Gee Cee asks…. What makes this Jergens Natural Glow stuff work so well? It’s the first product that doesn’t make me look tanorexic.

The Left Brain retorts:

The folks at Kao (the makers of Jergens) came up with a pretty clever idea when they put this product together. No doubt sprung from a marathon brainstorming session with a massive group of cross functional team members. You can imagine the scene…

Brainstorming

Moderator: “Anybody have any ideas about new skin lotions? Anybody?”
Marketing member: “We can make them more moisturizing”
Moderator: “What a great idea! Let’s write that down on our flipcharts. Anyone else?”
Marketing members: “How about vitamins?”
Marketing member: “Proteins. Aloe, everyone loves aloe.”
Moderator: “Those ideas are awesome.”
Scientist member: “Have you considered dihydroxyacetone?”
Moderator: “huh? Uh..thanks. Anyone else have any GOOD ideas?”
Marketing member: “We could use olive oil”
Moderator: “I love it!!”

Isn’t brainstorming great. Someday we’ll be shot for revealing the inner workings of this business. But that day is not today. Today, we answer a question about a sunless tanning lotion.

Jergens Natural Glow Ingredients

A quick look at the ingredient list of the Jergens Natural Glow lotion illuminates the secret of how it works. The very last ingredient is our old friend Dihydroxyacetone or DHA. This ingredient, discovered in the 1920s, is responsible for the fake bake. Our first treatment of the subject can be found here. So why is this one different? Well, the amount of color you get from DHA is directly dependant on how much you put on the skin. Put on a lot, and your skin will resemble the Great Pumpkin. But put on a little bit and you get a highly desired light brown glow.

In the Jegens product, they only put a little DHA in there so when you apply the moisturizing lotion, you only get a little more color. But if you put it on everyday you will get a steady increase in color. Traditional sunless tanners have lots of DHA in them so you get a really deep (and sometimes orange) color all at once. The other little trick that Jegens uses is a much higher quality DHA. The ingredient is obtained from either sugar beets or sugar cane and prior to the late 1980s, the quality was sketchy at best. But ingredient makers discovered ways to improve the refining process. This meant the DHA gave a less orange and more brown color.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

So that’s it. It works because it has low levels of high quality DHA that you use everyday. Now go out there and use your tan lotion to save face.

Do YOU have any fave fake bakes? Leave a comment for the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

Mid Brain reports:

We’ve blogged before about the safety of tanning and the controversy surged ahead this week with the announcement by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that elevated the risk of sunbeds from “probably carcinogenic” to “carcinogenic to humans.” Speculation is running rampant: Will this spell the end of the tanning bed industry as we know it? Will cosmetic companies begin a mad rush for new higher SPF products to please fearful consumers? Or, will the news inspire a new generation of pale anti-tan beauties?

Damned if you tan, damned if you don’t

No one knows for sure, but it seems likely that being tan will remain a beauty goal for many consumers despite the risks.  Further complicating the matter is the consumer buzz regarding the role sun exposure plays in vitamin D production and how increased sunscreen use could lead to a vitamin D deficiency. The article cites a recent survey by Neutrogena that says a third of Americans are ‘somewhat concerned’ that sunblocks will lead to vitamin D deficiency.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

It will be interesting to see how scientific data will influence how this controversy plays out. We’ll keep you posted as events unfold. In the meantime, avoid excess sun exposure. Or not.

Alexandra asks: I am just dying to find a good self tanner!! I don’t want to go tanning indoors, and I’ve used the Jergens stuff for about a month and I’m not getting the results I want. Are there any good products out there that won’t turn me into an orange?

The Right Brain understands tans:
It’s not surprising that the Jergens product isn’t giving you a great new tan. It has very low levels of DHA (the active ingredient that stains your skin) so you really won’t get a dark change in color. Neutrogena’s Micro Mist spray product contains more DHA so you might try that. (Read our previous posts to learn more about sunless tanning.)

Sunless-tan vs Indoor tan

While self tanning technology isn’t perfect, it is a good alternative to indoor tanning which exposes you to ultraviolet radiation that has been identified as a known carcinogen by the Department of Health and Human Services. To ensure that everyone understands the risks associated with tanning the US has passed a new law to explain the dangers.

The TAN Act

The new law is officially called the Tanning Accountability and Notification Act, or TAN Act for short. It directs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make sure that the language and positioning of the warning labels used on tanning devices clearly communicate the risk of irreversible damage to the eyes and skin, including skin cancer.

Why you should care

According to Diane R. Baker, MD, FAAD, president of the American Academy of Dermatology, “The current labeling on tanning equipment inadequately explains the serious risks associated with indoor tanning.” This lack of information increases the risk for the estimated 30 million people (including 2.3 million teens) who tan indoors. While they are not all linked to tanning, over 1 million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in the United States every year. The TAN Act should lead to measures that will dramatically reduce the risks associated with indoor tanning.

