This summer’s hottest accessory? A glowing (faux) tan. Just ask Kylie Jenner, who recently sung the praises of a good spray tan on Jake Shane’s “Therapuss” podcast: “Sometimes I think I’m depressed. Then I get a spray tan, and I’m like, I was just pale,” Jenner quipped. She inspired Vogue writer Hannah Jackson to test the theory herself, resulting in a boost of confidence. A bronze glow from a bottle — sun safe, in the SPF-always era — is trending.
The global self-tanning category is on track to grow 5% to $1.65 billion by 2029, according to Euromonitor, but a majority of that figure comes from North America and Western Europe. The respective markets are forecasted to grow by 5.1% and 3.9%, reaching $1.06 billion and $391 million by the same year.
Beauty retailer Lookfantastic’s senior buying manager Lauren Starkey says that the tanning category has had gradual organic double-digit growth in the last two years. “Consumers are becoming more educated on the importance of protecting their skin and sun safety, which is leading to the decision to fake tan. Customers want to have the glow, without the sun damage,” says Starkey, noting that brands are taking sensitive skin and fragrance-free options into consideration when introducing tanning products to the market. At the retailer, tanning mousses are the bestsellers in the tanning category, but the biggest year-on-year growth is attributed to gradual tanning products and tanning mists.
Kylie Jenner at the Vanity Fair Oscar party.
Photo: Getty Images
Helping to spur the category are strides in product innovation. While self tanning has long suffered from a streaky, orange finish and chemical smell, today’s tanners have become more sophisticated and discreet with new innovation and added skincare ingredients. While these new formulas have come a long way, fake tanning’s reputation for uneven and unnatural applications still trails the category. But it’s gone more mainstream as emphasis on the importance of SPF and sun safety has gotten louder, and tanning culture has changed, too, since the spray tan’s 2010s full-glam era.
“Most clients come in asking for a natural glow, nothing too dark. Five to 10 years ago, I would get clients who wanted to be so dark they looked almost orange, and even confirmed they’d rather look orange than pale,” says Jimmy Coco, celebrity tan artist behind the spray tans of Teyana Taylor, Ashley Graham, Kylie Jenner and Vittoria Ceretti and founder of the self-tanning brand Sunless By Jimmy Coco. “Many years ago, Kim Kardashian and I would go super dark all the time. Not anymore.”
Teyana Taylor at the 2026 Grammy awards.
Photo: Getty Images
Vittoria Ceretti attending the Vanity Fair Oscar party.
Photo: Getty Images
Like makeup, tanning products are upgrading formulations with help from skincare ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and niacinamide to support hydration and last longer on the skin. Brands that have adapted the change include St. Tropez, Bali Body, Vita Liberata and Dove. “Self tan has evolved far beyond a purely cosmetic category. We are seeing the rise of skinification within bodycare, where consumers increasingly expect products to deliver both immediate aesthetic results and long-term skin benefits,” says Anna Persaud, CEO at bodycare brand This Works.
What’s new in tanning?
When Dove launched its gradual self-tanning cream in 2005, its primary focus was about building color, but now the formula has changed and the ingredient pro-ceramide has been added to replenish the skin barrier. The brand’s tanning products now all include niacinamide, helping improve skin tone and texture over time. “We’re designing with a lighter and buildable coverage in mind, making it easier for consumers to achieve a natural-looking, personalized glow,” says Katherine Frizoni, Unilever’s market research and development claims lead.
“There’s been a clear shift toward skin that looks healthy, radiant and effortless, rather than obviously ‘tanned.’ At the same time, awareness around UV damage has grown, so consumers are looking for ways to achieve that glow without the trade‑off. A subtle, sunkissed finish feels more modern, and more in tune with a skincare-first mindset.”
The format of self tan has undergone a transformation, as brands look beyond mousses and lotions. Now, formats like milky toners and daily mists are becoming more popular. Persaud says that it’s in response to consumers asking for self-tanning formats that glide on the skin, making for an easier application.
Isabel Vita, celebrity tan artist and founder of tanning brands Dolce Glow and Sunnee Baeskin, has noted a rise in serums and drops that can be incorporated into daily skincare products. A tan is no longer just for special occasions anymore, as consumers want to be sun-kissed all-year-round. “People want more control of their tan-tone so products like drops and glow-building lotions seem to dominate the market,” she says, noting that Gen Z make up most of the buyers for tanning drops for Dolce Glow and Sunnee Baeskin, respectively. She adds that Gen Z are discarding tanning products that don’t fit into a busy lifestyle.
