What is a tan?

What is a tan?

Nick Lowe (Professor of Dermatology) gives expert video advice on: What are the common signs of skin cancer?; How often should I wear sunscreen?; Can I use sunscreen for the body on my face? and more...

Sun tanning is tanning of the skin by sunlight or ultraviolet tanning beds. It's an attempt by the skin to protect itself from further damage. And so what happens is that the skin is badly damaged from the sun, and you get a production of melanin, which is the pigment formed in the skin that then finishes up by giving you a suntan. You get more pigment formed, more melanin formed, that produces the tan. Interestingly, if you expose very gradually to small amounts of sunlight through a sunscreen, that slowly acquired tan will last a lot longer than going out and baking in the sun. If you go out and bake in the sun, the skin cells are increased in turnover, they shed more and you'll lose your tan much more quickly. So a safe, carefully acquired tan through a sunscreen is actually a better tan. You will get only minimum protection from the sun from a tan, maybe at the maximum an SPF of about a three from a suntan. And, in fact, pale skin won't be protected much at all.