Tanning become popular in 1923, when famous designer Coco Chanel set the tanning trend after fans saw her getting off her yacht. Known as a trendsetter, Chanel's tan skin became a fashion statement that quickly spread across Europe and into the United States. Taking advantage of this trend, companies began creating suntan lotions, that worked to accelerate the skin's ability to tan. As research came out about the dangers of the sun's UV rays, and its role in skin cancer, suntan lotions began to evolve into products that offered more protection. Each type of suntan lotion was designed to work in its own specific way.
Traditionl Tanning
Suntan lotions started with traditional products that worked to amplify the sun's ability to tan the skin. These traditional lotions work by influencing melanin, the pigment in your skin responsible for tanning. These products use active ingredients that either increase the blood flow to the skin, which brings melanin closer to the skin surface, or increase the activity of melanocytes, which are responsible for producing melanin. Unfortunately, these products do not contain any ingredients that block your skin from the UV radiation of the sun. Traditional tanning lotions often also include moisturizers that help prevent skin cell damage, and increase the speed of the healing process.
SPF
Sunblock and sun tanning lotions often get mistaken for each other. Sunblock is designed to block the rays of the sun and prevent tanning, while suntan lotion is meant to amplify the skin's ability to tan. With more emphasis being placed on protecting the skin from harmful UV rays, many suntan lotions contain an ingredient that provides an SPF (sun protection factor). Although suntan lotions rarely have SPF levels above 6, they still provide some protection against UV rays. SPF ingredients (such as titanium dioxide) work to reflect the sun's ray off the surface of the skin. Other ingredients (such as benzophenones) absorb UV rays and turn them into heat energy. The more present the sun blocking ingredients are in the sun tanning lotion, the higher their SPF protection.
Sunless
Another form of suntan lotion are sunless tanning lotions. Sunless tanning lotions color your skin without you having to go in the sun. The two most common ways in which sunless tanning products work are with the active ingredients dihydroxyacetone (DHA) or tyrosine. Tyrosine works by penetrating deep into the skin layers and reacting with melanocytes in the skin. This reaction increases the amount of melanin produced by the melanocytes. The more melanin in the skin, the darker the skin will become. Dihydroxyacetone works by only affecting dead skin cells. When this colorless sugar interacts with dead skin cells on the body, it dyes them a tan color. The color will persist on the skin until the dead skin cells shed off. Sunless tanning products generally provide no SPF and are not designed to be used outside.
