Scientists create ultimate ‘fake tan’ - it’s real, sunless, and works on the fairest of skin

Scientists have created the ultimate fake tan: a chemical that triggers the release of dark pigment in the skin without the need for sunbathing or a genetic predisposition for tanning.

The substance would induce a tan even in fair individuals with the kind of skin that would naturally turn lobster pink rather than bronze in the sun, the scientists predicted.

“It would not actually be a fake tan, it would be the real thing,” said Professor David Fisher, who led the work at Massachusetts General Hospital. “It would just be sunless.”

The product, which has so far only been tested on mice and skin samples in petri dishes, would no doubt be a welcome upgrade from the telltale orange hue of a spray tan. However, the scientists’ central motivation was coming up with more effective protection against skin cancer.

People with dark skin tones, and those who tan easily, have a far lower risk of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. The dark pigment, melanin, dissipates more than 99.9 per cent of absorbed UV rays, limiting radiation damage to cells that can be the first step towards cancer.

Whether a person tans or burns in the sun is dictated by which variant they carry of a gene called MC1R. In people who tan, this gene sets off a cascade of reactions during sun exposure that results in skin cells producing melanin. Redheads could, in theory, produce the pigment in their cells – it’s just that the chain reaction is never set in motion.