Every tan is a sign of damage to the skin. Yet somehow, youngsters can’t get enough of the golden glow for the camera. “Tanmaxxing” has become the latest trend that pushes people to tan for as long and as intensely as possible, right in the middle of the day. Thousands of social media users have been watching influencers and TikTokers sit by the poolside and share their step-by-step tanning routine to achieve a deeper, darker glow. But as the trend spreads, experts have been issuing warnings and said the “perfect tan” comes with hidden, long-term consequences. Image credits: KoolShooters/Pexels (not the actual photo) TikTok’s latest beauty craze has teens baking in the sun. Scroll through social media and you will find content creators sharing step-by-step routines, tanning oils, and “optimal” times to catch the strongest rays of the sun. For many youngsters, this has become part of their daily routine. And some even advise their followers to skip sunscreen altogether. Image credits: charmingvalerie Valerie Calderon, a 17-year-old from California, often shares her tanning secrets with 34,000 followers on Instagram and 50,000 on TikTok. “Everyone is within 13 to 17 years old,” she told the New York Post about her followers. She said tanning is a “trend” that’s “very, very popular right now.” “It makes girls feel more confident in their skin,” she added. Calderon said she prefers sprawling out in the sun during the “peak UV hours” for the “crispest” tan lines. Across TikTok, people have been bragging about tanning when the UV index is the highest. Image credits: Jan Kopřiva/Pexels (not the actual photo) The UV index, or Ultraviolet index, is a scale, typically from 0 to 11+, that indicates the intensity of sunburn-producing ultraviolet radiation from the sun at a specific time and location. A level of 0 to 2 is considered low risk, while 3 to 5 is moderate, but some protection is recommended. Levels of 6 to 7 are high and require essential protection. Between 8-10, the skin can burn quickly, and anything above that is considered dangerous. Image credits: daddimoose69 “Everyone I know only goes outside when the UV index is 6 or higher,” said Mia Giordano from New Rochelle, New York. Another 23-year-old teacher said, “I always check the UV and try to go out when it’s the highest,” in a video with a million views. Experts have pointed out that the entire premise of “tanmaxxing” itself is extremely flawed. Image credits: KasumiKriss “Tanning is your skin’s attempt to protect itself from UV radiation. Your skin produces melanin to block the radiation and this appears as a tan,” Dr. Sherry Pagoto, a licensed clinical psychologist and expert on sun safety and skin cancer prevention, told Bored Panda. “Your skin is literally trying to protect you from being harmed by your decision to expose it to radiation,” she continued. “However, even a deep dark tan is not a complete defense against cell damage.” Image credits: 20th Century Studios Image credits: Q_E_D_avid People who tan often show signs of premature aging with time, Pagoto explained. “UV radiation exposure breaks down collagen and elastin in the skin, which leads to wrinkles, sagging skin, dark spots, and a leathery texture. Every time you tan you are speeding up the aging process of your skin,” she said. It is possible that skin damage goes unnoticed when the tanner is a child or a teenager. However, the effects accumulate and become increasingly noticeable throughout adulthood. And because of this, “all tanning is self-harm,” Pagoto said. Image credits: UbermenschMind “I think tanning isn’t perceived to be harmful because the harm is so gradual and cumulative. It’s like having termites in your home,” she said. “You may not notice them or the damage they are causing for a long time, but eventually the damage accumulates so much that your foot falls through a floorboard.” “By then, the structural integrity of the home is severely compromised. This is what is happening to your skin when you tan. Each tan is like setting loose a handful of termites to your home’s foundation,” she continued. Image credits: mommalovesfashionblog Image credits: Scorchdearff People who tan are essentially choosing short-term payoff over long-term consequences, trading an instant glow for damage that shows up later. A smarter approach is to think ahead. “If you value your physical appearance, it is much smarter to play the long game--find safe ways to look cute and s*xy now and you’ll look cute and s*xy for much longer,” Pagoto said. Image credits: Mikhail Nilov/Pexels (not the actual photo) Some tanmaxxing influencers have claimed that a “base tan” could help protect the skin from sun damage. But Pagoto noted that this, too, is not true. “I think people believe this because a base tan can make it take longer for your skin to burn. This is true, but sunburns are just a more extreme form of damage than tanning---it is when the skin cells literally commit s**cide because they are so damaged. “For you science buffs, the term for this is apoptosis. This is our body’s desperate attempt to prevent skin cancer by killing off damaged skin cells. Tanning is a sign that the damage to your skin cells is escalating,” she said. “We have to remind ourselves that tanning is a response to radiation exposure--radiation is a carcinogen (a substance that can cause cancer),” she added. “The last thing we want to do to any part of our bodies is to repeatedly expose it to a carcinogen.” Image credits: Misa S./Pexels (not the actual photo) Even celebrities have learned the hard way that tanning is not all that it seems. Emma Stone once admitted she was “obsessed” with the idea of being tan but later regretted it. She spoke about her fake tan during her 2011 Critics' Choice Awards appearance that made her the subject of widespread headlines. “I'm from Arizona, and I don't have any pigment in my skin, so growing up, I was really obsessed with the idea of being tan,” the Oscar winner told Vogue in 2025. “That sort of followed me the first couple years that I was going to these types of things.” Image credits: Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images / Gilbert Flores/Penske Media via Getty Images “I thought, if you were dressing up and if you wanna look great, you should get a really, really dark spray tan. My hands ... look like I'm wearing gloves because [the spray tan] it's not on my hands.” The Poor Things actress also carried her spray-tanning choices to the 2011 Golden Globe Awards. Commenting on the peachy pink gown she wore to the show, she said, “I looked like one solid thumb, and that dress is so pretty. Why did I decide to match my skin tone to the dress?” Image credits: Kevin Mazur/MG18/Getty Images / Amy Sussman/Getty Images Selena Gomez also had a “funny story” about her self-tanning mishap ahead of the 2018 Met Gala. “For the Met Gala I was getting ready and we wanted to add some color. So [I] put on some of this tanning lotion and it looked really beautiful and very even,” the Lose You to Love Me singer said in a 2021 Vogue Beauty Secrets video. “As the evening kept going on it was getting a little darker and darker,” she recalled. Image credits: selenagomez Completely oblivious to her darkening complexion, Gomez posed for pictures on the famous Met steps and only realized the situation when she went inside. She sat down at a table and caught a glimpse of a photo of herself on the red carpet. “I look at a photo of myself when I sit down, and I am completely orange,” she said with a laugh. “I was like, ‘This is going to be terrible because I'm going to get eaten alive about this.’” Image credits: Kaboompics/Pexels (not the actual photo) For all those still chasing a sun-kissed glow, there are safer alternatives that do not involve barbequing yourself in the sun. “I suggest sunless tanners, either the kind you apply yourself or if you can afford it, a professional spray tan. These do not harm the skin. The active ingredient has been FDA-approved for topical use since the 1970s,” Pagoto said. Image credits: Talha Resitoglu/Pexels (not the actual photo) The expert, however, noted that sunless tans do not protect the skin from UV radiation, so it is important to wear sunscreen or protective clothing when out in the sun. “If you aren’t a fan of sunless tanners, try body bronzers and glowing balms,” she suggested. “These are makeup so they wash right off which means you can change your aesthetic each day---go with a Kylie Jenner glow one day and then pivot to Taylor Swift-esque porcelain skin with a red lip the next day,” she added. “When you see your fav celeb strolling down the red carpet, chances are their golden glows are by spray tans and body bronzers, not the sun.” So the next time you want to go for that sun-kissed glow, maybe look into these products instead of tanmaxxing, and avoid making your skin age faster and risking an earlier cancer screening.
