How Tan Accelerators Work To Darken The Skin

What is a tan accelerator?

Tan accelerators are pills you swallow or lotions you apply directly onto your skin either before sun bathing or before sitting under a UV light. These can be done in a tanning booth or salon as well as out in the natural sunlight at the beach. They help increase the production of melanin that your skin produces naturally to give a bronze glow. Unlike most spray on tans or sunless tanners which help with the look of being tan, a tanning accelerator will not turn your skin a unnatural orange tint or any other unnatural color.

Do tanning accelerators really work?

Tanning accelerators do not work like “fake and bake” application liquid tans. Instead they are actual creams which you apply onto your skin and boost the amount of melanin produced inside your skin. This in effect causes your skin to tan much faster than it normally would when exposed to either sun or UV light.

What is Melanin?

Melanin is a pigment produced by the body within the skin. Basically the more melanin the body produces the darker the skin becomes. The less melanin that is produced the lighter the skin becomes. With people who have reddish skin or some blondes for instance who have really light complexions, the melanin is actually a different kind. It also influences greatly in the increase and decrease of skin factors such as freckles.

When the skin takes in too much Ultraviolet light it can actually become overwhelmed with exposure levels it cannot handle in comparison to the skins ability to produce melanin. This leads to problems such as a sun burn or possibly skin damage such as cancer. Not only does tanning accelerator lotion greatly increase the effectiveness of tanning so you do not have to tan as long to reach your desired results, but it also helps reduce the likeliness of developing problems such as sun burn or irritation by keeping your melanin levels boosted.

What shouldn’t be used with a accelerator tanning lotion?

It has so far been tested and proven that when wearing accelerator tanning lotions with a sun screening lotion that the effectiveness of the accelerator is greatly reduced. A sun tan accelerator should not be used by an individual who may have sensitive skin to sunlight due to the fact that when using an accelerator your skin will be unprotected from sun screen.

Also accelerators contain the ingredient psoralen, this is a compound which contributes to increasing the skins sensitivity to light, therefore when considering using even the best tan accelerators you should use for a short time during your first application to avoid any sensitivity problems the application may have on your skin.