History is littered with less-than-healthy choices made in the name of beauty. Lathering up with baby oil and baking in the sun for countless hours is exactly the type of decision we look back on with raised eyebrows. We all know that tanning isn’t the healthiest practice but to do so sans SPF and basted in oil seems like madness today. But exactly how bad is it? Well, for starters, you should know that there’s no such thing as a healthy tan (even if you’re wearing SPF, any form of tanning or sun exposure is bad for your skin).

But is there a safe way to use baby oil for tanning? To find out the full details, we reached out to some top-tier dermatologists to get their take on tanning with baby oil.

What Is Baby Oil?

Baby oil is made primarily of an odorless product called mineral oil, with a bit of fragrance mixed in. If you’re anything like us, you could probably spot baby oil’s distinct smell anywhere. When applied to the skin, baby oil sits on the surface rather than soaking in, and is known to soften the skin and help it retain moisture.

Why Is Baby Oil Used For Tanning?

Many people tan with baby oil because it can “help you to tan,” in other words, it can make your skin tan more quickly. The reason for this quicker tan is because baby oil helps attract and absorb UV rays, says dermatologist, Michele Farber, MD. The problem, and this is a big one, is that baby oil doesn’t offer sun protection. “And sitting for long periods in the sun without any coverage is incredibly damaging,” Dr. Farber says.

Is It Safe to Use Baby Oil for Tanning?

You’re probably starting to realize that lying out in the sun while slathered in baby oil isn’t the smartest decision you can make for your health. Dermatologists strongly agree that using baby oil for tanning is unsafe. In fact, they say that there is no safe way to tan. Tanning simply isn’t healthy. “[Baby oil] can make you tan more quickly because it absorbs the sun better,” says dermatologist, Shari Sperling, MD. “However, it’s not worth the risk of damaging the skin and potentially developing skin cancer.”

Dermatologist, Susan Massick, MD, breaks it down in a pretty straightforward way, pointing out that one in five Americans will develop skin cancer by age 70, approximately one American dies from melanoma every hour, and a single childhood sunburn can increase your risk of skin cancer by 50%. “Sun exposure is cumulative, and chronic overexposure to the sun can damage the integrity and health of your skin, hasten the aging process, and lead to a higher risk of skin cancers,” she adds.

Risks of Tanning With Baby Oil

Those are some pretty compelling reasons to ditch your tanning habit, right? Here is some further information on the specific risks you may encounter when using baby oil for tanning:

• Skin damage and pigment changes: UV exposure, which increases when you slather on the baby oil, will also stimulate melanocytes or pigment-producing cells. “This can cause unevenness in pigment, sun spots, darkening of moles, and exacerbation of existing pigment concerns like melasma,” Dr. Farber says.
• Increased risk of skin cancer: Baby oil attracts UV rays and allows them to penetrate more deeply, increasing your risk of cell damage and skin cancer. “People using baby oil may inadvertently burn faster and more easily before realizing they’ve suffered a sunburn,” Dr. Massick says. “With more sun ray absorption and deeper penetration of the more carcinogenic UVA rays, your risk of skin cancer may increase as well.”
• Premature aging: Increased UV exposure through tanning (baby oil or not) causes collagen breakdown, increased wrinkling, sunspots, and thinning of the skin, Dr. Farber says.  
• A higher chance of getting a sunburn: Baby oil can increase your risk of a burn. It’s important to realize that a sunburn brings other problems in addition to pain, itchiness, and discomfort. A bad sunburn that covers a large portion of your body can require treatment from your doctor, and if the burn blisters, it can lead to scarring and an increased risk of skin cancer, Dr. Farber says. And that’s not all—sunburn can also cause dehydration. Again, not worth it, right?

Baby Oil vs. Natural Oils for Tanning

While you may be tempted to use natural oils like coconut or almond, they don’t decrease the risk of sunburns, skin damage, or melanoma any more than baby oil. But it’s organic, you may say. Petroleum-based products like the mineral oil in baby oil can be a divisive topic for different reasons, but when it comes to the subject of sun and tanning safety, switching to a natural seed oil won’t do you much good. In addition to contributing no substantial sun protection, they provide limited relief to sunburned skin and sometimes even further inflame it by trapping in the heat.

Baby Oil vs. Tanning Oil

As we’ve mentioned, no tan is a safe tan. That said, if you find yourself in the sun, the only type of oil you should be using is sunscreen oil. That means a broad-spectrum sunscreen, with UVA and UVB protection, formulated as an oil. This is different from a tanning oil which usually only contains minimal SPF. Does this make tanning oil technically better than slathering yourself in baby oil? Only that it provides a touch more sun protection and, for those sensitive to petrolatum-based products, may be formulated without mineral oil depending on the brand. But, we cannot stress this enough, neither should be used as a substitute for a broad-spectrum sunscreen with UVA and UVB protection.

Can You Wear Baby Oil Over Sunscreen?

All our expert dermatologists agree it’s not a good idea to wear baby oil over sunscreen, mainly because baby oil doesn’t contain any SPF protection and, therefore, won’t protect your skin from the sun’s damaging rays. “You’re kidding yourself thinking that mixing the baby oil with sunscreen will be more protective than baby oil alone,” Dr. Massick says. “Don’t mix your sunscreen with other oils, and don’t consider the baby oil as sun protection in any way.”

Layering baby oil with sunscreen can also be dangerous because the SPF layer may give you a false sense of safety, Dr. Farber says. It’s important to understand that baby oil is a distinctly different product from sunscreen. While broad-spectrum sunscreen protects the skin against harmful UVA and UVB rays that cause skin damage, skin cancer, sunburn, and more, baby oil doesn’t provide sun protection. 

The Takeaway

There is no such thing as a safe tan—even if you’re wearing SPF—but swapping your sunscreen for baby oil will only make matters worse. While baby oil does cause the skin to tan faster, using baby oil for tanning significantly increases your chances of premature skin aging and, more importantly, life-threatening skin cancers. There is absolutely no instance where anyone (of any skin tone) should use baby oil for tanning (and you should give up tanning altogether).