Tanners Find That Accelerator Products Should be Used with Caution

Feb. 21, 2010 - PRLog -- Tanners today have many options available to them to get that bronzed look they are after.  While these products are effective, they can be harmful to your overall health, and could possibly give you skin cancer.  You need to fully understand all of the risks involved to use tanning accelerators effectively.  Here are some helpful tips to consider before using tanning accelerators, as presented by CanemanIM ( http://tanningaccelerator.org/blog.php ).

Tanning accelerators are often called tan promoters, and they are nothing like ordinary sun tanning lotion found at the drug store.  Simply, they help you tan very quickly when used in coordination with regular trips to a tanning bed.  These products do with by increasing a substance in your body called melanin.  It is this protein that is found in the skin pigment, and in particular it is the melanocytes located in the skin cells, that gives your skin color.  Scientists have found that it is the melanin that is responsible for how well you tan, and the specific tone of your natural skin.  You can see this where people with darker skin have much more melanin in their skin cells than fair skinned people.  Light skinned people have significantly less melanin present, and using a tanning accelerator will boost these levels dramatically.  

If you take a trip to your drug store you will see that tanning accelerators can be purchased in the form of a lotion or as pills.  The active ingredients of these products protein enzymes call Tyrosine and Psoralen.  Both of these substances are considered to be amino acids, which are the basic building blocks of proteins.  These are the very same proteins that your body makes to use in skin pigment for skin tone and coloration.  Even though these tanning accelerators are considered to be drugs, they are approved for sale and personal use by the Federal Drug Administration.

One issue to consider with tanning promoters is that they will not work as well is you use a sun block with them.  Because people who use these products know this they quite often do not use any sun screen.  The problem with this is that Psoralen causes the skin to be more sensitive to ultraviolet light and can result in a severe burning.  So you need to be careful with products that contain Psoralen, and you might want to consider using a product that contains Tyrosine instead.  If you use these products carelessly, you may in fact be increasing your risk of developing skin cancer.  So if you use a products that does contain Psoralen, make sure you understand the risks involved, and consider using an appropriate sun screen as well.

Now, using these products will for will absolutely help you tan faster, but it will also increase you sensitivity to sunlight.  If you have any questions on how to use these products safely you should consult your family physician.  If you have an event coming up and you want to improve your tan, be wise and use these products carefully.  To find out more information on tanning accelerators please visit http://tanningaccelerator.org/blog.php