Put the Bottle Down: TikTok's 'Beer Tan' Trend Is Dangerous (and Smelly)
On a hot summer day, there's nothing quite like cracking open a cold one — and beach-going TikTokers are doing just that. But they're not just sipping beer. Some summer loungers are dousing themselves in the bubbly drink in pursuit of a better tan.
"Beer tanning," TikTok's latest beauty hack to go viral, entails slathering your skin with the alcoholic beverage before lying out in the sun. According to Forbes, netizens are reporting that the hops in beer helps activate melanin — the substance that produces pigment in your skin, hair, and eyes — and therefore facilitates a darker, more even tan.
Unsurprisingly, doctors are warning onlookers that beer tanning falls squarely under TikTok Trends You Should Stay Far, Far Away From — a category populated by other ill-advised "hacks" like DIY lip filler and at-home tooth filing.
According to Geeta Yadav, a board-certified dermatologist and the founder of Toronto-based clinic FACET Dermatology, a study did find that a compound in hops extract can increase the activity of tyrosinase, an enzyme that triggers melanin production, in human melanoma cells. But that doesn't mean you should hop aboard the beer tanning train: "[Melanoma] is the deadliest form of skin cancer," Dr. Yadav says.
Dustin Portela, a board-certified dermatologist with over 2 million TikTok followers, also urges us to put down the beer. "Any method to accelerate tanning is leading to more skin damage and increasing the risk of skin cancer," he says, adding that the only thing you should apply to your skin before a beach day is sunscreen — not alcohol.
"Alcohol, when applied to the skin, will strip away natural oils and moisture, leaving the skin dry and more prone to damage from sun exposure," he says. "Also, using beer on the skin can cause irritation and allergic reactions. Depending on the ingredients in your beer — like additional flavoring — you could also be putting yourself at risk of a significant phototoxic reaction called phytophotodermatitis which is extremely painful and can take weeks to resolve."
Both Dr. Yadav and Dr. Portela encourage tanning enthusiasts to stick to self-tanner or spray tans, which don't expose the skin to harmful UV rays. And, as Dr. Yadav notes, there's an added bonus to ditching the bottle and opting for these safer tanning methods: You won't smell like a frat house.
