Sunscreen has never been better. But Americans are paying to tan.
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The FDA just approved its first new active sunscreen ingredient in 20 years. Instead of using it, many Americans are tanmaxxing.
Why it matters: Even as SPF products now promise better coverage than ever, people are deliberately chasing tans. That's not only unsafe but also at odds with the culture's anti-aging skin care obsession.
What they're saying: "There's no 'healthy tan,'" Philadelphia-based dermatologist Nazanin Saedi tells Axios. "A tan is a sign of sun damage," she says.
- "You can use all the retinol you want," says Anthony Rossi, a dermatologist and Mohs surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. "No amount of retinol is going to counteract your lack of sunscreen."
Threat level: Too much UV doesn't just age your skin — it can cause cancer, as Rossi knows firsthand.
- A '90s tanning bed user, he tells Axios he developed skin cancer himself. And he's watching a new generation make the same mistake and use tanning beds again.
- Now, he says, "I'm cutting off more and more skin cancers" from patients in their teens, 20s and 30s.
By the numbers: New invasive melanoma diagnoses rose about 47% over the past decade, per the Skin Cancer Foundation — though Rossi cautions some of that reflects more aggressive screening, not just more disease.
- Meanwhile, tanning bed use is tied to nearly triple the risk of melanoma, according to new research.
- But Rossi and Saedi find it's not the cancer risk that gets young people to cover up — it's the wrinkles.
State of play: There's been "a resurgence of tanning culture and sunscreen phobia," largely due to sunscreen misinformation shared on social media, Rossi says.
Case in point: One-third of Gen Z respondents flunked a new American Academy of Dermatology sun safety quiz — even as most rated their own habits "good" or "excellent."
- And 64% said they'd encountered sunscreen misinformation online, per AAD.
The latest: Active sunscreen ingredient bemotrizinol — popular in Europe and Asia — was just approved for use in the U.S.
- The ingredient has been celebrated by dermatologists because it offers strong UV protection and is easy to wear. "It just feels so nice, smooth and elegant — it doesn't feel as sticky or have such a white cast, like so many of the sunscreens we have available," Saedi says.
- It comes after other recent sunscreen innovations: New mineral sunscreens now come in a range of shades and could blend better.
Yes, but: Sunscreen is only effective if people use it.
Reality check: A "natural" skin care movement is pushing people to make their own sunscreens with ingredients like beef tallow — or skip applying altogether. Dermatologists don't approve.
- "The whole DIY thing always boggles my mind," says Rossi, who formulates his own sunscreen and notes a real one takes chemistry and precise specs. You shouldn't DIY something meant to prevent disease, he says.
- Beef tallow, he adds, has "at most maybe an SPF of 2 — not even enough to stop a burn." He says it's "basically putting baby oil on your skin" that clogs pores and causes acne.
- "If you want to be 'natural,'" Saedi says, "let's find you a mineral sunscreen."
Between the lines: The sun does offer real health benefits, but you don't need to skip sunscreen to get them.
- For example, the argument that you have to tan to make vitamin D "is not that kosher," Rossi says. "There have been good studies to show that even if you use sunscreen every day, you don't become vitamin D deficient."
The bottom line: "Sunscreen is safe. We have more options now. And just get into the habit of wearing it every day," Saedi says.
