Self-tanning products contain a chemical called dihydroxyacetone (or DHA). It is a key component of fake tan products and unfortunately it has a rather unpleasant odour.
In the 1950s research with DHA which at the time was being used as an oral drug for children suffering with glycogen storage disease showed how it could be used as a skin tanning agent.
Children would received doses of DHA by mouth, and sometimes would spill the drug onto their skin. Doctors then noticedthat the epidermis turned brown after a few hours exposure to DHA.
After continued research it was possible to consistently reproduce the pigmentation effect, and it was noted that DHA did not penetrate beyond the dead skin surface layer.
Companies try to mask the odour of DHA
Today, companies producing sunless tanning products try to mask the smell of DHA with essential or natural oils, but unfortunately every self tanning product has some sort of DHA odour with some being more overbearing than others.
Self-tanners tend to start smelling a couple hours after application and the combination of the product with natural body heat makes the smell more obvious.
Sunless tanning products with the least evidence of a DHA aroma include the L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Self Tan Spray and the Piz Buin self tanning lotion and colour dial
Current sunless tanners are formulated into sprays, lotions, gels, mousses, and cosmetic wipes as well as professionally applied products including spray tanning booths, and airbrush tan applications.
