49 replies to this topic

[curious_sle]

since dosing high enough on some supplements can have effect on skin color (orange for instance) i wonder if someone investigated at some point if and what combination of supplements in what dosage could achieve a decent tan look alike skin coloring. Most recent point in case might my methylene blue for life extension :-). So would it not be possible to reap benefits by large amounts of certain supplements *and derive a fine skin tone?

[Eva Victoria]

since dosing high enough on some supplements can have effect on skin color (orange for instance) i wonder if someone investigated at some point if and what combination of supplements in what dosage could achieve a decent tan look alike skin coloring. Most recent point in case might my methylene blue for life extension :-). So would it not be possible to reap benefits by large amounts of certain supplements *and derive a fine skin tone?

"A fine skin tone" isn't that the milkiest white with no imperfections?

[yoyo]

This is a very interesting idea. I assume you mean a mix of various carotenoids?

[Shepard]

"A fine skin tone" isn't that the milkiest white with no imperfections?

Racism.

But, all the accounts that I've heard of high-dose carotenoids seem to make the person seem much more orange than a natural tan. It might be a little too guido spray-on.

[kismet]

and there was this issue with high beta-carotene levels contributing to genome instability. I'm still of the opinion melatonan is the most promising agent for tanning.

[Eva Victoria]

"A fine skin tone" isn't that the milkiest white with no imperfections?

Racism.

But, all the accounts that I've heard of high-dose carotenoids seem to make the person seem much more orange than a natural tan. It might be a little too guido spray-on.

Sorry. It was not meant like that. I put it definitely the wrong way and I am very sorry for that and if I hurt anybody :(
What I meant that we Caucasian people are so unlucky to have so little/few pigments that our skin gets this shallow ellowish colour as we get older with brown patches. So the aim should be to clear that away and try to get our "milky white" childhood complexion back.
This is all I meant. Again I am sorry for not explaining it correctly! :(

[JLL]

So if someone were to prefer a milky white skin to tanned skin, that would be racism? I disagree.

[Shepard]

I was joking, Eva. Don't pay it any mind. I knew what you meant and I imagine other posters will also.

[platypus]

"A fine skin tone" isn't that the milkiest white with no imperfections?

Unfortunately, not really.

[platypus]

since dosing high enough on some supplements can have effect on skin color (orange for instance) i wonder if someone investigated at some point if and what combination of supplements in what dosage could achieve a decent tan look alike skin coloring. Most recent point in case might my methylene blue for life extension :-). So would it not be possible to reap benefits by large amounts of certain supplements *and derive a fine skin tone?

Melanotan and Melanotan II give people real tans, search the internets for more info. I don't know how safe those drugs are but that should not put a seasoned user of exotic anti-aging research-chemicals off

[mike250]

since dosing high enough on some supplements can have effect on skin color (orange for instance) i wonder if someone investigated at some point if and what combination of supplements in what dosage could achieve a decent tan look alike skin coloring. Most recent point in case might my methylene blue for life extension :-). So would it not be possible to reap benefits by large amounts of certain supplements *and derive a fine skin tone?

Melanotan and Melanotan II give people real tans, search the internets for more info. I don't know how safe those drugs are but that should not put a seasoned user of exotic anti-aging research-chemicals off

they can give other good things too

[spacey]

"A fine skin tone" isn't that the milkiest white with no imperfections?

Racism.

But, all the accounts that I've heard of high-dose carotenoids seem to make the person seem much more orange than a natural tan. It might be a little too guido spray-on.

Sorry. It was not meant like that. I put it definitely the wrong way and I am very sorry for that and if I hurt anybody :(
What I meant that we Caucasian people are so unlucky to have so little/few pigments that our skin gets this shallow ellowish colour as we get older with brown patches. So the aim should be to clear that away and try to get our "milky white" childhood complexion back.
This is all I meant. Again I am sorry for not explaining it correctly! :(

Yea, that wasn't completely right. Especially considering us with Skin type II/III, are you claiming there is not fine skin tone for us?

[curious_sle]

This is a very interesting idea. I assume you mean a mix of various carotenoids?

Not just carotenoids... plenty supplements could/would probably accumulate in skin with "massive" prolonged intake... So why not have a decent ix that actually looks like a tan. (whoo, i missed a character in the thread title... hm...)

