Your body already makes a hormone that tells your skin to tan. Melanotan 2 is a synthetic peptide engineered to mimic that hormone but in a version that's more potent and Nasal tanners left me suffocating in hospital' Tanning Injections: Risks, Side Effects, and Precautions Melanotan is not a tan. It's an unregulated peptide with real risk. As a dermatologist, here's the reality: It has been linked to new and changing moles including cases of Hannah Tittensor and her boyfriend Ben Dunlop have been injecting themselves with an illegal tanning drug called Melanotan for three years. On top of that, they use sunbeds regularly and slather themselves No, you don't need the 'Barbie drug' to tan, whatever TikTok says. Here's why melanotan II is so risky