Are There Pills That Can Give a Tan and Are They Dangerous?

QUESTION: The most important thing in the world to my girlfriend is a glowing
tan. Although she knows about the skin cancer scare, she claims she can
develop her tan from lotions and pills. Are there really pills that can give
you a tan, and are they dangerous?
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ANSWER: At least your friend has taken heed to the many warnings about
excessive exposure to sunlight and its relationship to skin cancer. But her
hopes for the tan color she is seeking to achieve may not be quite as easy to
achieve as she has been led to believe. It is true that both lotions and oral
chemicals exist which affect our skin color. The creams and liquids applied
directly to the skin contain an active ingredient called dihydroxyacetone,
which stains the outer layer of our skin (the stratum corneum). While this
chemical may occasionally cause a skin rash, the incidence is relatively low.
However this is not a true tan, in that the skin has not produced any
additional pigments itself, therefore the coloration is no protection against
sun burn. Rather than the tan-bronze look that is so desired, it creates an
orange-yellow coloration, a bit unnatural looking. As for the pills, they are
composed of beta-carotene, which also finds its way to the outer skin layer to
produce a coloring effect, concentrating the most where that layer is
thickest, the soles and palms of the hands. It is used medically to treat
light skinned persons suffering from vitiligo, a condition that causes loss of
color in the skin through the loss of the color producing cells called
melanocytes. There are few serious side effects from these pills but though
it may give your friend a color, but I have real doubts that her new hue will
meet with her esthetic expectations.