Gen Z is bringing back tanning and ignoring the dangerous cancer risk

Yahoo

2 days ago

London Kolkana is an avid tanner, and she wants you to be one, too. That's why, on TikTok, she shares tips—sit in a beach chair instead of lying on a towel, use a $40 accelerating tanning oil followed by a spray of 15 SPF sunblock, and make sure to be in the sun between noon and 1:30, when the UV index is at its peak.
'I found a routine, I mastered it,' says the young Florida woman. In one video, she excitedly reveals what many young bronzers strive for—extreme tan lines from her bikini straps, telling her followers, 'You can literally achieve this so easily, I promise.'
Welcome to the surreal world of Gen Z sun worship, a perplexing throwback to the 1970s—when sunbathers used mirrors to intensify rays, when the ozone layer was still intact, and before it was widely understood that sun exposure caused skin cancer.
As with most recent trends, social media appears to be behind the latest rise in tanning culture; TikTok alone has over 142 million posts hashtagged 'tan lines.' It's rife with crisped influencers like Kolkana who show off tan lines, promote products, and push a bevy of persistent myths about sun exposure (such as it's only a problem if you burn, while tanning is just as damaging). Many use apps, such as Rayz or Sunglow, which help tanners plan and maximize their time in the sun by prompting them to head out when the UV index—the daily forecast of the intensity of ultraviolet radiation—is at its highest.
And those trends are even influencing the next generation—Gen Alpha, born in 2010 or after—to get on the tanning bandwagon.
Simone, 14, of New York City, lays out on the roof of her building when the UV index is between 6 and 9 (characterized as 'high' by the Environmental Protection Agency) with a goal of creating visible tan lines. 'It sort of measures how tan you are because you see the color difference, but also because it is like an accessory on its own,' she tells Fortune, adding her habit is 'very influenced by social media.'
Similarly, Lucia, a Michigan 13-year-old with 'pale and sensitive skin,' likes to sunbathe with a combo of tanning oil and sunscreen when the UVA index is at least 7. One of her aims, too, is to get tan lines. 'With the style for summer 2025, there are a lot of tube tops and shirts that reveal that shoulder area, where you would want to show off your time in the sun,' she explains.
'I think it's a really concerning trend that in our Gen Z population, we're seeing an increase in intentional sun exposure, as well as a lack of knowledge about sun protection,' Dr. Veena Vanchinathan, a SanJose, Calif.-based board-certified dermatologist, tells Fortune.
Half of Gen Z adults surveyed by the American Academy of Dermatology Association, reported being sunburned in 2024. Meanwhile, 64% said they often forget to apply sunscreen, and only 34% believe that skin cancer prevention is the most important reason to use sunscreen.
In addition, 37% don't know the risks of tanning, 57% believe common myths (such as thinking a 'base tan' protects against sun damage, which it does not), and 25% say it's worth looking good now even if it means looking worse later.
Vanchinathan is particularly worried about the trend of heading outside to tan when the UV index is high. 'I actually give the opposite advice to my patients,' she says. 'I tell them, 'Check the UV index. And if it's high, please don't go outside. Or at least wear hats, reapply your sunscreen, or bump up your SPF to 50 or higher.' So the fact that folks are actually intentionally looking for those numbers to achieve a tan is really scary.'
'It's often not until someone gets a skin cancer themselves, or knows someone who did, that they wake up and start using sun protection regularly,' Dr. Deborah Sarnoff, New York dermatologist and president of the Skin Cancer Foundation, said in a story about the roots of tanning on the foundation's website.
And sometimes that doesn't take long, says Vanchinathan, who has seen several young patients with either basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer, or melanoma, which is the deadliest.
Typically, though, it takes longer—with those who tanned in adolescence at a higher risk of developing skin cancer later in life.
Skin cancer in general is the most common type of cancer worldwide. In addition, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation:
One in five Americans will develop skin cancer by the age of 70.
More than two people die of skin cancer in the U.S. every hour.
Having had five or more sunburns in life doubles your risk for melanoma.
When detected early, the five-year survival rate for melanoma is 99 percent, underscoring the importance of going to a dermatologist for skin checks.
In the U.S., more than 9,500 people are diagnosed with skin cancer daily—and more than two people die of it every hour.
If someone you love—such as your teenage daughter—is stubborn about their tanning habit, experts suggest you try some gentle education about the fact that there is no such thing as a healthy tan.
'The truth is, for UV to give your skin color, it has to create DNA damage,' says Vanchinathan. 'So every single time we get a tan, it literally creates DNA damage in our skin cells,' meaning that the cells will not grow or function normally. 'And that, in turn, is why every single tan, even if it's just once, is going to increase our risk for skin cancer and premature skin aging.'
The factors behind young people today chasing unhealthy tans are many, says Vanchinathan, including that Gen Z tends to get their health information through social media rather than more reputable sources. 'It's very easy to fall into a kind of vortex of popular misinformation,' she says. There may also be a lack of education about skin cancer and sun exposure either at home, at school, or both, she says.
And there is a strong 'misunderstanding' that skin cancer only affects older people, 'and that it's not necessarily something that needs to be on their radar,' she says, 'when the truth is that melanoma is one of the deadliest cancers in individuals 18 and younger.'
To understand the roots of tanned skin being a beauty ideal—and for perpetuating the myth of that a tan is 'healthy'—we can look, in part, to fashion icon Coco Chanel, who is widely credited with setting the trend back in 1923, when she accidentally got too much sun on a Mediterranean cruise. Post-vacation photos of Chanel with bronzed skin were such a hit, apparently, that they turned the pre-Industrial Revolution idea of a leisure-class pallor on its head.
Tanning was suddenly the new aspirational look of wealth and leisure—and it's one that has persisted over time, with highs and lows, despite what's been learned about the risks of sun exposure.
'In the U.S. and other Western countries, people still think a tan is the epitome of health and beauty,' said Sarnoff in the Skin Cancer Foundation's story.
But it wasn't until the 1940s—right around the time bikinis came into vogue— that Coppertone created an early attempt at sunscreen, marketed as a way to get a better than without a burn; no one knew yet, though, that ultraviolet A (UVA) rays not only cause tanning but contribute to skin cancer. Diagnosis of melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer, began to rise, surging in the '70s, prompting the creation of the Skin Cancer Foundation in 1979 to raise awareness.
Still, the beauty ideal persists; multiple studies over the years have found that a tanned look often makes people feel better about their appearance.
Fast forward to 2025, when young women and girls are being swept up by the same aesthetic—even, when they do understand the risks of sun exposure, in spite of it.
'I know that sun exposure can cause a lot of damage to your skin,' says the young Michigan tanning enthusiast, 'and also give you skin cancer.' And that, she admits, 'is super-duper scary.'
More on skin cancer:
The best foods to add to your diet that can help prevent skin cancer
Can sunscreen give you cancer? What experts want you to know
Homemade sunscreen doesn't work, despite what TikTok tells you
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com