Carrot oil for tanning: why it works better in an accelerator

Carrot oil has a reputation for helping you tan faster and giving you a healthy glow. And it does have real benefits for the skin. But on its own, it only does part of the job: it adds colour and nourishes, without helping your skin build its tan. Where it really comes into its own is in synergy, as part of a tanning accelerator. Here’s why, and how to choose yours.

What is carrot oil?

The name ‘carrot oil’ covers two different ingredients.

• Carrot macerated oil: carrot roots (Daucus carota), often organic, are steeped in a plant oil, usually sunflower oil. During maceration, which lasts several weeks, the oil takes up carotenoids, including beta-carotene, and turns orange. This is the organic carrot oil sold in bottles, also used as a hair treatment.
• Carrot seed oil: pressed from the seeds of the plant, it’s a skincare oil that tanning products include in their formulas. In the ingredients list, it’s called ‘Daucus Carota Sativa Seed Oil’.

Don’t confuse it with carrot essential oil, distilled from the seeds: that’s a concentrated aromatic, not a skincare oil.

The benefits of carrot oil for your skin

• Colour: its beta-carotene leaves a light golden veil on the skin. Dull complexions look radiant again and the skin looks more tanned: that’s the healthy glow behind its reputation.
• An antioxidant: beta-carotene, a provitamin A, helps neutralise free radicals, produced in particular by UV light, which play a part in premature skin ageing and the signs of ageing.
• Nourishment: like any plant oil, this nourishing oil, often described as softening and regenerating, smooths dry skin. And well-nourished skin tans more evenly and peels more slowly.

On its own, carrot oil only does part of the job

A real tan is melanin, a pigment made by melanocytes in the epidermis when you’re exposed to UV light. The golden veil from carrot oil enhances your colour, but it doesn’t trigger melanin production: it’s a surface tint that fades quickly. Used neat, carrot oil gives you a tanned look without building a natural tan session after session.

It also has the drawbacks of a pure plant oil: a greasy texture that’s slow to absorb and can stain clothes. And it contains no UV filter at all: it doesn’t protect you from the sun.

For tanning, carrot oil is at its best in an accelerator

A tanning accelerator brings together, in a single formula, everything carrot oil lacks on its own:

• tyrosine, the amino acid your skin uses to make melanin (it’s all explained in tyrosine and tanning): carrot oil brings the colour, tyrosine builds the tan;
• moisturising ingredients (butters, aloe vera, plant oils) that keep the skin supple, for an even tan that lasts;
• depending on the product, a little bronzer, which deepens the colour of skin that’s already tanned, or a tingle, which boosts microcirculation to take your tan further;
• a texture designed for your session: carefully balanced, it absorbs quickly and goes on in a thin, even layer with gentle circular movements.

Each ingredient strengthens the others: it’s this synergy that gives a faster, deeper and more radiant tan than carrot oil alone.

Which carrot oil accelerator should you choose?

Bronzer-free, for your first sessions and for fair skin:

• Soleo Mango Tango, from the Soleo Basic collection, with mango extract and carrot seed oil. Tyrosine speeds up your tan from the very first sessions, and carrot seed oil deepens its colour. No tingle, juicy fruit scent.
• Emerald Bay Catching Rays, the ‘Carrot Oil Intensifier’: carrot oil and tyrosine for a deeper tan, ginger and pomegranate to hydrate and soothe, and citrus peel rich in vitamin C. Mango mimosa scent.
• Australian Gold Accelerator K, the carrot version of Accelerator: its ‘Triple Carrot Blend’ (carrot extract, oil and water) is designed for a dark, tropical tan, in a non-greasy lotion that absorbs quickly. Cocoa Dreams scent.
• On a budget: Wild Tan Sexy Carrot Accelerator, with ‘Carrot Oil & Shea Butter’ on the tube: tyrosine speeds up your tan, carrot oil improves the colour, and mango extract and shea butter hydrate. Banana blossom scent.

As a butter, for fair, dull or tired skin: Carrot Tanning Butter by Wild Tan, a bronzer-free tanning butter designed for fair, dull or tired skin: carrot oil and beta-carotene brighten the complexion as soon as it goes on, tyrosine supports melanin, and shea and cupuaçu butters nourish the skin. Mango scent, 150ml pot.

For skin that’s used to tanning sessions, an intense carrot bronzer:

• Supertan Midnight in Malibu, the ‘Intense Bronzer’ from the Celebration line: a base of coconut water, carrot seed oil rich in beta-carotene for a beautiful bronze shade, and coconut and olive oils that nourish the skin and leave it velvety. Gardenia and blueberry scent.

