Tanning is back

Summary

Podcast Summary: “Tanning is Back”

Today, Explained by Vox | July 12, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the surprising resurgence of tanning culture among young people, particularly Gen Z, in the summer of 2026. Through conversations with beauty editors, historians, and dermatologists, the hosts unpack why tanning is back in style, the health risks involved, and how attitudes towards sun exposure have shifted over the decades. The episode also covers historical sun-worship, the science behind tanning and skin cancer, and new innovations in sun protection.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Modern Day Tanning Trends: “Tan Maxing”

[04:05]

• TikTok Influence: Beauty editor Katie Barone describes a trend among Gen Z called “tan maxing,” where people maximize sun exposure for a deeper tan, actively planning outings based on the highest UV index.
• Tactics and Products: Use of tanning oils with carrot seed oil, intended to accelerate tanning (“I’m using my favorite tanning oil from keratin, and I’m gonna see how dark I can get.” - Lyra Kilston, [05:20]), and seeking UV levels as high as 10–12.
• Underlying Attitudes: Many young people are aware of the risks but feel nihilistic or skeptical toward traditional health advice (“There is this certain degree of nihilism... Why wouldn’t I just also get a tan?” - Katie Barone, [06:18]).

2. Misinformation & Distrust in Sunscreen

[07:10]

• Conspiracy Theories: Online voices claim sunscreen is harmful, and that chemicals can cause cancer, leading some to eschew protection entirely.
  • “Stop using sunscreen, okay? The sunscreen chemicals seep into your bloodstream after just one day.” - Lyra Kilston, quoting online rhetoric at [07:10].
  • “Sunscreen... I think it causes cancer.” - From a viral TikTok [07:18].
• Distrust in Authority: With RFK Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services (noted for his own tanning), the episode explores how personal behaviors of public officials might influence national attitudes ([07:39]).

3. The Aesthetics and Psychology of a Tan

[08:04]

• Tanning as a Status Symbol: Tanning is still associated with beauty and health, with longstanding links to special occasions, events, and social media validation.
  • “There’s one commonality between a WWE wrestler and a bride, and it’s a spray tan.” - Katie Barone, [08:04].
• Spray Tan vs. Real Sun: Though spray tans are popular for events, many prefer the sun despite risks, citing cost, inconvenience, smell, and the desire for an “authentic” tan ([08:10-09:00]).

4. Historical Context: The “Sun Cure” and Social Evolution

[13:42]

• Origins: Lyra Kilston explains that the “sun cure” started in Europe (notably the Alps) as a prescription for tuberculosis and respiratory illnesses, later thriving in the American Southwest.
  • “Patients would literally be told by their doctors... you need to get down to the Southwest.” - Lyra Kilston, [13:59].
• Architectural Legacy: Hospitals were designed for maximal sun and fresh air exposure, including portable beds and ventilated infrastructure ([15:07]).
• Problematic Twists: In the 1930s, sun worship was linked in Germany to eugenics and Aryan ideals (“...sunbathing, sun worship and tanning, and emerging Aryan ideas about, like, a perfect body, a perfect health... were combined in a twisted way...” - Lyra Kilston, [17:07]).
• Shift in Symbolism: A tan has symbolized different things across eras: frailty (when paleness indicated wealth), health, leisure, or rebellion ([19:17]).

5. The Science of Tanning & Risks

[23:53]

• What Actually Happens: Dermatologist Morale Kabarian Skelsea explains that tanning and burning result from DNA damage and are the skin’s attempt to protect itself by producing melanin ([24:00]).
• There Is No “Healthy” Tan: “There is no healthy tan, actually.” - Morale Kabarian Skelsea, [26:01].
• Skin Cancer on the Rise: The most common cancer is skin cancer, and even young people are presenting with preventable cases (“I recently saw a 19-year-old with a skin cancer on her face.” - Skelsea, [26:01]).

6. Sun Protection Innovations

[27:00]

• New FDA-Approved Ingredient: Bemotrizenol (Tinosorb S) is now allowed in U.S. sunscreens—already common in Europe/Asia, stable, safe, and offers broad-spectrum protection ([27:00]).
• Sunscreen Guidance:
  • Everyone, regardless of skin tone, should use at least SPF 30–50 daily, reapplying every two hours ([28:05]).
  • Most people don’t use enough: A “shot glass” for the whole body or “two-finger rule” for face/neck ([29:29]).

