Can you get a tan just by drinking carrot juice? I’d heard this old myth before—and I wanted to find out for myself.
Because for me, a healthy tan makes me feel full of life. It puts me in a good mood and gives my face a beautiful glow. The trouble is, in winter and spring, my skin is snow white. And I want to change that.
I’ve done countless research on the best way to get a natural tan, even in the coldest months. But as a beauty editor, I know that the sun and UV rays are extremely damaging to the skin, so using a tanning bed would never be an option for me. And self-tanning products are not only expensive, but they often contain a lot of chemicals that I’d like to avoid.
Surely there must be something that makes you tan naturally, I thought. And then I remembered a school friend once telling that she always ate carrots to get a quick tan. Worth a try, I figured.
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Getting a natural tan with carrots: Does it work?
But before I started my experiment, I went to a dermatologist to ask whether this idea made any sense. And according to Dr. Christian Merkel, “Yes, you can change your skin color with carrots.” However, he also warns that the shade is not like what you see when tanning with UV rays but rather more orange in color. Like, you know, carrots.
Per Dr. Merkel, this is due to the beta-carotene and vitamin A in carrots, which not only has skin-protecting properties but also provides a tint.
Carrot juice for a tan: How my test went
I figured at least some color was better than my usual winter pallor, so I stocked up on tons of carrot juice. Dr. Merkel said eating carrots would also work, but you’d have to eat lots of them to see any results. “It’s best to drink about about 0.3 liters or 300 milliliters (about 10 ounces) a day to achieve a tan after about four weeks,” he says.
“Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin,” he adds, “so it can only be effective if it’s absorbed in combination with oil.” That’s why I drink my carrot juice with a drop of oil, or combine it with a meal high in natural fats.
I drank the carrot juice daily and found it was pretty easy to incorporate into my daily routine. If I had the time, I juiced fresh carrots with my slow juicer to give my body plenty of extra vitamins. (I already know this from making my own juices.)
When I was short on time, I got a fresh juice from a health store or drank ready-made carrot juice from the supermarket. Whenever the pure vegetable taste was too much for me, I combined it with other juices like freshly-squeezed orange juice.
Four weeks of carrot juice: The result
After about three weeks, I could already see a difference—and a subtle tint in my skin. As Dr. Merkel had warned, the palms of my hands and the souls of my feet were also tinted. And as predicted, the tint was more orange than olive.
According to Dr. Merkel, a tan isn’t medically measurable so you have to rely on what you can see with the naked eye. That’s why I took a before picture of my untanned winter skin as well as one that shows the tone after four weeks of drinking carrot juice.
Carrot juice for a tan: My verdict
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 because it also 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 once I start spending more time in the summer sun. Once the weather warms up, I’ll find out whether or not carrot juice will help me tan faster. I can’t wait to see what my skin looks like in combination with the golden orange hue the drink gives.
For anyone who might want to try tanning via carrot juice, know that it definitely takes effort because you have to be consistent to see any changes. Also, the results may differ based on your individual skin tone. Check with your doctor before you try anything—an overdose on vitamin A can lead to undesirable side effects like headaches and nausea.
Ultimately, I think the quickest way to a tan hasn’t changed. You’ll still have to resort to sitting in the sun or self-tanning products.
A version of this article was previously published on Glamour Germany.
The post I Drank Carrot Juice Every Day for a Month to Get a Tan, and This Is the Result appeared first on Glamour.
