Hunter Neely wanted to be tan in the winter. He’d tried hitting tanning beds occasionally, but he’d just burn.
His goal was simple: “to be more attractive,” the 22-year-old told The Post. “A clean tan does that by enhancing eye color and teeth.” It also helps his skin tone by reducing redness, he added.
Neely found a solution online: an injectable peptide called melanotan, or MT. It helped him avoid burning on the tanning bed and get the look he wanted.
“When everyone else was pale, I was taking MT2 to be tan, to stand out.” Neely remembered people asking him how he got his sun-kissed look. “I’m making a name for myself. I was known around my university as the peptide guy.”
Neely is one of a growing number of people turning to gray market peptides to enhance their appearance — including by darkening their skin from the inside out.
What is melanotan (MT1 and MT2)?
MT (aka tan jabs, or Barbie peptide) is a synthetic version of a hormone that’s often injected to increase melanin production, making the skin darker.
While it can work in the absence of UV light, many people who take MT to tan also go out in the sun to get more pronounced effects.
Both MT1 and MT2 make the skin increase melanin production by binding to melanocortin receptors. The difference is that MT1 only binds to certain receptors, while MT2 binds to all of them, Dr. Joni Mazza, a dermatologist and owner of Mara Dermatology, told The Post.
That’s why MT2 is faster acting and produces a deeper tan. It also has more pronounced side effects.
Neither is approved by the FDA for tanning, though MT1 is approved as a treatment for a rare skin condition. MT2, meanwhile is one of a number of peptides Emergency Care Research Institute and Institute for Safe Medication Practices have warned are not proven to be safe for humans.
Still, both can be found on the peptide “gray market” — where they’re sold, unregulated from manufacturers, or through peptide clinics, and even bodegas — with disclaimers like “for research purposes only” and “not for human consumption.”
Who is actually using tanning peptides — and why?
Melanotan is often just one part of a “stack” of peptides optimizers take, hoping to do everything from improve muscle growth to minimize wrinkles. Peptides — the name for short chains of amino acids that help tell your cells what to do — have exploded in popularity in recent years.
For some users, peptides seem to hold the key to better health, weight loss and longevity. For others, they’re the secret to boosting attractiveness, or “looksmaxxing.”
“I think that’s why guys are doing melanotan 2 — because we’re competitive. We want to look good,” Neely said.
Jasik Dhillon, 22, says MT helped him do exactly that. A boost matters, especially because the Queens native is looking to make it as a model in New York.
“People told me, ‘You look glowy’ or, ‘You look better.’ ‘I can’t tell what changed, but you look different,’” he told The Post after taking MT1. “That just goes to prove that the coloring of your skin actually makes a huge difference.”
In addition to talking about his experience with MT1 and other peptides online, Dhillon makes product recommendations and offers tips on how to groom eyebrows.
For him, it all comes down to whether you’re willing to take a shortcut.
“I don’t see an issue with it,” he said. “If one thing helps me get from A to B faster, obviously I’m a choose it.”
Beware the risks — and some side effects
The greatest risk of MT be a false sense of security. Both Dhillon and Neely talked about having an “immunity” to burning or tolerance to the sun. It’s a prominent idea among MT fans — that a tan prevents burning, and therefore prevents cancer.
But Mazza warns, “if you’re taking [MT] and then able to tolerate sunlight more, perhaps you’re staying out longer in the sun or you’re not reapplying sunscreen because you’re not burning.”
“Then that’s an increase in your risk” of cancer — not protecting against it.”
Outside of the potential for serious, long-term health risks, both men have experienced short-term side effects — namely, flushing.
“Every time I did it, I’d be flushed,” Dhillon said. “My skin, my face would be red for like the next 30 minutes to an hour, almost as if I had an allergic reaction.”
Neely also experienced flushing that went beyond skin deep: “I’d get a little anxious for like 30 minutes to an hour. And I never get anxious. So I didn’t like that. That’s why some people take it before bed.”
Both also mentioned hyperpigmentation. Dhillon said areas where he used to have acne became darker, and spots on his shoulder started appearing.
“Those spots could have been there, but it really took the melanin for you to see them,” he said.
“We tell people if a mole is changing, come in. We should probably remove it,” Mazza warned. “If you’re taking one of these substances, your moles can darken. And then how can we tell if that’s OK?”
Is a year-round glow worth the risks?
Both forms of melanotan are sold as a powder. After mixing it with sterile water, users dose and inject on their own, typically with guidance from online groups like looksmaxxers.
Because it’s unregulated, no one knows if the dosing matches what’s on the label. Plus, “any time you’re doing an injection, it’s a medical procedure,” Mazza said. Between mixing, storage, dosing and injection, “there’s a lot of room for error there.”
Despite warnings, people of all ages are flocking to buy peptides like MT. This market is estimated to be around $100 million.
“People say, ‘Oh peptides are bad.’ Most peptides aren’t bad,” Dhillon said. “It’s just if you’re buying from the gray market, there’s a risk of you getting something that’s not what the label says.”
Neely acknowledges the risk, but says he doesn’t believe it’s worse than self-tanner — despite no evidence that self-tanner causes real harm. In fact, dermatologist Dr. Dawn Queen previously told The Post, “from a dermatology standpoint, self-tanners are generally safe when used on the skin and are far safer than UV tanning.”
Mazza hears similar things from her patients often. Her take is that “it’s your body, your choice, your decision. And you have to do what makes you feel comfortable.”
Nevertheless, “my medical experience tells me don’t inject something into your body unless you know for sure that it was studied, that it was manufactured in a safe way, that it is quantifiable.”
In the meantime, Neely is still taking MT2. He says it emphasizes his muscles, which promotes his business as an online fitness coach. “The tanner you are, the more defined you look.”
And the creators like Neely who sell the peptides as affiliates get paid, too.
“Whenever I sell peptides, I make money but I do the coaching as well,” Neely said. “My goal is really just to change people’s lives. I know how much peptides changed my life and I want to see people get better … It’s such an amazing feeling.”