Eva: i actually prefer not so white... i must have some odd ancestry and would probably do jolly well with some tanning but would prefer it to get it not from mucho sun but some pill. Melanotan is injection based and i'd need to find a decent dermatologist (a priority anyway) to administer. So... pill it is for now...

[Ben]

I take astax. and I have a few tablespoons of concentrated tomato paste at least 3 times a week. I have a natural look to my skin. It's not painfully white (as really it should be considering my sun avoidance and sunscreen use) and it is certainly not yellow.

It's more... a healthy look.

I'm sure Frederick will testify as much. He also takes them carotenoids.

[banana]

I take astax. and I have a few tablespoons of concentrated tomato paste at least 3 times a week. I have a natural look to my skin. It's not painfully white (as really it should be considering my sun avoidance and sunscreen use) and it is certainly not yellow.

It's more... a healthy look.

I'm sure Frederick will testify as much. He also takes them carotenoids.

I recently started taking astaxanthin (4mg daily), and after a couple weeks I thought I noticed a slightly deeper color to my skin. It's stuck around, even with *very* minimal sun exposure, so now I'm almost certain that the astaxanthin has made a difference, albeit a very subtle one. I've always had a high lycopene intake (I sneak tomato paste into my cooking at every opportunity and drink V8 all the time) but I don't think the lycopene ever affected my skin tone.

I actually scaled back to 4mg after taking as much as 12mg/day. At 12mg, a few times I woke up in the morning with a strange bronze-orange cast to my face...only to wash it off in the sink. I think it was the astaxanthin being excreted in sweat/sebum. Doesn't happen anymore at 4mg.

Don't forget what a light dusting of bronzer can do! I dust around my hairline, temples, cheekbones, and give my nose and chin a little swipe. Suddenly I don't glow in the dark anymore.

[Fredrik]

I'm sure Frederick will testify as much. He also takes them carotenoids.

Just to clarify, I don´t take any carotenoid supplements and I don´t recommend anyone to. But I do get about 17 mg lycopene, 12 mg beta carotene and 16 mg lutein + zeaxanthin from food (kale, tomato paste, spinach etc).

Edited by Fredrik, 22 August 2008 - 09:29 AM.

[Ben]

I'm sure Frederick will testify as much. He also takes them carotenoids.

Just to clarify, I don´t take any carotenoid supplements and I don´t recommend anyone to. But I do get about 17 mg lycopene, 12 mg beta carotene and 16 mg lutein + zeaxanthin from food (kale, tomato paste, spinach etc).

Why would you not recommend anyone take carotenoid supplements?

[Fredrik]

I'm sure Frederick will testify as much. He also takes them carotenoids.

Just to clarify, I don´t take any carotenoid supplements and I don´t recommend anyone to. But I do get about 17 mg lycopene, 12 mg beta carotene and 16 mg lutein + zeaxanthin from food (kale, tomato paste, spinach etc).

Why would you not recommend anyone take carotenoid supplements?

Because I haven´t seen any credible studies showing a benefit of supplemental carotenoids. They´re either neutral or negative (increased morbidity). Lycopene and luteine may have some benefits in supplemental form, but as for now I prefer to get them in a food matrix, there may be other synergistic molecules. And unlike supplements, fruit and vegetables show decreased morbidity.

Edited by Fredrik, 23 August 2008 - 04:17 PM.

[VictorBjoerk]

isn't blueberries the best natural source of lutein?

[Ben]

Astaxanthin which, as I've mentioned before, is the carotenoid I take has some pretty good research:

http://www.ncbi.nlm....Pubmed_RVDocSum

Here is supplemental astaxanthin showing a potent anticancer effect:

http://www.ncbi.nlm....Pubmed_RVDocSum

[yoyo]

uh, as long as whatever mix of carotenoids isn't toxic or carcinogenic or something, the main concern is getting a proper skin colour

[Ben]

uh, as long as whatever mix of carotenoids isn't toxic or carcinogenic or something, the main concern is getting a proper skin colour

No. The main concerns are being healthy and delaying aging.

[Fredrik]

Here is supplemental astaxanthin showing a potent anticancer effect:

http://www.ncbi.nlm....Pubmed_RVDocSum

In mice yes. I may be cautious but I wait until supplements show a beneficial effect in humans before I start popping them. I like supplements, but I´m critical of most of the stuff on the market. Human trials are lacking and the ones I´ve seen are generally not impressive.

But I take Polypodium leucotomos for example. It has been safely used by humans for 30 years and it has shown a robust protective effect against UV-radiation in both animal and human trials, with a dose of 7.5 mg/kilogram/day.