Considering the known dangers, some people wonder if indoor tanning should be illegal. In that sense, this issue is a bit like the anti-smoking campaign. Should the government protect us from things that are known to be dangerous even though they give us pleasure? Leave a comment and tell us what you think: Should tanning beds be illegal?

Source: Global Cosmetic Industry Magazine

Victorio asks…are spray tanning booths safe? Also while you’re being sprayed there is a lot of residual mist that is being inadvertently inhaled is this dangerous to your lungs?

Left Beauty Brain replies.

Spray tanning booths use the same chemicals found in the sunless tanning sprays and creams that you can buy from your local grocery store (or chemist for our UK Beauty Brains). We’ve discussed how sunless tanning works in the past for those who are curious. But we didn’t say whether spray tanning booths were safe or not. That’s an interesting question.

Sunless Tanning and DHA

Sunless tanners take advantage of a browning chemical reaction between your skin proteins and a compound called DHA (Dihydroxyacetone). It’s actually pretty neat now that they’ve figured out how to make it look brown instead of orange. Sunless tanning is much safer than the real thing.

Safety of mist tanning

Unfortunately, the safety of DHA has only been verified for external use. That means it’s perfectly safe for putting on your skin but it hasn’t been proven safe inside your body (e.g. in your lungs).

According to the FDA,

DHA is listed in the regulations as a color additive for use in imparting color to the human body. However, its use in cosmetics–including sunless “tanning” products–is restricted to external application (21 CFR 73.2150). According to the CFR, “externally applied” cosmetics are those “applied only to external parts of the body and not to the lips or any body surface covered by mucous membrane” (21 CFR 70.3v). The industry has not provided safety data to FDA in order for the agency to consider approving it for use on these exposure routes, including “misting” from tanning booths.

So, as far as the FDA is concerned spray tanning booths probably fall outside the realm of what’s considered safe if any of the DHA gets inside your body.

Still mist tanning may be ok

While the FDA is weary of spray tanning booths they are also quick to point out that they have no jurisdiction to regulate them. It’s up to the operator of the spray tanning booth to ensure that they are safe. A bit like the fox watching the hen house eh?
How can you tell whether the spray tanning booth that you go to is safe? According to the FDA, you should ask the following three questions.

1. Are your eyes protected from exposure?
2. Are your lips and mouth protected from exposure?
3. Are you protected from internal exposure caused by inhaling or ingesting the product?

If the answer to any of these in “no” then the booth you are in wouldn’t be considered safe by the FDA.

Beauty Brains bottom line

Sunless tanning is great and we recommend using any of these fine sunless tanning to get your tan on.   Until more testing is done, you should avoid spray tanning booths because unless your eyes and mouth are completely covered and you can hold your breath for the few minutes it takes to spray, you’ll get DHA inside your body. It could be perfectly fine but without safety data, you just don’t know.

Judy’s chaste question:
I understand from your previous article that DHA sunless tanners are dangerous because they don’t protect skin from UV. Are there any better sunless tanning ingredients?

The Right Brain’s celibate response:
DHA (short for Dihydroxyacetone) is still the safest, most widely used ingredient. But there is an herbal extract called chasteberry that, believe it or not, may actually help your skin tan.

What is a chasteberry?

Chasteberry is an herbal extract made from the fruit of the chaste tree. Originally from western Asia and southwestern Europe, the chaste tree can now be found throughout much of the southeastern United States.

The berry has been used for thousands of years for gynecologic conditions such as premenstrual syndrome (PMS), cyclical breast discomfort, and menstrual cycle irregularities. In medieval Europe, chasteberry was even taken by celibate monks who wanted to reduce their unwanted sexual libido. While modern medicine hasn’t proven it really does make you less horny, we’re still planning on sending a case of this stuff to our fellow Beauty Brain, Sarah Bellum, just in case.

Does it really provide a safer tan?

While the medical benefits of chasteberry can be debated, there is at least one study that indicates it may help you tan. (Cosmetics and Toiletries Magazine – July 2007, Vo 122, No. 7). Researchers have found that the extract can help induce melanin synthesis due to its beta-endorphin like properties. In other words, the extract stimulates your skin’s natural tanning mechanism without UV exposure. Unfortunately, the effect is so slight that you can barely see it with the naked eye. So it doesn’t look like this extract makes a very good sunless tanner. But they also found that when skin is treated with chasteberry extract and then exposed to sun, it tans better than with sun exposure alone.

We’re not aware of any chasteberry tanning creams on the market yet, but hopefully more research in this area will lead to new tanning accelerator products. In the meantime, stick to DHA and use a good ultra-sweat proof SPF 50 sunscreen.