7. Social and Emotional Factors

[30:17]

• Why People Still Tan: Confidence, self-esteem, and beauty standards drive tanning despite known risks.
  • “If someone says, ‘I know tanning is risky but I feel confident, attractive...’ how do you respond?”
  • “There are ways of getting an artificial suntan with self-tanners… and there’s no evidence that it’s harmful.” - Skelsea, [30:30].
• Limits of Dermatology: Modern medicine can reverse some, not all, sun damage; the best solution is prevention ([31:10]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Gen Z and Nihilism:
  “There is this certain degree of nihilism... The world is bad anyway, why wouldn’t I just also get a tan?” – Katie Barone ([06:18]).

• On Historical Sun Cures:
  “Patients would literally be told by their doctors, say, in Chicago, Michigan, Boston... you need to pack up your family and move [to the Southwest] in order to survive.” – Lyra Kilston ([13:59]).

• On Sunscreen Safety:
  “Sunscreen does not cause skin cancer. 99% of skin cancer comes from ultraviolet light.” – Dr. Morale Kabarian Skelsea ([25:30]).

• On the Persistence of Tanning Culture:
  “There's one commonality between a WWE wrestler and a bride, and it’s a spray tan.” – Katie Barone ([08:04]).

• On Medical Progress:
  “Sun as a cure... sort of went away as soon as antibiotics were available in the 1940s.” – Lyra Kilston ([18:03]).

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |---------------------------------------------|---------------| | Introduction & Tanning Stories | 01:10–04:05 | | Tan Maxing & TikTok Influences | 04:05–06:12 | | Sunscreen Skepticism & Misinformation | 07:10–09:00 | | The Psychology of Tanning | 08:04–10:24 | | Historical “Sun Cure” Movement | 13:42–18:28 | | Contemporary Parallels in Sun Attitudes | 19:17–20:55 | | Science of Tanning & Cancer Risk | 23:53–26:45 | | New Sunscreen Ingredient (Bemotrizenol) | 27:00–28:05 | | Sunscreen Use Best Practices | 28:05–29:50 | | Social & Dermatological Realities | 30:17–31:59 |

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Takeaway

The episode makes it clear that while the beauty and confidence associated with tanned skin drives persistent trends, medical science continues to confirm that there’s no truly “safe” tan. Misinformation about sunscreen lingers, but innovative new protections are emerging. Historically, sun exposure has had complex social meanings, but modern dermatology urges everyone—regardless of perceived risk—to prioritize protection, not just aesthetics.

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Hosts: Jonathan Hill, Kelly Wessinger
Featured Guests: Katie Barone (Elle Beauty Editor), Lyra Kilston (writer/historian), Dr. Morale Kabarian Skelsea (dermatologist)

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Transcript

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[Katie Barone]

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[Lyra Kilston]

When I was a teenager we went to the Bahamas. We didn't realize how intense the sun was down there. I'm at the beach with my friends. I don't put on any sunscreen. Here comes the sun.

[Jonathan Hill]

I'm Jonquin Hill. This is Explain it to me from vox. The other day producer Kelly Wessinger and I headed up to the roof of my apartment building to take part in a time honored summer tradition hanging out poolside. And Kelly came dressed to impress. I'm wearing a rash guard. It's long sleeve and high neck turtleneck. In the summertime I'm also wearing shorts. There is a bathing suit underneath this. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. None of these clothes are coming off and I'm wearing sunscreen underneath all of this too. Before I put the rash guard on,

[Lyra Kilston]

there's 50 base layer.

[Jonathan Hill]

Kelly has a contentious relationship with the sun. I am very pale so I wear like 70 on my face every day and then. Oh, you wear 70 on your face.

[Kelly Wessinger]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Hill]

I won't lie to you J.Q. i've used 100. I've used 100 before. Yeah, I am not pale by any means and I tend to play it a little more fast and loose. JQ just in contrast to me.

[Lyra Kilston]

Can you walk us through what you

[Jonathan Hill]

are wearing at the pool. Oh, yeah. I have on a pair of sandals and an anklet and a bikini and my 40 SPF, of course. Yes, she looks like a normal person at the po. Both Kelly and I, we've gotten burned before. And the thing about a bad sunburn is you don't forget it.

[Lyra Kilston]

I felt this burn coming from the inside of my body. It felt like it was inside of my skin, not even on top of it. I went and googled it, I looked on Reddit, and apparently you can get a sunburn so bad that it is called Hell's Itch. I applied sunscreen everywhere but the tops of my feet and I burned the tops of my feet so bad I couldn't put socks on for two or three days. I'm black and so I figured I never burn. I'm not gonna burn.