Ashley Graham walking the 2026 Met Gala carpet.
Photo: Getty Images
The category is also evolving in line with consumer education. In April, bodycare brand Cyklar launched its Self-Tanning Milky Essence using a dual system of DHA, a sugar-derived compound that reacts with amino acids on the skin’s surface to create color and DHB, a natural keto-sugar that reacts with the skin’s amino acids to produce a temporary tan. “There’s growth with the consumer who doesn’t yet use a self tanner, but who wants those glowy results. Educating the consumer on new and innovative formats and ingredients will help grow the category,” says founder Claudia Sulewski. The gap in the market she noticed was that tanning was not being incorporated into the bodycare routine and that tanning for some consumers still felt like a chore.
Cyklar’s Tanning Essence comes in two shades, a light medium and medium dark with a buildable formula containing ceramide, olive-derived emollient, squalane and papaya oil to soften and moisturize the skin. Sulewski says that consumers want a bit of handholding when it comes to the tanning category. “They don’t just want to see a before and after picture. They also want to know how to apply the product,” she says, adding that they put extra effort into the marketing copy to ensure consumers felt confident buying the product and applying it at home.
The challenges
As product formulas have changed, prices have also gone up. Enter the “premium” tanning category. Brands like St. Tropez, Coco & Eve, Loving Tan, and Luna Bronze cost between $20 and $52. Luxury brands like Sisley, Dior Glow and Dolce Glow range even higher, from $75 to $135. “Really good ingredients cost a lot of money and pairing ingredients that work with DHA, the basis of tanning, is hard,” says James Read, founder of the tanning brand Self Glow by James Read. “The economy is a challenge, but beauty is thriving in that consumers are willing to splash out on products.” Read’s tanning products range from £16 for a glow mask to £44 for a gradual tan moisturiser or tinted tan serum.
At the other end of the spectrum, tanning products also range from $4.99 to $13.99 for brands such as Blue Lizard, Indeed Labs and Tanologist, which are stocked on Ulta Beauty, but yet a big portion of the beauty retailer’s tanning products range between $20 and $30, signaling that the tanning consumer is still niche and expects a premium product. “The category is becoming more competitive, but not necessarily oversaturated. As tanning products grow, more brands are entering the space and raising standards rather than weakening the market,” says Alysa.
Vita reiterates that education is key for the category, so consumers understand how significantly the technology, finish and formulation have improved in tanning products. “Brands have to constantly prove how much the category has evolved,” she says.
The future of tanning
As longevity and anti-aging become buzzwords thrown around in skincare, Coco believes those same factors will make their way into tanning products, where consumers that tan will want a product that acts as makeup and skincare in one without having to invest in various products. He contends that the future success of the category relies on how brands further integrate tanning products into skincare and wellness practices.
Daisy Edgar-Jones at the 2026 Met Gala.
“I think the biological space will be growing exponentially,” says Coco, listing topical peptides, tanning gummies and patches as products that brands are experimenting with, but have not yet perfected. Tanning gummies have slowly come to the market by way of supplement brands, but the tanning brands have stayed away as the research around their results are still foggy.
Unilever’s Frizoni agrees that growth will continue to come from a more skincare-conscious consumer, people who are already investing in their skin and now expect the same from bodycare and tanning. “There’s also strong momentum in markets where skin health and dermocosmetic positioning are increasingly important, and where consumers are actively looking for safer alternatives to UV tanning,” she says.
Celebrity tan artist James Harknett, whose clientele include Daisy Edgar-Jones, David Gandy and Jennifer Aniston, says demand is high this summer season: he’s booked up for two months with a waiting list, and sprays around 50 people a week. “Every year I say it gets busier and the reason is because people are getting more educated and savvy about the dangers of the sun, it’s drummed into them and they’re worried about their skin. In the last 20 years, people have been actively looking after their skin,” says Harknett. It’s not just women looking for a glow — men now make up 40% of his tanning business, signaling a future growth opportunity for the category.
“I’ve seen an increase in my male clientele, as well as men purchasing my products online,” he says.
