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 me 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 have skin-protecting properties but also provide 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.