[Morale Kabarian Skelsea]

It was horrible.

[Lyra Kilston]

Completely deep fried. My face had blown up like a big red cherry tomato.

[Jonathan Hill]

And that burn can stay with you. Skin cancer is the most common kind of cancer, and your chances of having melanoma double if you've been sunburned five times. All of that should make sunscreen a no brainer, right? Well, maybe not. According to Elle Beauty editor Katie Barone, Summer 2026 is actually all about getting as much sun as possible.

[Katie Barone]

So, like a lot of trends these days, it really has taken hold on TikTok, especially with the younger audience, Gen Z in particular, and I hate to be a millennial, that's like Gen Z's doing this. But it's true. Gen Z is tanning a lot. And on TikTok, the way that we kind of see that manifesting is that people are doing this thing they call tan maxing, which is like looks maxing, but for tanning.

[Jonathan Hill]

Okay, these are my tanning non negotiables.

[Lyra Kilston]

As somebody who literally treats tanning like it's a sport, seeing how long I last tanning in 103 degree weather in UV12. So as you can see, I'm like mostly burnt. But once it like fades, it'll become chocolate.

[Jonathan Hill]

You know, listener, she is not chocolate.

[Katie Barone]

So you're trying to tan as much as possible in like the most optimized way, which means they will look at the UV index and see where the sun is higher and that's when they'll go outside, when UV is like 10, which, you know, if you're concerned about the sun, that's like the last time that you want to be outside. And then there are also a lot of people that are Using these tan accelerator products.

[Morale Kabarian Skelsea]

Okay.

[Lyra Kilston]

I'm using my favorite tanning oil from keratin, and I'm gonna see how dark I can get.

[Jonathan Hill]

I've been using this for over a year. It is intensive tanning gel, and it has carrot and coconut oil in it,

[Katie Barone]

which typically have carrot seed oil in them, which is supposed to accelerate the how fast your skin tans, because it has a lot of vitamin A, which is supposed to, like, help you get tanner faster. So I was just on a family vacation, and one of the people that was with us was Gen Z, 23 years old. She had one of these carrot tan accelerators with her. She was checking the UV index. I was like, oh, my God. It's like TikTok is coming to life in front of me. And, you know, I was really seeing it happen in real time.

[Jonathan Hill]

Is it that people don't know the risks, or do they just not care about the risks?

[Katie Barone]

I think that people are aware of the risks. I. You know, I think that we're seeing that with Gen Z and younger people quite a bit. Just the way the world is. I think that there is this certain degree of nihilism of, like, oh, well, the world is bad anyway. Why wouldn't I just also get a tan? And I also think that to a certain extent, you know, and I don't know how many people would say that they're necessarily inspired by the Trump administration or something like that, but we do see in the culture right now kind of this turn against medicine and vaccines and trust in science. And I do think there are people online that are taking that and also saying that they don't trust sunscreen. They think that chemicals and sunscreen are bad for you.

[Lyra Kilston]

Stop using sunscreen, okay? The sunscreen chemicals seep into your bloodstream after just one day.

[Jonathan Hill]

I'm a big believer in not wearing

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

sunscreen because I think it causes cancer.

[Lyra Kilston]

Sunscreen with, like, crazy chemicals and in it. As soon as that was approved, also a spike in melanoma happened.

[Katie Barone]

There's kind of this pervasive idea that sunscreen might be just as bad for you as the sun, in which case, why wouldn't you also have a tan?

[Jonathan Hill]

And, of course, RFK Jr. The head of health and human services, is well known for tanning. Right.

[Katie Barone]

He is a proponent of getting in a tanning bed, and that is, you know, why he has the skin tone that he has and kind of the leatheriness to his skin.

[Jonathan Hill]

So what's the aesthetic people are going for? Like, what is the look of the moment that Tanning is part of.

[Katie Barone]

Yeah, I mean, I think to a certain extent, wanting to be tan has never gone away. There's like, one commonality between a WWE wrestler and a bride, and it's a spray tan. And that has been the case for a long time. It's kind of like an event ready thing. Like, you know, you want to look tan. And for some reason, people think that when they're tan, they look their best. And obviously you can go get a spray tan. But I think, you know, there are plenty of reasons people don't necessarily want to do that. It costs money. It smells, it's messy. It is a really great alternative to being in the sun if you do want to be tan. But I think that people are kind of like, well, why would I do that when I could just go and get the real thing in the sun?

