What causes fake tans to smell?

[FallenNight]

Any idea why fake tans, tanning drops, gradual tan moisturizers etc. all smell what is it in them that smells, and what is that chemical doing to my skin.

Just wondering really as I put some tanning drops in my moisturiser this morning , legs smelt of the lovely moisurizer. Now that scent has worn off and I smell of biscuits.

Are there brands without the smell?

Its dihydroxyacetone (DHA) which is in most fake tan.

Dove DermaSpa and Bondi Sands are supposed to be less stinky.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will try it those. Will also look up DHA

Yes stinky DHA is in all of them, unfortunately. I guess there's no alternative.

I do find Bondi Sands slightly better than most, although it's the same smell. Interestingly google reckons that their Light shades have substantially less DHA than their Dark shades (which I suppose makes sense) - so Light shades less stinky. They put quite a lot of brown 'dye' in their formulations which helps with initial coverage, though it washes off of course.

Don't believe people who say that certain brands don't smell - they either can't smell properly, or their own skin doesn't react in a particularly smelly way. If you find fake tan smells bad on you then all brands will smell.

Incidentally I've never understood the reference to biscuits, I've never met a biscuit that smelled like that!

To be honest @AsteriaBuffy I don't think it smells like biscuits either, but I thought everyone would know what i meant if i said that. I think it smells quite musty, like the smell in our office when the mice have had a break from the mouse catcher.

I guess I would have been better to put it on before bed as recommended, sleep through the smell and wash it off in the morning!

Yeah I don't like the smell either so I only put it before bed. Also I want to be able to review the result in the morning rather than a few hours later when I'm in the office, in case I totally messed up the application.

@FallenNight yes everyone seems to call it biscuity, agree it's much more rank than that.

I'm still traumatised from when I first tried it as a teen and our chemistry teacher kept saying 'what IS that weird smell' and I was too embarrassed to own up :D

Tan Organic promises that it’s all natural ingredients and no fake tan smell. Suffice to say I still smell like biscuit juice when it develops. That said I do find that the smell goes as soon as you shower a few hours later . Don’t ever fake tan just before bed , it just means the sheets all develop biscuit smell too !

I have never risked a proper fake tan, just these tanning drops added to moisturizer and i guess foolishly hoped that it would not smell, its also such as subtle change its practically impossible to mess it up!

Ok I've gone down a DHA AI rabbit hole now! I won't paste it all here, but apparently fair skin is more likely to smell (and turn orange) with DHA application.

AI says this is because fair skin has fewer 'available amino acids' to bond with the DHA, and unprocessed DHA sits on the skin, oxidises and turns stinky.

So it's important to use formulations with less DHA (or dilute it with moisturiser etc). AI recommends Bondi Sands Technocolor Sapphire to minimise smell and orange oxidisation.

So there we are. No idea if it's true, but worth a google! fwiw I do have fair skin and DHA seems especially rank on me.

No idea about it’s formulation or DHA content, but the St Tropez foam smells much less on me than any other I’ve tried (and I have the nose of a bloodhound, it’s a curse!)