You know those DHA tans are only so good. There are two very big drawbacks with them:

1. They provide absolutely no sunscreen protection at all whatsoever. This can be a bit dangerous if you think about it because having such a tanned appearance can lull a person into thinking that they'll be ok out in the sun.

and

2. The DHA sprayed/treated skin rubs off in 3 to 5 days (or shorter if proper exfoliating isn't done prior to the spray/treatment). That's annoying to have to keep getting a spray/treament (including exfoliating) once or twice a week or face the consequences of having your skin look mottled between tan/not tan.

If one uses one of the peptides properly the tan stays for a couple of months (or indefinitely if they keep it topped up).
I think your last line pretty much sums up the situation fairly well.

Thanks for the discussion,

-Scott
Melanotan.org - afamelanotide Founder & Admin

Hi Scott,
it seems that your knoledge of spray tan is somewhat limited or diffused.

Here in the UK there is absolutley no confusion that a spraytan doesnt provide UV sun protection and that precautions need to be taken when exposed to natural UV.

A spraytan ,if applied correcly lasts for between 7/10 days dependant on the pre and post care taken....and all...wait for it..without injection.

Which hopefully brings this thread back to the posted topic

Ditto what Collin said.

Well in reality I'm not knocking DHA tans that much for they absolutely have their place and the reality is until either of the melanotan peptides is approved and readily available through legitimate channels they probably won't go as far as DHA has. It's true that right now the prospect of having an injection to get a tan seems a bit sketchy but other commonly found appearance enhancing methods rely upon injections. Melanotan peptides are becoming a bit like, "Botox for Tanning". Even Clinuvel recognises that tanning injections are not the way to go which is why they've developed a rice grain sized bioabsorbable implant that is administered one time which slowly releases the melanotan one peptide into the system and gives a months long tan.

-Scott

Scott..when do you think realistically that this treatment will be "approved" and by whom and for use under which circumstances.i.E. will the introduction of the ingredients into the system have to be undertaken by a suitably qualified individual?

Currently these are available for purchase via the internet..which means anyone can buy them and go to town sticking a needle into themselves...do you think this is responsible approach to take?

....bit like giving a machine gun to a kid and then complaining cos hes shot up the place

Oh and Scott..any chance that you could update your profile so we can see who you are and from were you are communicatng from..would be nice

collin,
It looks to be that some time in this coming year Clinuvel will gain approval for their melanotan one implants (they refer to the melanotan one implant by the name "afamelanotide" in their literature). Their site can answer these types of questions better than I here (they talk about what conditions they are looking to remedy with "afamelanotide" = melanotan one):

Clinuvel » Investors » FAQs

These peptides have been studied and trials have been conducted going back to the 80s (back then they were known by their scientific names: [Nle4, D-Phe7]-α-MSH and Ac-Nle-cyclo[Asp-His-D-Phe-Arg-Trp-Lys]-NH2 ). In all of that time there's been no reports of toxicity, not even from those initial test subjects. Now the peptides are being used by thousands of people across many countries with essentially no reports of ill effects from the peptides themselves outside of the known side effects (which most likely have stemmed from people taking too much of either peptide), like flushing and in some cases at least initially a bit of nausea.
It is generally illegal for vendors to knowingly sell the peptides for human usage and in that context it is not responsible on their parts to do so. What is generally not illegal is for folks to posses and use them.
What it comes down to for those interested in possibly using either peptide is a risk vs. benefit ratio. Even though the peptides have been studied for decades (and in some forums people have been experimenting/using them since 2004) the true potential long terms effects are still not known too well. What that presents is a significant risk for those not willing to wait until Clinuvel's clinical trials have been completed. As is evident by the knowledge about this that I express, I've done a bit of research on this and from that I honestly feel confident that they are safe.

-Scott

Personally i would happily inject myself for a lovely tan

A, if it had been tesed and proven safe(no side effects)
B, you didnt also have to use sunbeds

Unfortunatly this is not the case i know quite a few men and women who have taken these injections and went an awfull colour, also the sides effects that i know of are moles appearing all over the body one girl got one on the end of her nose not very nice eh

Relative to A it is very doubtful that there will ever be a drug that one could take to have a tan that didn't have some side effects.

