KYOTO, JAPAN — The use of sunless tanning products by American women is on the rise, with the most cited reason by users being the topical products' safety as an alternative to sunbathing and tanning beds.
This is a most welcome trend. Increased public acceptance of sunless tanning products (STPs) holds the potential to cause a substantial reduction in skin cancer rates, Mary Jayne McIlwaine reported at an international investigative dermatology meeting.
“Despite the growing knowledge of the danger of sun exposure and UV tanning, our results suggest that a large proportion of the population still believes tanning is desirable and attractive. Until public opinion changes, it's important to provide the public with suitable ways to tan their skin without the dangers of UV exposure—such as STPs,” she added at the meeting of the European Society for Dermatological Research, the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology, and the Society for Investigative Dermatology.
Ms. McIlwaine surveyed 415 women, average age 28, regarding their tanning behaviors and beliefs. The women were queried in gyms, swimming pools, and university sororities and dining halls.
Forty-eight percent of respondents reported using STPs at least once in the past year.
“That's a much higher percentage than in previous published studies. This suggests STP use may be increasing,” according to Ms. McIlwaine, a medical student at Emory University, Atlanta.
Encouragingly, 35% of the STP users indicated they employed these “tan-in-a-can” products as at least a partial replacement for sunbathing, and 25% reported using STPs in lieu of tanning beds.
STPs seem more popular with younger women. Fifty-four percent of 18- to 25-year-olds reported using them in the past year, compared with 41% of those aged 26–40 and 40% of respondents over age 40.
Only 14% of women with brown or black skin reported using STPs, compared with 56% of those with very white/freckled skin and 54% of women with white/olive skin.
The survey results suggest that despite the growing awareness of the dangers of UV tanning, core ideas regarding the desirability of the tanned look remain largely unchanged.
Ninety-three percent of survey respondents indicated they believe tanned skin is more attractive than untanned skin. Seventy-nine percent said they feel better about themselves when they have a tan. Seventy-one percent of subjects reported sunbathing at least once during the past year, and 26% used a tanning bed.
Most STPs contain dihydroacetone, which reacts with amino acids in the stratum corneum to produce a temporary brown hue.
Respondents' top reasons for not using STPs were dislike of product color and streakiness. Thus, further technical improvements in product quality might be important in achieving greater public acceptance and more widespread use of STPs as a tool for skin cancer prevention, Ms. McIlwaine concluded.
Tan-in-a-can products are a welcomed alternative to tanning beds. Shane Wake