Remember when having a tan line was a sign of a bad day at the beach? You’d spend hours trying to blend that pale stripe with the rest of your burnt flesh, only to give up and hide it under a baggy t-shirt. Well, times have changed. Now, thanks to the internet’s insatiable appetite for questionable beauty hacks, the tan line is officially back in fashion. And, naturally, people are going to ridiculous lengths to get them.
On social media, influencers are showing off their perfectly crisp bikini lines, achieved with everything from fake tan to, bizarrely, masking tape. It’s a new aesthetic, a “captivating” look that suggests an “active lifestyle” and a summer full of fun. It’s all very aspirational and, dare I say, slightly unhinged.
The Dangers of Tanning
But here’s the kicker: for every person using a sensible fake tan to get the look, there’s a whole bunch of people literally cooking themselves in the sun. Videos with hashtags like #sunburntanlines and #sunpoisoning are popping up, showing young people with deep red, puckered skin, some of them in tears. The common mantra? “No pain, no gain.” Because nothing says “glamorous” like a first degree burn.
The medical community, who have spent decades trying to convince us that baking ourselves is a bad idea, is understandably horrified. Dr. Kate McCann, a preventative health specialist, called the trend a “perfect storm” of misinformation and dangerous behaviour. She says that a single sunburn on a young person now increases their risk of skin cancer in 20 or 30 years. It’s a sobering thought for anyone currently rubbing cooking oil on their stomach to get a deeper tan.
This reckless attitude is particularly frustrating given the medical advancements and warnings we have today. A young man named Jak Howells, for example, learned the hard way after his sunbed addiction landed him with melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer. What followed was two years of “hell and horror” as he fought for his life. Now, he’s a content creator, using his experience to warn others.
So, while a visible tan was once a sign of health and wealth, it’s now a sign that you might be risking your future for a quick social media post. The good news is that you can get the look safely with fake tan, and there are even brands that are eco-friendly. The bad news? Some people still think a burnt body is something to be proud of.
