Common myths about sun and sun exposure

MYTH
It was the French designer Coco Chanel who launched a tanning fashion in the 1920s that reversed centuries of predilection for pale skin as a measure of leisure and class. A tan results from stimulation of pigment cells called melanocytes in the skin. This stimulation and darkening in the color of skin is a sign of sun damage to the skin. This damage occurs in the form of alteration to the DNA of the skin cells that can lead to skin cancer and to damage of tissues in the skin that result in premature aging. It is therefore not a sign of health. Current trends in fashion are also trying to reverse the perception of a tan as a sign of status and beauty.

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