By Goran Olsson
Are Tanning Lotions with Tingle Ingredients Safe? Tanning lotions with tingle ingredients are a special breed of lotion designed for the experienced tanner. If you lack a base tan or have sensitive skin, lotions with tingle ingredients should not be among the first you use.
You’re probably curious if tingle ingredients are safe or dangerous. Allow me to put your mind at ease with the facts. Most skin-care experts consider them safe to use, if you know how. However, the “tingle” sensation can be somewhat surprising if you are unprepared.
Have you had any experience with a muscle rub? The same ingredients that cause that tingly hot feeling in a muscle rub are also used in tingle lotions for tanning. The most common ingredients are: Benzyl Nicotinate, Hexyl Nicotinate, and Methyl Nicotinate. Alone, or in combination, these ingredients cause an increase in blood flow to your skin, resulting in redness. Do not be shocked if you exit your tan session baring the same shade of red as a boiled lobster. The color comes from the increased blood flow in the topical skin-layer during the tanning process.
I know what you’re thinking: how exactly is this supposed to help me tan better? I want to be gorgeously bronze, not the shade of a crustacean I enjoy for dinner! Don’t fret! The lobster look will turn into a tan later; it’s not permanent.
So, are tanning lotions with tingle ingredients going to make you tan better? Yes! The increase in blood flow also increases your skin’s ability to tan! You see, the visible result of tanning comes from melanin in your skin being oxidized by the UVA rays from the tanning lamps. The blood provide the oxygen needed for oxidation. Thus, the more blood flooding to the outer skin-layers, the more oxygen will be supplied to the tanning-process. All this will help to give you a better and more even tan. The increased blood-flow also causes more melanin to rise to the top-skin-layer. This gives a darker tan. By using a tanning lotion with tingle, you will be encouraging both a quicker and a longer lasting tan.
Now you know the details of how these products work. In addition, you have a general understanding of what they are designed to accomplish. Let’s continue to talk a bit more about the feeling when using them. If you have sensitive skin, it is best to avoid these ingredients. The “tingle” sensation can feel like a light slap or like setting yourself on fire. The stronger the tingle (the higher percentage in the lotions), the more intense the feeling will be. The more moderately you use it, the less likely you are to feel like a burn victim. In fact, experienced tanners who use it sparingly, rarely experience anything uncomfortable.
There are also tanning lotions with only a very small amount of tingle ingredients. The effect of such lotions is called “Blush”, and is less intensive than the effect from stronger tingle lotions. Making smart decisions about the tanning lotions you use is half the battle of getting a great tan and healthy skin! Remember, tingle lotions with tingle ingredients are safe. Just be smart about using them. If you’re trying them for the first time, start with a low intensity product. Always test new lotions on a small area to minimize problematic reactions. Avoid using tingle close to the eyes and wash the hands carefully after applying tanning lotions with tingle.
This article about ingredients in tanning lotions is written by Goran Olsson a.k.a. TheTanningGuru. Goran is dedicated to provide true and honest information about his passion – the healthy benefits from regular and moderate tanning, outdoors as well as in a solarium.
He considers the use of high quality tanning lotions as an essential part of a skin-care regime aimed at keeping your skin younger-looking and fresh also while tanning regularly for Vitamin D.
Tapping into his basic education as a chemical engineer, he can give advice about tanning lotion ingredients that go deeper than what you can read on the bottles.
