Experts Warn Against Viral ‘Beer Tan’ Trend That’s Taking TikTok By Storm

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Most people don’t need an excuse to pop open a beer, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s no better way to cool off on a hot summer day with the help of a cold one.

I’m not going to go as far as to say a day at the beach or chilling near a pool isn’t truly complete until you have a frosty adult beverage in your hand, but if you exclude beer from your list of “Summer Essentials,” I’m going to take it with a massive grain of salt.

However, some people are apparently taking things a bit too far thanks to a new movement that has experts a bit concerned.

Before we dive into this, I’d like to acknowledge the fact that the media has historically been a bit too eager to slap the “trend” label on movements that can be traced back to a handful of posts on social media (I don’t think that many people were actually eating laundry detergent before the  “Tide Pod Challenge” became A Thing), and TikTok is just the latest in a long line of platforms that’s been subjected to that treatment.

With that said, there’s been enough attention paid to the people singing the praises of the “Beer Tan” to prompt people who are familiar with the potential downsides to sound the alarm.

According to Metro, covering yourself in beer while trying to get a tan can theoretically boost your levels of melanin thanks to the manner in which hops interact with your skin and UV light.

With that said, the potential upsides are likely canceled out by the increased risk of sunburn (and, in the long term, skin cancer) as well as the chance of attracting flys, mosquitos, wasps, and other insects that could have much more incentive to annoy you based on the aroma you’ll be emitting.

I kind of assumed “Don’t pour beer on yourself to try to get a tan” is common sense advice most people don’t need to hear, but I guess that’s not the case.