[Jonathan Hill]

So if the Secretary of Health and Human Services is super into tanning, is that normalizing this idea that tanning is actually healthy when really it's not?

[Katie Barone]

I mean, I do think that there are a lot of people who think that the sun has benefits for them. And there's, you know, all these people who are like, oh, if I just go in the sun, it'll fix my eczema. Or I know that people think that that's the best way to get vitamin D. And, like, I do think that there is this idea that the sun can be really healthy for you. And I think that people think that they look healthier when they have a tan. Like, when I first started working on this story, I went on my. Because I'm a beauty editor, so a lot of my followers are people in the beauty space. And I went on my Instagram and I asked, like, anonymously, if you like tanning, let me know why. And like, so many people, so many, like, beauty industry insiders, makeup artists, editors, all these people were like, shh, don't tell anyone, but I love tanning because I just think it makes me look, like, healthy and beautiful. And, like, a lot of people were even like, I don't tan my face, but I tan my body. Because I think I just, like, look better, healthier, stronger when I have a tan. So I think that it's twofold. I think that people think that the sun is good for them, and I think that they think a tan makes them look healthier.

[Jonathan Hill]

People have been chasing the sun in pursuit of that healthy glow for more than a century. That's coming up.

[Kelly Wessinger]

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[Jonathan Hill]

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[Kelly Wessinger]

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[Jonathan Hill]

Make your summer wardrobe easier. Go to quince.com explainit for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-E.com explain it for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com explainit. I'm jq back with more explain it. To me, summer 2026 is all about tan maxing, but it's not exactly a new trend. 100 years ago, people headed to the American Southwest in search of better weather and better health. Writer Lyra Kilston wrote all about it in her book the Cure of California.

[Lyra Kilston]

This was a movement that really boomed in the late 19th century and early 20th century. And that's when people were really dealing with a very terrible tuberculosis epidemic and other respiratory illnesses for which there were no cures.

[Kelly Wessinger]

And.

[Lyra Kilston]

And the cure of sunshine became something that was actually prescribed by medical doctors. Patients would literally be told by their doctors, say, in Chicago, Michigan, Boston, they would be told, you need to get down to the Southwest. You need to pack up your family and move in order to survive.

[Jonathan Hill]

Does a son actually have that healing power? It sounds wild to be prescribed sunshine now.

[Lyra Kilston]

I know, but actually it does. The doctors back then, even though they were not, you know, it wasn't necessarily evidence based medicine, the way we understand it today. They were onto something. And later studies, like in the late 20th century, proved that vitamin D does actually fight some of the organisms that cause tuberculosis.

[Jonathan Hill]

So we have all these people moving to California for the sun and for the climate. When they got there, what did their treatment give me? An average day in the life of someone getting this sun treatment, okay,

[Lyra Kilston]

probably you would have to wake up early in the morning in order to get the most sunshine possible. And you would be expected to be outdoors in the sun for as many hours as you could be. Sometimes if you were bedridden, you might be on a bed that had been designed with wheels in a room with doors that opened out to a porch, for example, so that you could just be wheeled right out into the sunshine and get that fresh air was also part of this. And also so it greatly affected the way that hospitals were designed at the time. Not only did people start building architecture that incorporated a lot of windows and porches, but also because of the desire for air circulation and concern about contagion, instead of just putting a lot of people into one big room, things like cottages became more popular also. So you could be. You could have a little bit more control over when you had access to fresh air and sunlight.

[Jonathan Hill]

So is this sun cure something we invented here in the U.S. no, it

[Lyra Kilston]

really started in Europe and Switzerland and the Alps was a very popular place. And I should say that it's sunshine that was important to people, but it was also just a feeling at the time that cities had been growing so quickly and people's lives had been changing. So quickly in terms of moving to cities, working in factories and so on. Humans were just living, at least in urban Europe. They were living a really different way than their ancestors had been. And things like sanitation and disease really kept pace, unfortunately. And so the idea of leaving the city and going to unspoiled nature in the Alps, for example, to heal was a very popular pastime.

[Jonathan Hill]

Were there any downsides to this kind of sun maxing?

[Lyra Kilston]

Well, this is later on. So more. In the early 1930s, there was a very strange link between sun sunbathing, sun worship and tanning, and emerging Aryan ideas about, like, a perfect body, a perfect health, the perfect, you know, strength, the strength of that race, et cetera. All of those things were. Were combined in a kind of a twisted way. And sunbathing nude or partially nude. I mean, I think to them, they were probably hearkening back to, like, ancient Greece or something, you know, when athletes competed in the nude. But there were some extremely popular books about sunbathing that were also filled with antisemitic tropes.

