Hailey Bieber uses Carroten for tanning – here's why it’s so dangerous

Be aware of the risks

Looking to celebrities and influencers for style inspo and beauty recommendations has become the norm in this day and age. But, is reaching to mimic their unattainable beauty standards (and the lengths they go to achieve them) really all that healthy?

Hailey Bieber – famed model, proud nepo baby and (pregnant) wife of everyone’s tweenhood crush, Justin Bieber – has enjoyed her status as a celebrity ‘It’ girl for years now. 

With a successful beauty brand, lucrative partnerships with the fashion industry’s best brands, and an annual standing invite to the Kardashians’ infamous Christmas Eve party, Bieber’s life seems almost too good to be true.

As a result, brands, products and beauty techniques spotted on Bieber’s socials have become go-to's for her nearly 53 million Instagram followers. One such product causing quite a stir right now is Carroten. 

They say all PR is good PR, but in our opinion, this is one product that needs as little publicity as possible.

What is Carroten and how does it work?

Known for her signature bronzed glow, Bieber recently shared on her socials that she uses Carroten – an intensive tanning gel – in combination with an SPF. 

But while this beauty ‘hack’ appears to be both an affordable and effective way of speeding up the tanning process, dermatologists and health professionals aren’t totally convinced Bieber’s recommendation is safe.

Available in several different formulations, the brand’s staple product is a tub of ‘intensive tanning gel’. Though the primary ingredient is petrolatum, an occlusive moisturiser, it also contains a series of moisturising oils (sesame and coconut) and carrot extract. 

But despite the benefits associated with its supporting ingredients – which the brand itself claiming the formula ‘Helps moisturise and hydrate the skin, combining the power of sesame oil and calendula extract allowing for a deep, sun-kissed glow,’ experts are more than sceptical about the product’s overall safety. 

Not only does Carroten contain no SPF (a fact Bieber herself shared), but the primary ingredient is a photo-accelerant that intensifies the effects of ultraviolet rays, according to Dr Bobby Buka, board-certified dermatologist. 

"It accentuates their effects, meaning you will tan – and burn – faster, so technically, it should carry a negative SPF rating,” the dermatologist tells Pop Sugar. 

Bieber's tan is the talk of the town right now – but experts aren't impressed. Image: Instagram/@haileybieber

Is Carroten safe to use? 

Considering the product ingredients’ lack of UV protection, experts are concerned about the product being marketed as a tanning accelerator. To put it in simple terms, "It doesn't provide any UV protection, so no, it's not safe to use in the sun,” another clinical dermatologist Dr Carl Thornfeldt tells Pop Sugar. 

And though Bieber herself recommends mixing the product with an SPF, both experts explain the reality of combining formulas like that is more complicated than one may think. 

As Dr Thornfeldt explains, mixing SPF with other products (like an occlusive gel) inevitably dilutes the SPF and its UV protective properties, "Sunscreen formulations are quite complex, and mixing them with anything lessens the efficacy of the SPF," he says.

“One intensifies tanning while the other mutes it. For example, if you were to use equal parts Carroten and SPF30, now you've got an overall protective effect of somewhere less than SPF 15,” Dr Buka adds. 

So, while Bieber attributes her bronzy glow to this tanning gel (not her Californian residency or her mother’s Portuguese/Italian/Brazilian heritage), it’s imperative people take her recommendations with a grain of salt. 

Thankfully, due to the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s heavily regulated sunscreen marketing, packaging and formulation, Australia has some of the best sunscreen formulations and usage recommendations. 

But before we write off Bieber, let’s not forget her viral sunscreen hack that helped educate millions of followers on the correct amount of product they should be applying to their face per wear, known as the ‘Two finger rule’. 

Now, let’s hope she follows her own advice tout de suite. 

Originally published as Hailey Bieber uses Carroten for tanning – here's why it’s so dangerous