Who doesn't dream of having a tanned complexion when summer comes? This fad is however quite recent and is, in reality, a product of our ardent desire as social beasts to distinguish ourselves from our fellow human beings. Because no, the criteria of beauty are not engraved in stone, and if fashion is only an eternal restart, it is deeply rooted in its time and its mores.
Until the beginning of the last century, the dull complexion was therefore synonymous with hard work outdoors, with days spent with your back bent sowing and harvesting. The real luxury is then to be able to shelter from the sun while remaining idle. It was in the 20th century that this trend was radically reversed:in a tertiary society where people spent their days in the shadow of an office damaging their eyes on a computer screen, tanned skin became synonymous with holidays spent in the sun, and therefore with a social position allowing us to afford them. A reflex that many keep in retirement:we all know an elderly couple who seem to compete in stubbornness to obtain the darkest skin possible, and this, summer and winter.
Good for them! Nevertheless, it is well known that tanning is a reaction of the skin to sunburn. Despite the positive effects of ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun, well known in particular for fixing vitamin D, chronic exposure tends to promote skin aging and increase the risk of cancers, which can, at worst, have serious consequences. lethal, as in the case of the infamous malignant melanoma.
Human ingenuity pushing all limits when it comes to satisfying our vanity, the cosmetics industry has been able to remedy this problem by developing a whole range of products aimed at simulating the mattifying effects of the sun. Applied directly to the skin, self-tanners therefore make it possible to obtain a matte complexion without exposing yourself to dangerous UV rays, or at least to give a little boost to shy skin that is still considered too fair when summer comes around. the tip of his nose. And since their development in the 1990s, these products have constantly improved. No more streaky or stained skin due to uneven application, yellow or downright orange complexion, and smelly fumes. The products available for sale today are easier to use than ever, to the delight of amateur tanners. But can these self-tanners be trusted? Or is it a deceitful friend, who could burn our wings — and our skin! — like Icarus, who also wanted to flirt a little too much with the sun?
There are several types of self-tanning products. Ignore the bronzers that we are not interested in here, these only apply temporarily in the manner of foundation. Self-tanners are usually found in oils, creams and wipes. The form chosen will depend on your use (oil for an application as uniform as possible, creams for more fragile skin, etc.) but all are most often based on a substance called dihydroxyacetone (DHA), present in addition or less quantity in the product depending on the type of complexion. This plant-based molecule reacts with the epidermis, tinting and darkening it, mimicking the sought-after tanned complexion.
This artificial tan therefore resulting from a very natural chemical reaction between the amino acids present in the epidermis and this DHA, and not from an obscure chemical combination of which cosmetic laboratories sometimes have the secret, there is nothing to fear from that side. Approved by the competent authorities, self-tanners therefore seem rather to be harmless, and no carcinogenic effect has yet been confirmed with regard to them. A study by the FDA (the Food and Drug Administration, the American agency responsible, among other things, for the regulation of pharmaceutical and cosmetic products) has indeed suggested a risk of subcutaneous penetration of the products contained in self-tanners, but this this referred to spray sessions offered in beauty salons, and has since been refuted as scientifically unfounded.
These institute sessions during which the product is sprayed on us could however be harmful, due to the risk of ingestion by the client. Similarly, some additives that self-tanning products contain can have an irritating effect on the skin, and too frequent use is therefore not recommended in this regard. Finally, allergic reactions may occur in some users. It's up to you to read the instructions for use if you know you have allergies. Do not hesitate to seek advice from your dermatologist, who will be able to inform you and reassure you about the risks presented by these products. Note that in the case of ingestion, as in the case of too frequent use, it is not so much the self-tanner itself that is at fault as excessive use. Applied correctly, i.e. taking care to avoid the eyes and lips, there is therefore a priori not much to fear from these products.
In the end, what turns out to be the most dangerous are not so much the products themselves as the blind trust they create in some users. You should know that self-tanning does not constitute sun protection. Many of us are convinced that darker skin is better protected from the sun, but it actually doesn't quite work that way. In reality, tanning, sunburn, premature aging of the skin and the appearance of cancers are relatively independent phenomena, which depend on the type of UV to which we are exposed. Self-tanning therefore prepares your skin, so to speak, for tanning, but does not prevent burns. On the contrary, DHA having a simple coloring effect, it does not produce the melanin at the origin of the "natural" tan. However, it is this which normally protects tanned skin from sunburn. It therefore remains imperative to combine your self-tanner with sunscreen, the ideal being even to add an after-sun after sun exposure, which will rehydrate and tone the skin.
Finally, if the sun can prove to be a formidable adversary, we must of course not forget its many benefits. In addition to the aforementioned vitamin D, the brightness of the sun stimulates, among other things, the production of serotonin, nicknamed the "happiness hormone", as well as melatonin, the one that regulates sleep. Exposing ourselves to the sun therefore literally makes us happier and more dynamic, and the absence of it would have a role to play in seasonal depression. At the risk of pointing out the obvious, you can therefore forget about all these beneficial effects with self-tanners, which obviously only have a cosmetic effect (but no one is saying that feeling beautiful has no effects positive on morale!).
