This article was originally published on July 18 2023.

The viewers are getting ready with an influencer as she decides what to wear to head to the sunbed shop. She picks loose-fitting clothing, she tells the camera, because she always feels sick after a sunbed. Elsewhere, a different influencer sprays a “triple-strength” watermelon-flavoured tan accelerator up her nose at her dressing table before putting her hair into a high pony and packing her sunbed vouchers into her bag. She opens her gel of choice for today’s session, hashtagging the brand in the bio. Welcome to sunbed TikTok.

For a short time, it seemed like sunbeds had had their day. In 2010, the government banned under-18s from using them and three years later research suggested that sunbed shops in the UK were on the decline. But over the last few years, “sunny Bs” have witnessed a return thanks to, in large part, TikTok where trips to the sunbed shop have become a genre of content in their own right, with #sunbed boasting 549 million views. From cream reviews and viral hacks to get deeper tans, to Get Ready With Me videos and tips for first-timers, you can find it all on the app. In fact, you don’t even have to find it, your FYP will do it for you.

Driving this comeback are young people: a 2024 survey from skin cancer charity Melanoma Focus found that 43 per cent of 18 to 25-year-olds use sunbeds. 20-year-old Rhiannon worked in a sunbed shop last year and says the majority of the customers were under 25 – many of whom came for a first sunbed after seeing the shop on TikTok. Rhiannon has only six videos on her account, but her “come for a sunbed with me” post has over 900,000 views. 

Like tanning in the sun, using a sunbed comes with a lot of health risks. According to studies, using a sunbed even once can increase the risk of melanoma by 20 per cent, and it becomes 87 per cent if under the age of 30. For many people, though, the risks that come with using sunbeds are outweighed by the results.

19-year-old Ami began using sunbeds after seeing a trend on TikTok two years ago which showed the difference in using fake tan compared to sunbeds. She decided to begin as soon as she turned 18 with an accelerator lotion she saw on the app. “I knew exactly the risks and I knew what I was getting myself into,” she says. “I just feel like the way I’m doing it, it’s a lot safer.” Ami says she only uses sunbeds before going on holiday, and thinks the way the sunbeds help her acne and bring out her freckles make it worth it.

“It’s that whole clean girl thing,” adds Rhiannon on why people are prepared to risk the health dangers. “Everyone wants to be tanned so then they don’t have to wear as much make-up and it just looks better.” She also says that seeing influencers on constant holidays with ever-present tans drives her and others to find a more affordable way to get it themselves.

Megan, 21, is a “baby content creator” and regularly posts videos of her days to TikTok, including her visits to the sunbed shop, and says most of the products she’s sold with the TikTok shop feature have been tanning ones. Videos with the sunbed’s infamous blue lights in the background get better views, she adds. Influencers can rack up views in the millions with videos of their brightly lit faces and teeth lip-syncing to trending songs or, if the stand-up beds allow enough room, dancing.

“All I’ve ever wanted was to be as tanned as everyone else,” admits Megan, adding that the “tiger bread” effect of fake tan wasn’t cutting it anymore. “I just think when you see that day in, day out, it probably does make you want to look like that.” Megan, who does aesthetics for a living, says the accessibility of tweakments makes her less worried about the appearance side-effects that come with sunbeds: early wrinkles, dry skin and a leather look. “You can get [fillers and botox] that look so natural now. I think that if you were so insecure about wrinkles and things like that, then you could just fix it,” she says, adding that none of her friends worry about the ageing aspect of sunbeds.

For many young sunbed users, there’s no feeling of being completely oblivious to the risks of indoor tanning, but instead a sense of control over it. “I think if you use them periodically and you don’t overdo it, I think it’s probably fine,” Megan continues, adding that her local sunbed shop provides a safety leaflet to customers on such measures.

What constitutes “overdoing it” however isn’t so clear. Rhiannon says 20 minutes every day. Ami says more than once a week. Megan thinks four to five times per week. Rhiannon says that someone she knows was diagnosed with skin cancer previously, but that they would use sunbeds two times per day. Rhiannon feels safer in her use twice a week and with creams that contain antioxidants to protect the skin. “It’s a risk if you use them improperly,” she says.

“All I’ve ever wanted was to be as tanned as everyone else” – Megan

Dr Ross Perry MBBS, Medical Director of Cosmedics skin clinics, however, says it’s a risk always: “Using a sunbed, even in moderation won’t protect you from damage to the skin or sunburn. In fact, there are some studies to suggest that using sunbeds can be more dangerous than sitting in the midday summer sun abroad. Ultimately, when our body tans, it’s a reaction to damage in the skin cells as it’s exposed to UV radiation, so no matter how infrequent, it’s still not a wise thing to do.”

The one thing that has made Ami reconsider her sunbed habit was a trend last year where people showed their scars from cut-out moles on the app, leading her to decrease the frequency of her use and choose the “low UV” option.

TikTok says it looks at safety holistically and reviews content where appropriate. The app confirms that tanning products are sold through the shop feature but that they all must adhere to rules including applicable cautions. Many however feel that this is not enough and want more when it comes to warnings on videos that appear to promote sunbed use. Although tanned influencers sometimes give disclaimers, it’s hard to take it seriously when they tell you where to buy their favourite sunbed cream just seconds later.

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