We discussed for a long time whether we should include an article about the history of the main ingredient in Idol Tan on our blogsite. It seemed to some that it might be too unimportant, while others thought that people might be interested to learn a bit about how DHA started being used in tanning. In the end, we decided that there is no harm in doing this and we also wanted to include a little history of sun tan as a social and historic aspect of human life. So, here is the article on the history of sun tanning and DHA, the main ingredient in Idol Tan.
It may surprise some of you to learn that for quite a long time, having dark tan was considered extremely unattractive. The reason for this was that dark tan was associated with doing manual labor outside where you skin would get a tan. Affluent and socially more prominent people had no need to be outside and therefore a fair tan was considered a picture of beauty. People even used different products and procedures to make their skin look paler than it actually is, sometimes poisoning themselves to death.
It was not until the deficiency of vitamin D was identified as cause for many diseases that the people started appreciating the sun and sun tan once again. It is said that Coco Chanel had a huge impact in popularizing dark tan when she got sunburnt on vacation. Soon, it became fashionable and over the years, things shot through the roof from there. Before you know it, everyone was tanning as much as possible and different ways of acquiring a sun tan or speeding up the tanning process have been invented.
DHA, dihydroxyacetone is a chemical that was long used in X-ray procedures before it was discovered that it had the ability to turn the skin darker when applied to it. In 1920, German scientists discovered this property of DHA after a number of accidents in which the skin was exposed to DHA. In 1950s, an American scientist called Eva Wittgenstein did further research into dihydroxyacetone and she also discovered the ability of this chemical to turn the skin noticeably darker. After meticulous and long research, she discovered that DHA only penetrates the first layer of the skin which is already dead and that will shed in 15 days at most, which meant that DHA could be safely used for tanning.
As the harmful effects of tanning under the sun or artificial sunlight, DHA got more and more popular and it is today the most commonly used artificial tanning product in the world, both because of its safety and its ability to produce a tan that will not lean towards yellow or orange as beta carotene products will, but to a more natural and appealing bronze and brown pigments.
Idol Tan’s main ingredient is DHA and it has been specifically processed and tapered to such a formulation that it produces the most natural looking tan you will ever get without having to bake under the sun. It is a product which is water based which means that it will not dry the skin out like the majority of alcohol-based tanning products. In addition to this, Idol Tan contains aloe vera which is well-known as one of the best calming and moisturizing natural ingredients in the world, further promoting the healthy and natural look of the skin.