Influencers Are Peddling Peptides, but Is Tanmaxxing Worth the Risk?

SPEAKER_2 (0:03)

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Morgan Sung (0:22)

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Can I be honest? I am pretty vain.

I take my skincare routine very seriously. Prescription strength Azelaic Acid in the morning and prescription strength Tretinoin at night. Lots of sunscreen and moisturizer and barrier creams in between. And every other night, I skip the Tretinoin and spend three minutes under a red light mask. If I'm feeling indulgent, I'll throw in a Korean gel mask and a jade roller. Do these do anything? I honestly can't tell, but it feels nice. I wouldn't call myself a looks maxer, but I do spend a good amount of time on these beautification rituals.

And as a woman who exists on the Internet, I feel like my For You page is constantly lobbing beauty trends at me. And like, I'm always trying to avoid getting sucked into yet another fad. I have tried so many serums and face masks and supplements before finally settling into what I consider to be a pretty pared down beauty regimen.

But the one thing I haven't tried yet is a peptide. It seems like everyone is on them.

SPEAKER_5 (1:50)

This is, in my opinion, the most slept on peptide on the market today. There's two main benefits that have been life changing for me. For me, there's a botox alternative that's easier on your wallet. Let's talk about SNAP8, the peptide that targets wrinkles without the needles.

Morgan Sung (2:05)

Peptides are chemical signals that your body naturally makes to regulate all kinds of bodily functions, like digestion and recovery.

Sungat Grewal (2:13)

So peptides are like text messages.

Morgan Sung (2:16)

Dr. Sungat Grewal is a double board certified dermatologist and skin cancer surgeon. She's the co-director of laser surgery and cosmetic dermatology at UCSF.

And she's been keeping an eye on the synthetic peptides people are taking to boost their body's natural processes.

Sungat Grewal (2:32)

They're not necessarily good or bad inherently, but it depends on who's sending the message, what the message is, and who receives it.

Morgan Sung (2:42)

And I'm not just talking about GLP-1s.

Peptide stacking is really in right now. Retitutride and tessamoralin for weight loss, ipamoralin for muscle growth, the Wolverine stack of VPC-157 and TB-500 to boost healing after a gym sesh, and if you throw in the copper peptide GHK-CU, you've got a glow stack, the hot girl combo optimized for anti-aging collagen production. It's a lot, right? Some of these compounds are not cleared by the FDA, so the way people get ahold of them is a legal hit or miss. But peptides remain incredibly popular despite the gray market. And there's one that's really blown up this summer, Melanotan II.

SPEAKER_7 (3:27)

Kylie says, Hi Kim, your tan looks great. Thank you. I've been using the Melanotan II peptide over the last month, and I've been going outside and it's been working like a charm. So excited.

Morgan Sung (3:39)

MT2 for short, also known as the Barbie peptide or the vacation drug. It makes you tan, skinny, and horny. It's a libido booster with no harmful UV exposure required.

But Dr. Grewal said it also comes with legitimately concerning risks.

Sungat Grewal (3:56)

It's pretty scary and it's very sad when people are chasing aesthetic goals and are being misdirected, and exposing themselves to unknown risks or known risks, not only in the moment, but for future and forever forward, right? Some of these impacts have long lasting effects.

Morgan Sung (4:20)

Today, we're diving into the world of peptides, the dangers of tan maxing despite the influencer promotion, and RFK Jr's crusade to reverse the peptide bans in the US. What does the peptide craze say about American's relationship with health and risk? Let's jump in. This is Close All Tabs. I'm Morgan Sung, tech journalist and your chronically online friend, here to open as many browser tabs as it takes to help you understand how the digital world affects our real lives. Let's get into it.

We're starting with a new tab. What is Melanotan?

I'm part of a few weddings this year, and I wanted to look a little more sun kissed. But I'm inside like all the time, and I have no interest in tanning beds because I don't want to wrinkle. Again, vain. Sorry. So I started looking into self tanners. I looked up a few beauty influencers who reviewed tanning lotions, and that's when my feed was inundated with people recommending this miracle drug, MT2.