[Kelly Wessinger]

Mm.

[Jonathan Hill]

How long did this trend of sun seeking last?

[Lyra Kilston]

Sun as a cure was. It sort of went away as soon as antibiotics were available in the 1940s. A miracle. Out of that same green mold which everyone has seen growing in bread or ruining fruit and vegetables, it produces the drug known as penicillin. Through mass production methods, America is continually

[Morale Kabarian Skelsea]

increasing its output of penicillin, the new drug that affects almost miraculous cures.

[Lyra Kilston]

Once a better medic, you know, a much faster, more effective medical cure was available. The idea people were not taking sun cures anymore. However, the legacy is still visible in places like Germany. You still have, like, a lot of nude bathing by lakes and so on. They still call them things like free light bathing. So I think there's some of this residue is still there.

[Jonathan Hill]

You know, earlier in the show, we had a conversation about tan maxing. People are back to.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

I know.

[Jonathan Hill]

I hear that sigh. I hear that sigh. People are back to chasing the sun, often without sunscreen, and some of them believe that sunscreen is unhealthy or even dangerous. Do you see similarities between now and then? Like, what is going on with our relationship with the sun?

[Lyra Kilston]

I would say that the belief in what the sun can do for you is very different. I mean, it was very much sort of a matter of life and death at that time. But I would say one link is that in some of the fringe communities in the late 19th, early 20th century, there was also a great skepticism about industrial processed foods. And so sunbathing and nature cures often went hand in hand with people who were vegetarians back in those days, which looks very different than what it does now and would maybe be, for example, Seventh Day Adventists or followers of John Kellogg and his Battle Creek Sanatorium, also the temperance movement. So in terms of feeling sort of anti establishment and also embracing the sun, I suppose maybe those are, that's a resonance. I find it interesting to see all of the different waves of our relationship to sun, the sun and tanning even like for example, I think being very pale, at least in European culture was considered very desirable for a very long time. You know, just the sort of symbolism of what a tan meant then, what it meant in the mid century in terms of sort of like access to leisure time, what it means now. It just keeps changing and I find that really fascinating.

[Jonathan Hill]

Up next, America's sun protection is finally catching up with the rest of the world.

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[Jonathan Hill]

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[Morale Kabarian Skelsea]

I'm Morale Kabarian Skelsea. I am a board certified dermatologist, director of the Dermatologic Surgery center of Washington and clinical professor at Georgetown University.

[Jonathan Hill]

So what does the sun do when it touches our skin?

[Morale Kabarian Skelsea]

The sun, as soon as it touches your skin, begins to act on the DNA on a cellular level. And what happens when you're getting excessive sun exposure? Your skin is trying to protect itself and it's trying to make more layers, increase the pigment so there's not so much absorption. And we have specialized cells called melanocytes that produce pigment called melanin. And the more sun exposure you get, you'll usually get more melanin, or if you're unable to produce melanin, more of a sunburn. And it's actually not a sign that your skin's becoming healthier. It's a sign that your skin has responded to ultraviolet light exposure by increasing its protection. It's just wanting to protect itself. So the cells then undergo DNA damage, which your body can repair a lot of the times, but not all of it. And as you over time develop that DNA damage, these mutations accumulate.

[Jonathan Hill]

You know, earlier in the show we talked about how young people are quote, unquote, tan maxing, as in getting as tan as they possibly can without using any sunscreen. There's been a movement online about how sunscreen can even give you cancer. People are making that claim. Is that real?

[Morale Kabarian Skelsea]

That is not real skin cancer. I mean, God, sunscreen does not cause skin cancer. What causes skin cancer? 99% of skin cancer comes from ultraviolet light. The sun is a known carcinogen like smoking, alcohol. These things all lead to cancers. And unfortunately, right now, the most common cancer is skin cancer.

[Jonathan Hill]

Are you seeing the effects of this tanning trend in your practice?

[Morale Kabarian Skelsea]

I do. I See more and more young people who are, number one, trying to do things like get a base tan or go use indoor tanning and have seemed to be under the impression that there is a healthy tan. There is no healthy tan, actually. You know, in my practice I have seen younger and younger people developing skin cancer. I recently saw a 19 year old with a skin cancer on her face. And it's really hard to be at that age and to need to undergo a surgery for skin cancer and to realize that this was largely preventable.

