Tanning routines, intentional sunburn lines, and cooking oils. These are just a few of the harmful and potentially life-threatening trends making the rounds on social media recently. Here is why the TikTok tanning trend might cost you your life.
Young people on the social media app are intentionally sunburning their chests to give them halter-neck bikini tan lines – despite the fact that one blistering sunburn increases melanoma risk by 50 per cent.
There is never a safe way to tan, even if you are wearing sunscreen.
On apps like TikTok and Instagram, social media influencers have been showing off their tan lines after baking in the sun. They intentionally burn their skin in order to get a tan, sometimes creating burn lines around their bikini straps for aesthetic reasons.
The hashtag #sunburnttanlines has more than 200 million views on TikTok.
One user said, "Sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to get a tan."
Image: An Australian Instagram user with over 87,000 followers who is "not sorry about the tan lines".
Some users are even promoting their “personalised tanning routines”, in which they plan how long to spend in the sun to get the tan they want. They encourage others to “come and tan with me” before heading outside to burn their skin. They claim that tanning during peak UV times provides the "best results".
A lot of skin concerns start with exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation. UV can't be seen or felt and is present even on cool or overcast days. Read more about UV and how it causes cancer.
Just 10 minutes spent in the sun without effective sun protection can result in sunburn. Sunburn causes irreversible damage to your skin cells which quickly leads to early ageing (like wrinkles, unwanted pigmentation, and sagginess) and skin cancer. Read more about how the sun ages your skin.
Skin cancer can be deadly, and it may develop earlier than you think.
The more a person is exposed to UV rays at a young age, the higher their risk of developing skin cancer after just a few years. So, in response to the alarming trend, the Cancer Council has launched a new campaign called End The Trend to ask Australians to stop normalising a suntan.
In an interview with the ABC, Cancer Council CEO Mark Nevin said, “It is concerning to see the glamorisation of sun tanning culture. Young people believe tan lines are desirable. This behaviour is dangerous as people are purposefully exposing themselves to harmful UV radiation and putting themselves at an increased risk of developing skin cancer. There's no such thing as a safe tan."
There is no such thing as a healthy tan. Dr Angelica Logarta-Scott weighs in.
Intentional sunburn lines aren’t the only example of young peoples’ obsession with tanned skin. In another recent TikTok trend, people have been tattooing tan lines into their chests.
Others have been soaking their skin in cooking oil before tanning, as they falsely believe the oil will speed up the tanning process. However, cooking oil does not protect against UV rays and can cause long-term tissue damage as a result of sunburn.
There is also a misconception that tanning is safe as long as you wear sunscreen while in the sun. This is untrue. Tanning is actually the first sign that your skin cells are in trauma. Any amount of UV tanning causes permanent, irreversible damage to your skin and might cost you your life.
Image: An Australian Instagram influencer with 660,000 followers, promoting that she hopes to achieve a "natural tan... but with 50+ sunscreen".
Remember, tanning is never safe. Always use adequate sun protection whenever you are outdoors for longer than 10 minutes, and get regular skin checks from a medical professional so that any skin cancers can be caught early.
Fortunately, skin cancer is often preventable. Here are 5 ways to stay sun safe all year-round.