With 64% of Gen Z reporting exposure to sunscreen misinformation online, and a TikTok-driven "tanmaxxing" trend romanticising deliberate UV exposure, sun care brands face a communication and formulation challenge that conventional SPF marketing isn't solving. Here's what Indian manufacturers should do.
A troubling pattern has emerged on TikTok under hashtags like #tanmaxxing and #TanTok: content creators — "tanfluencers" — documenting deliberate sun exposure strategies, UV-index tracking to maximise tan development, and in some cases, the use of unregulated tanning peptides not approved for human use. Tanmaxxing means UV-index tracking, timed sun sessions, and a growing class of tanfluencers whose content serves as both instruction and community.
The trend coincides with declining sunscreen use and growing myths and misconceptions around sun exposure among Gen Z. According to a 2025 study by Vitality, almost a quarter (23%) of Gen Z say they would rather get burnt than cover up, and 21% admit they do not even care if they get sunburnt. For sun care manufacturers, R&D teams, and brand owners, this isn't simply a worrying cultural moment to observe from the sidelines — it represents a genuine commercial and communication challenge that conventional SPF marketing has demonstrably failed to address.
A recent survey found that 64% of Gen Z report encountering sunscreen misinformation online. Skincare culture and social media collided this summer, and misinformation is outpacing science. The specific mechanics of why this generation — raised with more sun-safety education than any before it — is disregarding that education deserve careful attention from manufacturers and brand communication teams.
Alexis Granite, who recently joined teen skin care brand Indu's Creative Advisory Board, says that while many younger patients are very engaged with skin care, "sunscreen is still often treated as optional rather than essential." Critically, she identifies the reasons as substantially product-related, not purely attitudinal: "Some people dislike the texture or feel of traditional SPF, it can exacerbate common teen skin issues such as acne, some underestimate the long-term consequences of UV exposure and others are influenced by social media trends that make tanning feel aspirational."
This is the detail manufacturers should focus on first: a meaningful share of sunscreen avoidance is a formulation and sensory problem that the industry can directly solve, separate from the harder cultural and misinformation challenge.
For Indian sun care formulators and brand owners, the texture and acne-exacerbation complaints cited above point to specific, addressable formulation priorities.
Lightweight, non-comedogenic sunscreen formats that don't feel heavy, greasy, or pore-clogging are a direct response to the documented teen and Gen Z dislike of "traditional SPF" texture. Gel-based, fluid, and water-based sunscreen formats — already established in Korean and Japanese formulation traditions — address this concern more effectively than thicker cream-based formulations still common in many Indian mass-market sunscreens.
Acne-safe formulation claims, backed by genuine non-comedogenic testing, deserve more prominent positioning. If acne exacerbation is a documented reason for avoidance among younger consumers, sun care brands with genuinely non-comedogenic, oil-free formulations should be communicating this clearly and with credible substantiation, rather than relying on generic "for all skin types" claims.
Sensorially elegant, fast-absorbing formats matter more for this demographic than for older consumer cohorts. A sunscreen that leaves a white cast, takes time to absorb, or interferes with makeup application creates friction that a generation accustomed to fast, frictionless digital experiences is less willing to tolerate.
For Indian formulators, this is directly actionable: evaluate current sunscreen portfolios specifically against texture, absorption speed, and non-comedogenic performance — not just SPF and PA rating — when developing or reformulating products targeting teen and young adult consumers.
Trends such as "tanmaxxing" are especially concerning because they can reframe UV exposure as self-improvement or optimisation, when in reality a tan is a sign of DNA damage in the skin. This is a fundamentally different problem from formulation, and requires a fundamentally different response: credible, dermatologist-led, social-native educational content that meets young consumers in the same content format and platform where the misinformation is spreading.
Tanmaxxers use weather apps and UV-tracking tools to find windows they consider optimal: high enough to produce colour, below the threshold they associate with burning. Sessions are timed, SPF choices are deliberate and progress is documented and shared. The gamification makes it feel controlled and data-informed. But UV damage does not operate on a threshold system. Exposure accumulates at every UV level, and skin cells do not register the difference between a window a tanmaxxer considers safe and one that is not.
This scientific clarity — that there is no "safe threshold" for UV exposure, only degrees of accumulated damage — is the precise message that sun care brands are positioned to communicate credibly, and that generic public health messaging has failed to make compelling or shareable in the same format Gen Z consumes content.
India's intense year-round UV exposure, combined with growing social media influence among Indian teens and young adults, creates a domestic version of this risk that Indian sun care manufacturers and brand teams should not assume is purely a Western phenomenon. Global social media trends propagate into Indian youth culture rapidly, and India's own beauty standard conversations around skin tone carry additional cultural complexity that brands should navigate with genuine sensitivity rather than either silence or oversimplified messaging.
Indian dermatologists are well-positioned to lead credible, social-native sun safety education specifically calibrated to Indian skin types, UV intensity, and cultural context — an opportunity that Indian sun care brands should actively support through creator partnerships rather than leaving the cultural conversation to be shaped entirely by international trend content.
Audit current SPF formulations specifically against teen and young-adult sensory preferences. Texture, absorption speed, white cast, and non-comedogenic performance should be evaluated as seriously as SPF and PA rating when developing products targeting this demographic, given the documented link between texture dissatisfaction and reduced sunscreen adherence.
Invest in credible, dermatologist-led educational content built for the platforms where misinformation spreads. Generic sun-safety messaging delivered through traditional advertising formats is not reaching or persuading the audience currently exposed to tanmaxxing content. Brand-supported, dermatologist-fronted, social-native content — matching the format, pacing, and tone of the platforms where the misinformation circulates — is a more credible and more effective communication strategy.
Avoid messaging that inadvertently reinforces tan-as-aspiration framing. Brand campaigns and influencer partnerships should be reviewed carefully to ensure they do not, even unintentionally, validate the "bronzed glow as self-improvement" narrative that tanmaxxing content promotes — a risk worth flagging explicitly in any campaign brief involving sun-exposure imagery or messaging.
Develop India-specific sun safety partnerships with credible dermatologists addressing Indian skin types and UV intensity directly, rather than relying solely on translated or adapted international sun-safety messaging that may not address the specific cultural and climatic context Indian consumers face.
The tanmaxxing trend reflects a genuine gap between sun-safety science and how a generation consumes information — and a genuine, partially solvable gap in sunscreen formulation that has made sun protection feel less appealing to wear consistently. Manufacturers that address the formulation side directly, while supporting credible, platform-native educational content on the misinformation side, are positioned to make meaningful progress on both fronts.
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