[Jonathan Hill]

Okay. Speaking of which, there's a new sunscreen ingredient on the market this summer. It was already available in Europe and Asia and has been for years, but it was only just approved in the US by the fda. What is it?

[Morale Kabarian Skelsea]

Yeah, it's really exciting. It's Bemotrizenol.

[Lyra Kilston]

Just approved by the fda, a new sunscreen ingredient for the first time in more than 25 years. This is essentially the Jalen Brunson of sunscreen.

[Morale Kabarian Skelsea]

It's a broad spectrum sunscreen, meaning it's blocking both ultraviolet light A, or the aging rays and ultraviolet light B, the burning rays. And it's particularly stable, so it remains effective even when exposed to sunlight. It's also very safe. It has low absorption through the skin due to the large molecule size. So it's safe in terms of absorption.

[Jonathan Hill]

If it's so great, why did it take so long to be approved here?

[Morale Kabarian Skelsea]

Well, we. That's a great question we have. It's a lot slower process in the United States because the FDA regulates sunscreens as over the counter medications rather than as cosmetic as they are in Europe.

[Jonathan Hill]

I'd love for you to break down how we should be wearing sunscreen. First, does everyone need to wear it every day?

[Morale Kabarian Skelsea]

Yes, everybody needs to wear it. Even if you have dark skin, you should be wearing sunscreen. Dark skin is not immune to skin cancer, nor is it immune to photo aging. So everybody needs to wear sunscreen and daily, not just when you're out at the beach. Everybody should use at least an SPF of 30, and I recommend my patients an SPF of 50 if they can. Applying it about 15 to 30 minutes, particularly for chemical sunscreens, before going outdoors. Reapplying it every two hours unless you're in the water. And then if you look for the labeling and if sunscreen says it's water resistant, that means it's good for about 40 minutes in the water. And for very water resistant, it's 80 minutes. And then the question of how much most of us don't put on enough. Everybody's body's a little bit different, but it's about a shot sized glass to cover a whole body or a teaspoon worth for the face and neck. Sometimes people also will spread the sunscreen out on your fingers and that should be enough for the face and neck.

[Jonathan Hill]

Yeah, I do the two finger rule for my face and neck, but I admit I don't always wear sunscreen on my whole body going out and I'm definitely not reapplying, especially when I wear makeup, I guess. Like, how do you stay on top of all this sunscreen application?

[Morale Kabarian Skelsea]

It's a lot. It's a lot. There are sunscreen powders you can apply on top of makeup and then. And sunscreen is not the only way to practice sun protection. Broad brimmed hats, sunglasses, avoiding the direct sun, seeking the shade, and sun protective clothing are all really useful ways of decreasing your sun exposure.

[Jonathan Hill]

Let's say you have someone come into your office and say, look, I know tanning is risky, but I love how I look when I do it a little bit. It makes me feel confident, it makes me feel attractive when what do you say to them?

[Morale Kabarian Skelsea]

So, I mean, I totally understand that. I get it. You know, that's not unusual. But there are ways of getting an artificial suntan with self tanners, which is a relatively safe way of getting a little darker skin temporarily. The color fades in about seven to 10 days as your skin sloughs off, and there's no evidence that it's harmful.

[Jonathan Hill]

You know, skin care has come a very long way and I can totally see a young person thinking, okay, yeah, I'm doing all this sun stuff now, but when I'm older, like, there's a way for derms to fix my skin. Is that actually true?

[Morale Kabarian Skelsea]

You know, dermatology can do a lot to improve the skin's appearance and to help it become as healthy as possible, but it can't reverse all of the damage. In addition to causing skin cancer, the sun is a great way to make get freckles, thinning of the skin, irregular pigmentation, rough spots, and it's not like you can erase that entirely and have the skin of a newborn. So we can do a lot, but dermatologists are not magicians.

[Jonathan Hill]

That's it for this week. Our next episode is going to be all about names. How we get them, why we get them, and the ways they shape our experiences in the world. So tell us, how did you get your name and what does it mean to you? Give us a call at 1-800-618-8545 or send an email to askvoxox.com another name to keep in mind. Vox Membership Vox members get to listen to this and other Vox podcasts ad free. Just head over to Vox.com members to learn more. This episode was produced by Kelly Wessinger. It was edited by Ginny Lawton. Fact Checked by Melissa Hirsch, Engineered by Matt Billy and Patrick Boyd. Our Executive producer is Miranda Kennedy and I'm your host Jonathan Hill. Thank you so much for listening. I'll talk to you soon. Bye.

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