With bronzers, for olive or already tanned skin:

• Soleo Jungle Fruit, a Soleo Basic bronzer with DHA, with beta-carotene and henna among its bronzing agents.
• Supertan Pineapple & Mango, a triple bronzer: two bronzers (DHA and erythrulose), beta-carotene, tyrosine and copper, for a fast golden tan and deeply hydrated skin, with a pineapple and mango scent.
• Karat Bronzer by Body Butter, a DHA lotion enriched with carrot oil, for lovers of a deep, intense colour, with firming agents.
• On a budget: Wild Tan Sexy Carrot Bronzer, with ‘DHA & Carrot Oil’ on the label, which extends your tan and hydrates the skin with sweet almond oil and shea butter.

To go further once your skin is used to tanning sessions, Karat Tingle by Body Butter combines carrot oil with one of the mildest tingles around, bronzer-free.

Why two families? Without bronzers, all the colour comes from your own melanin, for a natural tan: that’s what we recommend for first sessions and fair skin. With bronzers, the product is aimed at olive skin and skin that’s already deeply tanned, because bronzers don’t create colour, they transform it: they make your tan more coppery, more radiant and more natural.

Apply the accelerator in an even layer just before your session, then wash your hands. Always stick to the exposure time recommended by your tanning salon to avoid burning.

All these products are in our tanning accelerators category.

What about in the sun?

Neither carrot oil nor a tanning accelerator contains a UV filter: they aren’t suncare products. On the beach, apply sun protection first: That’so Pure Sun SPF 20/30/50, a spray with build-up protection that also contains tanning ingredients, or, for swimming, Australian Gold’s SPF 50 sun lotion with bronzers, water resistant for 80 minutes; save your accelerator for the morning and late afternoon. Our detailed advice: using a tanning accelerator on the beach.

Carrot oil: is it dangerous?

In skincare, carrot oil is a common ingredient that suits all skin types; on sensitive skin, try it on a small area first, as with any new product. The real danger is mistaking it for a sun cream: with no UV filter, skin covered in carrot oil burns and goes red just like bare skin. Applied thickly, the macerated oil can also leave an orange-yellow tint on your skin and clothes. As for carrot essential oil, it should never be applied neat.

Carrot, argan or jojoba: which plant oil is best for tanning?

Carrot, argan, jojoba, coconut or castor oil: all these plant oils nourish the skin, and none of them protects you from the sun or makes melanin. For tanning, the best oil is the one that works with tyrosine: in an accelerator, the oils nourish while tyrosine builds the tan. That’s exactly what the carrot accelerators above do.

Frequently asked questions

How do you use carrot oil for tanning?

The most effective way is to choose it in an accelerator: applied in a thin layer just before your session, with gentle massaging movements, it combines carrot oil with tyrosine and moisturisers. In the sun, sun protection always comes first.

Does carrot oil help you tan?

It gives you a healthy glow thanks to its beta-carotene. The tan itself comes from melanin: that’s why carrot oil is most effective in an accelerator, alongside tyrosine, which helps your skin make it.

Why not use pure carrot oil on a sunbed?

Because it only provides colour and nourishment. A carrot accelerator adds tyrosine, moisturisers and a texture made for your session: you get all the benefits of carrot oil, and more.

Does carrot oil protect against sunburn?

No. It has no UV filter and no SPF. In the sun, apply suitable sun protection.

Can you put carrot oil on your face?

Some people add a few drops to their day cream for a radiant complexion. To tan your face, where the skin is thinner than on your body, choose a dedicated product from our face tanning lotions, and keep carrot accelerators for your body.

Are carrots good for tanning?

Beta-carotene from food (carrots, sweet potatoes, apricots, mango) is partly stored in the skin and gives it a golden, healthy glow. For a simple, regular course during the season, the Your Sun Shot comes in two flavours, Your Sun Shot Mangue and Your Sun Shot Exotic: an 80ml fruit juice enriched with beta-carotene and acerola which, in one go, provides 100% of the reference intake of vitamin D and biotin, and 50% of zinc, selenium and vitamin E; zinc and biotin contribute to the maintenance of normal skin. If you’d rather chew than drink, sugar-free, orange-flavoured Your Sun Gummies provide beta-carotene (vitamin A, which contributes to the maintenance of normal skin), in a pot of 60 or in sachets of 2. Don’t exceed the recommended dose, and keep using sun protection in the sun.

In short

Carrot oil brings colour, antioxidants and softness, but on its own it doesn’t build a tan or protect you from the sun. Combined with the tyrosine and moisturisers in an accelerator, it’s at its best: a faster, deeper and more radiant tan. Bronzer-free for fair skin and first sessions, with bronzers for olive or already tanned skin: you’ll find the full selection in our tanning accelerators category.