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The latest beauty trend to take over TikTok and Instagram could also be one of the oldest: boasting a ‘natural’ tan.  

Despite the effectiveness of Australian sun-safety campaigns over the years–a landmark study found a dramatic drop in melanoma rates following the iconic ‘Slip, Slop, Slap’ campaign–2025 has seen the return of deliberately baked tan lines as the hottest accessory. 

Tannings tips have racked up millions of views across Instagram and TikTok, including advice on UV exposure, products and an app that promises to help you “achieve your perfect glow.” 

“Tanning and burning are both visible signs of skin cell damage,” says Dr Theresa Larkin, associate professor in the University of ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ (UOW) Graduate School of Medicine.  

“This makes the melanin (the skin’s pigment) a bit darker, and it moves closer to the skin’s surface. Repetitive tanning can cause changes to pigmentation and faster ageing of the skin.” 

“The redness of sunburn is due to inflammation of the blood vessels in the skin from the UV radiation. UV radiation also essentially causes chemical damage to our DNA, and damaged DNA can lead to cancer.” 

Putting sun safety back in the spotlight

“When I first saw that suntanning was back in as a trend, I was in disbelief that young people would be doing that,” says Dr Jennifer Algie. 

Dr Algie is a senior lecturer in the UOW School of Business with a research focus on social marketing, which aims to change social behaviour, generally for public health and safety. She says the campaigns that were effective in the 1980s to 2000s are lost on the younger generation.  

“Those ads being on television were reaching the masses culturally because we were all exposed to them, but that culture has shifted, therefore young people are maybe not getting these messages,” she says.  

“Young people aren’t on traditional media, and the media they are on [like Instagram and TikTok] - they get to select what they view, so they don’t have that forced attention.” 

Fear over fashion

In an ironic contrast, Gen Z and Gen Alpha’s obsession with skincare has boomed over the past few years . But the connection between sun safety and longer lasting skin may have been lost on some young people. 

“I think people not seeing sunscreen as skincare is crazy. It is fundamental to skincare,” she says. 

“Probably the best thing you could do for your skin versus all the serums and really expensive items that you would be buying from all the beauty outlets, is just to use sunscreen. So, positioning those products as part of your beauty care regime would be an excellent step in the right direction as well.” 

The Cancer Council has leveraged the rise of beauty trends to combat tanning, hiring influencers to share sun safety tips as the fashionable choice and ‘end the trend.’ 

“I think there are fun and innovative ways to promote sun safety,” says Dr Algie.  

“I’ve seen a mousse-style sunscreen that looks like whipped cream, which makes applying something young people want to do. I saw one beauty influencer apply sunscreen with a makeup sponge which I thought was a great way to associate sunscreen with beauty.” 

While Dr Algie says this is a step in the right direction, her past research which focused on road safety ads, showed that fear-based messaging may be the more effective strategy to change public attitudes.  

Cancer Council’s 2007 campaign featured 26-year-old Clare Oliver, warning people of the dangers of solarium use following her melanoma diagnosis and preceding her eventual death from the disease. The , leading to a dramatic drop in solarium use and eventual banning of commercial sunbeds throughout Australia. 

“It’s really powerful. You could do something similar where you have someone who is flaunting this [suntanning] behaviour and they have to speak to someone who has survived cancer or lost a relative to skin cancer, then they might feel a bit shameful doing that,” she says. 

Earlier intervention required 

While Dr Algie believes this targeted messaging is a step in the right direction, she says more can be done to raise awareness at a younger age.  

“One way that we could tackle this is schooling, starting at young ages - even fifth, sixth grade - exposing them to these messages again,” she says.  

“When it is within schools, there is this forced attention of watching these health warnings. And that way, we might capture a bit more of our audience. They can’t just scroll past.”