet radiation into harmless heat energy very fast and this protects our skin DNA from radiation damage. The tropics, being flush with sunlight, are a great place to get a tan as well for people from beyond tropical belts. Where travel to a tropical region is not an option, sunless tanning has become a popular alterative.
Sunless tanning is an ingenious creation in that it does not require one to be exposed to UV radiation and the active chemicals used are temporary and wear off after a few days. The chemical dihydroxyacetone is used to react with the dead skin cell amino acids and then “browning” occurs. Tanning accelerators are also a product on the market that use the active ingredient Tyrosine- this claims to stimulate melanin production in the skin. As mentioned earlier that a longer lasting tan can occur when a process called melaogenesis occurs, there are products that induce this artificially in the human body. This is done using melanotan hormones. One of the reasons that these products have become so popular is because of the growing awareness of ultraviolet radiation and its effect in causing skin cancers. This is also a reason that traditional artificial tanning treatments that used a UV cabin have also become very unpopular.
