In the summer, many people become obsessed Tan. It seems like it doesn’t matter in the winter to wear a vampire complexion, but in the summer, when there’s so much heat and hours of sunshine, we almost consider it a crime not to get a tan. And while there is no crime, there is a risk. Some people find it very easy to tan, while others require such a long exposure that there is time to buy a lot of tanning tickets. skin cancer. For this reason, more and more people are jumping on the bandwagon self-tanners.
These products give a beautiful tan to even the fairest skin. Some are more intense, others act gradually. There are even those that are used as a moisturizer that gradually enhances skin tone. But all self-tanners, or at least most of them, have one thing in common: dihydroxyacetone.
It is a carbohydrate that is obtained from plants such as sugar beet or cane and participates in a number of chemical reactions that give the skin color without causing any damage. And, importantly, without the need to expose to the sun – all these are pluses.
Why are we sunbathing?
Self-tanning is the perfect solution to avoid natural tanning. And here we have a very clear example of the fact that natural is not always better. In this case, the natural produces cancer.
they are to blame ultraviolet radiation from the sun. They can penetrate the skin and reach the DNA of skin cells, causing damage that can lead to melanoma in the long term.
To prevent this from happening, our skin cells have Defense mechanismbased on the production of melanin. It’s a dark pigment that absorbs radiation, like when we paint something black. Thus, it is prevented from entering the cells. But there’s a problem, well it is not a reliable mechanism. Although this melanin is regenerated, sometimes it doesn’t happen fast enough. That’s when we burn. May be to a greater or lesser extent, sometimes it is not necessary that it be Burns intense, so the damage is already done.
In short, when we sunbathe, our body is struggling with very dangerous radiation for us. And although it is the fact of getting a tan that helps us dodge some bullets, not all of them can be blocked. So tanning is the mark of a war that we don’t like to deal with.
This is how self-tanning works
To avoid a war on solar radiation, we can get a fake tan. Here the artificial is far superior to the natural.
And this is the role of self-tanner. These products may contain multiple ingredients, but typically the browning we are looking for is due to dihydroxyacetone through a very simple chemical reaction. This is the Maillard reaction, a well-known process in foods, as it is responsible, for example, for the characteristic brown color of foods. toast.
It happens when amino acidswhich are the basic building blocks of proteins, interact with Sahara. In the case of self-tanning, we have amino acids present in the outermost layers of our skin and dihydroxyacetone, which, as we have seen, is a sugar.
This interaction leads to a cascade of reactions in which several intermediate products are formed. But what interests us here is melanoidinbrown color polymer.
Be careful, these products do not protect you from the sun.
Melanoidin is named after him resemblance to melanin. But this is only an appearance. It does not have the same ability to absorb harmful solar radiation, so fake tan does not provide any protection.
The good side is that we don’t need the sun to get it. All you have to do is distribute the self-tanner over the skin as evenly as possible. Yes, it’s very convenient. exfoliate well before doing so. This is because the Maillard reaction takes place in the outermost layer of the skin, so unless we remove these last few dead cells as they fall off naturally brown will be corrected. Already set, it is better to do well.
Source: Hiper Textual
