Remember that first bottle of QT? It promised a healthy, golden tan. It delivered an orange shade of ugly that made your friends wonder if you`d been eating too many carrots.
One application was usually enough to send you back into the sun. But that was when a tan was considered healthy. Before anyone would think of using a 15-plus sunscreen. Before dermatologists-and sunscreen manufacturers-started preaching about the sun`s harmful ultraviolet rays and their deadly and unattractive side effects, cancer and wrinkles.
But the alternative is equally unattractive: summertime pallor. Now, for people who limit their time in the sun, there`s good news: The new self-tanners work. They turn skin darker, and most of them even look reasonably natural.
Two male and five female volunteers tested six of the new creams, from the inexpensive formulas to the more expensive ones.
The envelope, please
Designer brands were generally preferred and may be worth the investment. However, our results varied dramatically depending on skin type and on underlying tone, which ranged from pink to yellow. Sunless tanners worked best on medium color skin that tanned easily.
Clinique, Lancome and Estee Lauder, which claim to have eliminated the orange tone ”one often sees with inferior products,” did generate a pinker, more natural-looking tan.
The only real loser was Bain de Soleil. Although it produced a reasonable color, it smelled like ”chemicals that shouldn`t touch your skin” or
”paint.” Three people reported streaking or unevenness.
Lancome`s light fragrance smelled the most pleasant and was the favorite choice of several fair people.
But be warned-the more you apply, the darker you will become. And although the directions say a tan will appear in three hours, it took more like six to eight hours to see real results.
So, if you reapplied self-tanning cream based on how you looked after three hours, you might end up too dark.
A chemical tan
The active ingredient in tanning cream is a chemical called dihydroxyacetone, or DHA, which reacts with amino acids in the top layer of skin to produce a brown color. It`s been approved by the FDA since 1973, and dermatologists say it is safe.
Sunless tanners are different from bronzers, which can be washed off, and provide no protection from the sun unless they contain sunscreen, such as Coppertone and QT.
Changing the concentration of DHA and ingredients in the base lotion has made all the difference in creating a more natural color. When dermatologist Warwick Morison from Johns Hopkins University first saw the improved colors, he thought a new chemical had been introduced. ”The colors are much more realistic, but I still think that you can pick it out from a real tan.”
These improvements have coincided with increasing concerns about the aging effects of the sun and the risk of skin cancer, making self-tanning cream one of the hottest selling items for companies such as Clinique, Lancome and Estee Lauder.
Not as easy as it sounds
Just like a real tan, though, the self-tanners do require some effort. Since DHA only changes the color of the top layer of skin, chemical tans fade as your skin naturally peels off, just like a real tan. Showering, shaving and exercising make the tans fade more quickly.
Our ”tans” faded considerably after the first day, but some color remained up to six days later. The manufacturers recommend reapplying the creams at least every three days, which could become expensive, since each bottle costs between $7 and $17 and contains four all-body applications.
It is also time-consuming. For the 30 minutes immediately after application, tanners should not touch furniture or clothing because they could stain it. For the all-body tanner, this could mean standing around nude for a long time.
