After contouring has become a part of our regular makeup routine, tantouring, these days is what everyone’s been experimenting with. It all started with people craving to flaunt a tanned look all year round, irrespective of having been on a vacation. Some have taken it up a notch, and that too, in a potentially dangerous way. The beauty bizarre trend is going viral on social media where people are not using bronzers but applying self-tanner and using SPF to ‘tantour’ their faces. And, this is precisely something that shouldn’t be done.
In a video that is going viral on social media, you can see that a TikTok user has applied two sunscreens of different SPF: 30 and 90 on her face. According to this bizarre trend, any areas where one would normally apply contour, are the areas where you apply a weaker SPF. While any areas where you would highlight, you apply a higher SPF.
This is basically encouraging the sun to ‘tan’ your skin on areas that have lower sun protection. The end result (or at least what is expected) is a naturally contoured face, without having to use makeup.
Take a look at the video below to understand what we are talking about.
According to experts, tantouring using SPF is can be extremely dangerous for the health of your skin…Not like we needed an expert to tell us that this trend is basically encouraging you to damage your skin.
If you are going to be spending the day at the beach, applying a good SPF (usually SPF50) is good enough, as long as you reapply every 3 hours. Exposing certain parts of your skin to sun damage while protecting the others is NOT a great idea. It might lead to hyperpigmentation, sunspots, blemishes and permanent skin damage that can take years to reverse.
Here are some recommendations in case you are trying to reverse any existing pigmentation or sun damage:
- Apply SPF evenly all over your face and body, every day…even if you’re sitting at home!
- Use a Vitamin C serum to help fade pigmentation, acne scars and blemishes.
- Speak to your dermatologist about clinical treatments such as laser and chemical peels to help exfoliate the top (damaged) layer of your skin.
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Moral of the story? Please don’t give in to this trend and just use bronzers or contouring sticks or powders. Here are a few you can try!
The tantouring-induced skin damage is definitely not worth it!
Featured Image: Instagram
