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well hey guys summer is coming up and in
today's video i'm going to answer the
question how to fade a suntan i actually
get asked this quite a bit
and in this video we're going to go over
the mechanisms behind why our skin tans
what it means and how it fades if you
are new here welcome my name is andrea i
am a board certified dermatologist i
post skincare content here on youtube if
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you've probably heard from me a number
of times that tanning represents an
injury response to uv rays uv rays come
from the sun they damage our skin in a
variety of ways and there are two main
types of uv that we have to think about
there's uvb rays and there's uva rays
uvb rays are what primarily burn the
skin and those who are susceptible to
burning and uva rays penetrate really
deeply destroy collagen
both uvb and uva
cause mutations in our skin cells that
ultimately can put us at risk for skin
cancer so they're both deadly and they
both hit our skin and they both harm our
skin interestingly enough the majority
of uv that comes from the sun and
reaches our skin is actually uvi it's
actually only a small fraction that is
the uvb part
now whether or not your skin tans or
burns is related to your skin type how
much melanin pigment that you have in
your skin
kind of dictates whether or not you are
vulnerable to a burn some people
burn very easily with very low exposures
whereas other people rarely if ever burn
they primarily town that is what is the
basis of something known as the
fitzpatrick photo type basically is just
an indicator of how your skin responds
to uv rays the reason tanning is a
response to skin injury is that it's
basically your skin's way of trying to
protect itself from the damaging effects
of ultraviolet radiation by increasing
the number of pigment producing cells by
increasing the amount of the pigment
melanin and by distributing that pigment
to the surrounding
keratinocytes which are the primary cell
that make up your skin
and it does this because that melanin
pigment can actually offer some
protection
against those uvb rays it's not very
good however at protecting against the
uva rays which again remember is the
majority of the ultraviolet radiation
that comes from the sun and reaches your
skin so for people who don't burn easily
their body makes more of that melanin
pigment to protect them basically from
burning but it doesn't protect from
those uva wavelengths that penetrate
really deeply into the skin the tanning
response which i'll explain how it works
in a moment it actually requires a
threshold of uv exposure for people with
pale skin they can't reach that
threshold without burning so that's why
they don't tan but for people with
deeper skin tones they definitely can
easily tan tanning is biphasic meaning
it occurs in two phases you have
immediate tanning and delayed tanning
immediate tanning happens upon exposure
to uv almost immediately within a few
hours and it basically reflects the
oxidation of melanin in the skin melanin
that's already there in your skin gets
oxidized and you get immediate pigment
darkening and this particular type of
tanning it lasts
anywhere from a day upwards to 72 hours
thereafter you have something called
delayed tanning that reflects the up
regulation and pigment production the
increased number of melanocytes the
spreading out of pigment to neighboring
cells that is delayed tanning delay
tanning does not become visible until
after 72 hours as far as the appearance
of tan skin there is going to be some
overlap with immediate pigment darkening
also contributing to the final
appearance of the tan but it's really
that delayed tanning that people
are left with after a few days so when i
say that tanning is an injury response
it really is it's basically your skin
doing its best to protect as much as
possible the surrounding skin from
subsequent uv exposure but melanin
pigment really only offers protection
against that uvb fraction it doesn't do
anything for uva and uva especially long
wavelength uva which is just a little
technical detail not only does it
penetrate deeply destroy the collagen in
your skin which forms a supportive
framework
it
leads to mutations that can cause skin
cancer and for people who have deeper
skin tones it is what is responsible for
a lot of diseases of hyperpigmentation
whether it be melasma or inflammatory
hyperpigmentation
most people appreciate the fact that a
sunburn is a bad thing but most people
don't realize that a suntan
is equally problematic because a suntan
is a clue that you got just as much if
not more
damaging uv ray exposure
that likewise contributes to skin cancer
and skin damage so many people ask me in
the comments you know i wore sunscreen
why did i tan does that mean my
sunscreen did not work so we're going to
talk about that why might you tan
despite wearing sunscreen there are a
few reasons you know they're the usual
suspects when it comes to sunscreen
either you didn't apply enough of it
because it's actually pretty difficult
to apply sunscreen the right way two
milligrams per centimeter square that
means you need a pretty thick layer
and most people we know just don't apply
that much that's one possible reason the
other possible reason is you know maybe
didn't reapply it maybe it was expired
maybe it rubbed off again you didn't
reapply it or maybe the sunscreen
you know here in the states our
sunscreens are kind of hit or miss when
it comes to how good they are at
protecting against those long
wavelengths of uva
sunscreens they don't protect against
all parts of uva that's the part that's
really playing a role here in the
tanning stuff
specifically the wavelengths of uva
between 370 to 400 nanometers those are
called the you know that's long uva one
it penetrates really deeply
most sunscreens are not protecting you
against those wavelengths they do
contribute to the tanning response and
so that is you know another reason
sunscreen it protects you
uh but it's not a hundred percent and so
for people who have a deeper skin tone
they are going to be able to tan through
sunscreen even wearing it at a you know
sufficient density
um because it's not 100 it's not a 100
block it does not mean my skin is
constantly being injured low levels of
uv exposure they they are cumulative
with time in terms of the injury tanning
is just like an indication of your body
trying to protect against that so for
example if you go out and you're out for
a few minutes and you get immediate
pigment darkening from uva exposure it's
a clue that you were exposed to uv it's
not possible really to shield yourself