Edited by Fredrik, 23 August 2008 - 04:16 PM.

[kismet]

uh, as long as whatever mix of carotenoids isn't toxic or carcinogenic or something, the main concern is getting a proper skin colour

No. The main concerns are being healthy and delaying aging.

It is a (minor?) concern. Discussion: http://www.imminst.o...mp;#entry253086
"ß-Carotene intake at the mid-tertile intake level was associated with an 18% reduction in MN frequency (P = 0.036) but this effect was not sustained at the highest intake level at which MN frequency appeared to be increased by 18%, relative to the lowest tertile of intake rather than decreasing even further."
So I suppose 4161.33–6433.12 mcg/day is optimal, whether that 18% increase is a negligible problem is another question.

Edited by kismet, 23 August 2008 - 08:06 PM.

[curious_sle]

No. The main concerns are being healthy and delaying aging.

True but pertinent to the threads topic getting a decent skin color is the main question. Evidently not in a suicidal manner. :-)

[HereInTheHole]

A few people on this site hate piperine. If you have a different opinion, here's an interesting study on it and skin pigmentation:

In vivo evaluation of piperine and synthetic analogues as potential treatments for vitiligo using a sparsely pigmented mouse model

Background Piperine and its analogues have been reported to stimulate melanocyte replication in vitro and may be useful in treating the depigmenting disease, vitiligo. Objective To investigate the ability of piperine (PIP) and three analogues to stimulate pigmentation in a strain of sparsely pigmented mice.

Methods The test compounds were PIP [5-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2,4-pentadienoylpiperidine], tetrahydropiperine [THP, 5-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-pentanoylpiperidine], a cyclohexyl analogue of piperine [CHP, 5-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2,4-pentadienoylcyclohexylamine], and reduced CHP [rCHP, 5-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2,4-pentanoylcyclohexylamine]. Sparsely pigmented, HRA/Skh-II mice were randomized to receive topical treatment with test compounds or vehicle twice a day for five days a week, with or without ultraviolet (UV) irradiation on 3 days a week. Treatment was either continuous or interrupted to evaluate fading and repigmentation. Skin inflammation and pigmentation were evaluated regularly during treatment. DOPA+ melanocytes were determined histologically at the termination of treatment.

Results Four weeks of treatment with one of the compounds PIP, THP or rCHP, but not CHP, induced greater pigmentation than vehicle with low levels of inflammation. Additional exposure to UVR led to darker pigmentation than did the compound or UVR alone, and greater numbers of DOPA+ melanocytes were found. The combination produced an even pigmentation pattern, contrasting with the speckled, perifollicular pattern produced by UVR alone. Treatment interruption led to a decrease in pigmentation but not its loss. Repigmentation was achieved by administering one of the compounds, UVR or both, and occurred faster than in naïve mice.

Conclusions Treatment with PIP, THP or rCHP and UVR induced a marked pigmentation response in HRA/Skh-II mice, with clinically better results than UVR alone. This result supports the potential use of these compounds in treating vitiligo.

[drunkfunk]

what about forskolin, i know it worked topically on mice, but what about orally?
didn't someone on here achieve a tan with it?

i also read somewhere that high doses of astralagus will hue the skin, but the guy that tried it was also experiencing hair loss, brittle teeth, ect. so he stopped.
maybe impure compund or something, hmm

[zorba990]

No. The main concerns are being healthy and delaying aging.

True but pertinent to the threads topic getting a decent skin color is the main question. Evidently not in a suicidal manner. :-)

Fucoxanthin is brown. If you can get it with the excess iodine removed, you might
be able to take enough to get decent coloring.

[HereInTheHole]

My Indian co-workers said that consuming enough turmeric turns the skin yellow. In the near future, I'm going to buy a few pounds of the powder and put the stuff into capsules. They made the yellow tinge sound bad, but I'm curious so I'm going to do it. Turmeric (curcumin) is a great supplement anyway.

Edited by NarrativiumX, 06 October 2008 - 02:39 AM.

[drunkfunk]

No. The main concerns are being healthy and delaying aging.

True but pertinent to the threads topic getting a decent skin color is the main question. Evidently not in a suicidal manner. :-)

Fucoxanthin is brown. If you can get it with the excess iodine removed, you might
be able to take enough to get decent coloring.

interesting, anybody got a source?