Research has revealed that spending long hours on the beach too will not result in an even or whole body tan. Tan forms a part of defensive mechanism by physically thickening the skin and thus protecting its lower and middle layers against the damage caused by sun. This indicates that thicker skin takes longer time to develop tan as the defense mechanism is already working there.

Skin cancer specialists at the University of Edinburgh noticed that usually buttocks fail to tan well and easily compared to rest of the body parts. This is because skin on buttocks was the thickest of all body parts. This can mean that even if a rotator is used for tanning, one could not attain a perfect and even tan.

Jonathan Rees, a professor of dermatology, who was part of the research team, said that using a fake tanning lotion is the only method to acquire a perfectly even tan. These fake tanning lotions, though quite underestimated, are also beneficial in fighting skin cancer.

The researchers studied the quality of tanning on buttocks and lower backs of 98 individuals on exposing them to a set value of UV light. They eliminated the redness that usually develops due to overexposure to UV light and which is also misunderstood as the first stage for tanning.

For this process, they injected a compound that is used to minimize the rush of blood to the skin especially towards buttocks. This way only the actual suntans were compared. Moreover, the buttocks have a lighter base tan and hence, even this fact was controlled.

Journal Experimental Dermatology published and Medical Research Council funded the research which pointed out towards some serious issues like the melanoma mysteries on the difference in number of tumors on skin of various body parts. This study shows that the human skin is made of different units and therefore the different responses to sunshine.

Source:

Journal Experimental Dermatology