24 7 round the clock from all uv rays
and that is not my message it's really
to
minimize exposure to harmful uv rays as
much as possible but it's not possible
nor should you be concerned with
you know shielding yourself a hundred
percent i don't advocate for staying
indoors all the time and never going out
and avoiding the sun the sun protective
messaging is to wear sunscreen reapply
it wear sun protective clothing like
hats long sleeves long pants sunglasses
seek out shade especially during
the hour the midday hours when uv rays
are most intense the
the best thing to do i would say to to
minimize that immediate pigment
darkening is going to be you know rely
on sun protective clothing and don't
stay out you know don't spend a lot of
time out during during peak exposure
times how long so when you're thinking
about trying to fade a tan a a tan
should last anywhere from seven to ten
days then it starts to fade naturally on
its own but if you keep going out uh
even for little bits of time you can
have more of the immediate pigment
darkening kind of coming up in the
background and playing a role in in that
the appearance of tan skin in order to
fade a tan you really need to protect
your skin from the sun by using
additional means besides a sunscreen
whether that be sun protective clothing
or avoiding peak sun exposure hours what
about skin care products are there any
skin care products that will help with
fading a tan
you know online you will come across a
lot of home remedies like lemon juice
baking soda potato
i suggest avoiding these at home
remedies they can be very irritating
depending on how much sun exposure you
got
to lead to your tan your skin can be
very a lot more vulnerable to irritation
and skin problems because those uva rays
they actually suppress
the
immune system and they delay healing so
the last thing you want to do is to
cause a lot of irritation in the skin
that ultimately will be at risk for
healing with
hyperpigmentation uh so i suggest
avoiding a lot of those home remedies if
you're someone who uses a
retinoid or an over-the-counter retinol
that may help in accelerating the rate
of clearance of that tan and getting you
back to your baseline skin tone
but i i wouldn't necessarily go out and
try and do a bunch of exfoliants to
increase skin cell turnover and just
give it some some time and it will
should fade on its own the key is to be
protecting your skin from the sun and
using certain exfoliants namely alpha
hydroxy acids actually can increase your
skin's sensitivity to the sun making you
more likely to tan further so i don't
suggest doing things like that and i
really suggest for those who have a
deeper skin tone especially to be very
conservative and not be tempted to do a
lot of exfoliating because it can just
leave your skin
even more hyperpigmentation prone you
see people who have a paler skin type
they don't ever
they're not able to get to the threshold
of uv exposure that their skin requires
to tan they'll burn before they ever get
there it's just not possible for them
whereas people who have more melanin
that melanin
oxidizes first which leads to immediate
pigment darkening and then their body
uh you know their cells make more of
that melanin their
melanin producing cells the melanocytes
increase in number send out little
fingers to the surrounding skin
and shoot out more of that melanin
pigment in an effort to protect the dna
in your skin from uvb not from uva
the majority of the uv that reaches your
skin regardless of your skin type is at
uva and a tan does not protect you from
that
and a tan actually leaves your skin a
lot more vulnerable one of the other
responses in the skin that occurs along
with tanning is the skin
thickens in a sense and becomes very
leathery and the barrier is not as
strong and hearty makes you more prone
to infections and things like that the
immunosuppressive effects of
uv exposure at that level it's what
makes people who have uh who are prone
to cold sores more likely to get an
outbreak it's why melasma flares is why
you can get hyperpigmentation all sorts
of things all right you guys i hope this
video was helpful you know tanning it is
a difficult concept to explain
it's not
as straightforward as you might think it
as you can as you hopefully learn in
this video it's biphasic it's wavelength
dependent meaning it's
largely related to uva especially for
immediate pigment darkening and then to
a certain extent uvb comes in as well so
in order to get a you know
a delayed tan it does require
a pretty heavy dose of uv exposure and
you shouldn't be seeking out a tan from
the sun by sunbathing it can cause a lot
of damage to your skin i didn't mention
tanning beds but whatever you do don't
go in a tanning bed see the way tanning
beds work is they don't include any of
the burning rays so they just include a
mega dose of the uva rays which cause
cancer going in a tanning bed just once
really really increases your risk for a
variety of skin cancers including the
deadly melanoma because it's giving you
such a whopping dose
of that uva radiation stronger than what
you would get from the sun that's why it
causes tanning there's no uvb and a
tanning bed
that's why you don't
usually burn you can burn from uva as a
side note if exposed to a strong enough
dose of uva you actually can get a uva
sunburn
but it's more in
in real natural sun exposure it's it's
due to uvb is what burns the skin but in
a tanning bed because the uva dose is so
strong it actually can't end up burning
your skin but in most cases it doesn't
it leads to
tanning which is why you're going in
there but the dose is so high of uva
that it really really sets the stage for
skin cancer i mean it just kind of
wipes everything out as far as your
immune system does a lot of damage
inflammation destroys your collagen yeah
no good
all right y'all i hope this video was
helpful like i said explaining the
tanning response is challenging
explaining the nature of fading tanning
is challenging there are a lot of
products on the market and a lot of diys
on pinterest that try and get people to
you know buy something or do something
to exfoliate or bleach the skin don't do
any of that because
if anything your skin is a lot more
vulnerable to inflammation and
hyperpigmentation when you are when you
have gotten the uv doses needed to tan
the skin so i would suggest staying away
from those on the end slate i'm going to
put yesterday's video all about sunless
tanners so definitely check that one out
if you like this video give it a thumbs
up share it with your friends and as
always don't forget sunscreen and
subscribe i'll talk to you guys tomorrow
bye
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