As summer approaches, social media is helping to drive the popularity of some tanning trends, despite the health risks.
While some promise natural contouring on the face thanks to sun protection, others invite you to use beer as a self-tanner.
These radical methods expose you to an increased risk of skin cancer, a dermatologist reminds us.
Follow the full coverage
TF1 Info with you for the holidays
It went viral during the summer of 2022, prompting warnings from doctors. Two years later, the trend of “sunscreen contouring”, also called “SPF contouring”, continues to gain followers on social networks as the summer period approaches, but still remains criticized by dermatologists. “It’s annoying to see that people who have no skin skills take on roles and become dangerous for the general public by conveying completely aberrant messages,” warns Marie-Estelle Roux, member of the National Union of Dermatologists and Venereologists (SNDV).
On the social network TikTok which made this trend viral, influencers promise natural contouring on the face thanks to a partial tan obtained using sun protection applied in the same way as using a light concealer to achieve contouring , namely under the eyes, on the bridge of the nose, the forehead and at the jawline. “It’s true that contouring is trendy but it works with a good makeup palette,” annoys the dermatologist, pointing out the health risks, as the national skin cancer prevention and screening week closes.
“Raising awareness among young audiences”
“We know that one of the targets of this social network is adolescents, but at this age, we are not concerned about skin problems and even less about cancer, we feel invincible,” she deplores, emphasizing that followers of such methods are likely to see “skin problems will appear in twenty years”. And to insist: “We really need to raise awareness among young audiences about the risks of these questionable tanning methods and invite them to be more wary because the people who promote these trends have no knowledge of the anatomy and the health hazards associated with them. to UV.”
Considering that this amounts to “abuse the vulnerability of his audience”, Marie-Estelle Roux recalls that “putting on sunscreen a little bit doesn’t make any sense”, since the desired objective of UV protection is precisely to prevent the “aging of the skin, spots, rosacea, wrinkles and above all to prevent cancers, therefore melanomas and carcinomas”. Gold, “When someone tries to achieve this contouring with this method, we can imagine that the rest of the body is exposed.”
-
Read also
Beer Tanning: what is this new way of tanning that worries dermatologists?
Last summer, it’s a reminder of a completely different practice which in turn spread on the Web with the same promise of an optimal and sublimated tan, basically: “beer tanning”.
So many methods pose the same risk, she insists. “Ultraviolent rays are harmful to the skin and cause cancers which are preventable, it’s a shame to have a cancer which could have been avoided”, underlines the dermatologist while a recent survey carried out by the SNDV on the occasion of awareness week shows that “most French people do not protect themselves”.
