Summer Is About To Get Even Better!:
So with the full-weight of summer approaching, we revisit a more human side of good-health: How people look in a bathing-suit.
Especially when they get just the right amount of color to highlight their features. -Bikinis don’t hurt either.
And the unfortunate side-effect is all the UV-damage that occurs while achieving that crispy KFC hue.
But if Massachusetts researchers have anything to say about it, that could all be a thing of the past…
At What Price, Vanity?:
So for the longest time, many people would do anything to look like a glistening golden god in the summer.
Including putting themselves at-risk for future consequences that were leathery at-least, and scary at-worst.
-Despite the push in recent decades to protect against faults in the atmosphere.
And even sunbeds might not be much safer than a can of 0W30 and a month at the beach.
The “Suitcase Molecule” Is The Key:
But in a surprising set of experiments, researchers have discovered a way to have your cake and eat it too.
What they did is take a magic skin-darkener that used to only work on mice, and pair it with a tiny compound that gets it into our thicker human skin.
Then, all of a sudden: Tan!
-WITHOUT UV EXPOSURE!
-BOOM!
But Wait! It Gets Even Better…:
The tan they created also comes from natural skin-pigments,
So you don’t have to join the Oompa Loompa brigade from The Jersey Shore!
And it’s so effective, it can even work on people who otherwise can’t tan at-all like very fair-skinned people and redheads!
What’s up now, even-sexier-Karen-Gillan? -rawrr!
No More Florida Orange, No More Damage, Either:
An even-better even-better is not just the natural skin-pigments from the 2-part treatment.
But the ACTUAL PROTECTION the change makes in your skin!
It’s like an additional sunblock you only have to put on 1x/week.
-Simply because even people with a mild tan are actually much more protected from UV damage than ones with no tan at-all.
And if the researchers are right, the impact on very very serious things like reducing skin-cancer rates could be a small miracle in and of themselves.
The Future And The Fine-Print:
Other details like consumer-safety first need to be worked out. But sooner-or-later they will, and so far, researchers haven’t found any problems.
Adding to the ease and speed of the shakedown phase is the fact the tanner does not come in pill-form, so it doesn’t go through your bloodstream to do its work.
And one more thing… the aforementioned-protection was not an accident.
Fix The Atmosphere Yourself:
The ultimate goal of this was never just a tan.
It’s deliberately-made to be a new/old way to PROTECT yourself against all kinds of sun-damage by darkening skin the way Mother-Nature does; -all while looking awesome!
This is particularly-important, because serious health problems resulting from UV over-exposure are actually on the rise. -And also because DNA-damage, like the kind you can get from the sun, is a big risk-factor in many of them, too.
And much of that hoped-for-reduction might come from the drop in tanning-activities alone!
With any luck, this cream should be absolutely-everywhere in about 5 years.
Until Then…:
Until then, keep putting on that stinky Sport-Grade SPF50 & even just wear clothes to cover-up. Don’t become a handbag!
But before you do, check out the EWG’s List of The Safest Sunscreens to help you get the best you can.
Details at the Links:
Photo Credits: Publicity still for the “5-Dollar Fill-Ups” marketing campaign with George Hamilton, by KFC
Links:
• Source: MassGeneral
• Source Study: Cell Reports-A UV-Independent Topical Small-Molecule Approach for Melanin Production in Human Skin
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