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A healthy tan makes me feel full of life. It puts me in a good mood and magics up a beautiful glow for my face. The trouble is, in winter and spring, my skin is snow white; I'm not in the least bit tanned and I want to change that.
First, I get clued up on the best method for natural tanning, even in the colder months. As a beauty editor, I know that the sun and UV rays are extremely damaging to the skin, so using a sunbed would never be an option for me.
And fake tan products are not only expensive, they often contain a lot of chemicals, which I would prefer to avoid using in the long run.
There must be something that makes you tan naturally, right? That's when I remember a school friend telling me that she always ate carrots to get a quick tan. Sounds good, so I thought I would give it a try.
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Before I start my experiment, I want to know from a dermatologist whether this idea really makes sense. Dr. Christian Merkel confirms that "yes, carrots can change the colour of the skin." However, he also warns that "the shade is usually not as brown as the tan you get from the sun, but rather orange."
According to Dr. Merkel, this is due to the beta-carotene in carrots and also the vitamin A, which not only has skin-protecting properties, but also provides a tint.
I stock up on lots of carrot juice. Eating carrots would also work, according to Dr. Merkel, but you would have to eat a ton of them to see any results. "It's best to drink about 0.3 litres or 300ml a day to achieve a tan after about four weeks," Dr. Merkel advises.
It's also important to note that "vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin – so the effect can only unfold if it is absorbed in combination with oil," he adds. That's why I drink my carrot juice daily with a drop of oil – or combine it with a meal high in natural fats.
I drink the carrot juice daily and find it's pretty easy to incorporate into my daily routine. If I have time, I juice fresh carrots with my slow juicer to give my body plenty of additional vitamins (I already know this from making my own juices).
When I'm time-poor, I get a fresh juice at a stand or fall back on ready-made carrot juice from the health food shop or supermarket. If the pure vegetable taste gets too much for me, I combine it with other juices, such as freshly-squeezed orange juice.
I make my own carrot juice with the juicer - or buy it at the drugstore or juice stand if I'm short on time.
After about three weeks, I can already see a difference – and a delicate tint in my skin. As Dr. Merkel warned, the palms of my hands and the soles of my feet are also tinted. These would normally remain white if I were getting a tan in the sun.
As predicted, the tint is also more orange than the olive hue I had hoped. But since I have a red undertone in my skin anyway, it's not too noticeable.
According to Dr Merkel, a tan isn't medically measurable so you have to rely on what you can see with the naked eye. So I take pictures showing the full splendour of my untanned winter skin and one that shows the colour of my skin after four weeks of drinking carrot juice.
What does a month of carrot juice do: the before/after comparison. On the left, the skin before the experiment; on the right, the skin after four weeks.
The palms of the hands have also visibly changed colour.
A proper tan can't be achieved with carrot juice but I still look much healthier thanks to the light tint it gave my skin.
Since carrot juice is so easy to integrate into everyday life, I will probably continue to drink it as it gives me a daily dose of vitamins, killing two birds with one stone.
I also think it's great that the beta-carotene protects my skin, especially now that I'll be spending more time in the summer sun. I'll soon find out when the sun's first rays hit my skin whether I actually tan faster. I'm already curious to see how a natural tan will look in combination with the gold orange colour of my skin.
For all those who want to try tanning with carrot juice, there is definitely some effort involved as you have to be consistent to achieve the desired result.
The result is also always different depending on individual skin tone. This means that if you want to get a tan quickly and achieve a reliable result, you will probably still have to resort to sitting in the sun or self-tanning products.
Greens And Fruit Powder This article was originally featured on Glamour Germany.