Relative to B you will never be able get a natural looking tan based upon the skin's natural tanning agent melanin (the pigment produced by our own skin's melanocyte cells). The reason is that melanin requires some UV to darken and tan.

This is a pity to hear. What almost assuredly has happened in these instances is that the folks who you are talking about overdid it in one way or another. They either took too much peptide or they overdid the UV exposure or both. To a certain extent some reports like this are to be expected due to the simple fact that folks who could never tan before suddenly are able to quite easily and are not familiar with such an ability. Funny as it may sound a person needs to "learn" how to tan correctly (if indeed their intention is to achieve a natural looking tanned appearance).

-Scott

I'm sorry but this all seems extremely complex and risky...an individual who finds themselves in a position where suddenly they can at long last have a tan..should be able to do so without risk of getting warts and all....

What clearly is needed here must be that the application of the procedure should be made only by a suitably qualified or experiences theropist..and not Mrs Smith who purchased one on the Internet and inadvertently pumped to much of this stuff into her body through excitement or frazzled herself to long on a sunbed just because she is told she can now get a tan???


Now we all need to move with the times and I'm a big believer in new products/treatments etc...but crikey..get a tan and we throw in a few warts free of charge.

Until such time as this procedure is certified ,tested and individuals are trained fully in its application method.... isn't it both simpler and safer to simply stand in front of a friendly therapist and get yourself a spray tan...without injection or the risks of getting warts

Warts? collin where are you getting that from? This is part of the reason I'm here discussing this with folks. This thread is so chock full of misinformation/misconceptions that it is a struggle to overcome and and yet again here we are with more.
The peptides do not cause warts. Ok now that that is out of the way. There have been reports of folks whose moles have darkened and become more noticeable this cannot be denied. The primary reason that there have been some reports like that is that the melanotan peptides increase melanin production in the skin. Moles are typically focal points for melanin accumulation. So what happens is that the moles become darkened a bit quicker than normal skin and setup a contrast between the color lagged skin and the mole. The folks who've been patient to let the normal areas of skin catch up and darken report that this noticeability goes way down because the contrast concurrently goes way down. As far as DHA tans vs. melanin tans the reports from those who've done both are that there just is no comparison in terms of results and ease of maintaining appearance.
You're right though the only people (if anyone) who should be using the peptides before they become available are those who are willing to put in the time to learn about them and understand how they work and how to best utilize them to get the results they want. Just as a real world of the type of person I'm talking about see this thread and examine the before and after pictures to see what I'm describing.

-Scott

hiya ive been looking into the tanning injections and im interested to start using them! was just wondering if they work for people with red hair? as i dont go brown in the sun! if someone could let me know please asap i would be very grateful!! thanks xxx

Yes they do read the first few pages of this thread

Hi everybody - just thought i'd add a bit to this thread as I am actually taking the injections as we speak. I have been taking them now for just over two weeks. A massive massive increase in moles / freckles which I would say is the biggest off-putter for me.

I am scared stiff of injections - but have managed to do it - it is quite painless but if you hit a muscle it can hurt and bruise. You may think i'm mad - and I didn't want to do it until I saw the results on a friend of mine.

I can honestly say I am not that brown as yet. It does look like I have a tan and I would never go so far as to look ridiculous.

I agree with the posts where they say it is quite alarming that you have to inject yourself - I agree - you could easily mess it up. Also the dosage can be quite confusing - I took too much the first time and ended up being quite ill - vomiting etc.

At the end of the day it's a personal choice - but I think the people who are selling it definitely need to give more thorough instructions.

I have been using this for the last few months and it is great. It is much cheaper than spray tanning as once you have got yourself up to the tan you require then just one injection per week keeps that tan going. So £35 of product will last 10 weeks or more!!! I had no side effects at all and think this is just great....

This all sounds dangerous and scary!