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My melanotan experience - before/afters included

pistachio

Member
As some of you are aware, I have been experiementing with melanotan for a little while now (about 6 weeks). Due to a few minor hiccups with delivery, I stopped for a little over a week in the middle.

First, I'll give you the pics. A few points on the photos below:

- The lighting on the right is actually FAR brighter than the lighting on the left, thanks to the entire lighting in the kitchen being replaced. So while I don't look VASTLY darker, I am actually a lot darker than I appear on the right.
- As is pretty evident, I've leaned up a bit. I'm about 3kgs lighter on the right. I look like a different person, I'm not sure how much of that is a result of the tan and how much is a result of the fat loss. In either way, I'm pretty chuffed, first photo from the front I've ever been happy with.

tan front.JPG

tan back.JPG

Ok, so now for my feedback.

Did it work?

Yes, but it took a LOT longer than I had expected. I'm not exactly sure why, but it could have something to do with the fact that I have a ridiculous body temperature (I've been called a walking furnace before) and I seem to metabolise drugs very quickly. It has taken close to 60mg to achieve my current tan. I will probably use another 1.5 vials or so before entering into maintenance.

Sides?

Aesthetically, there are some sides. I got well over 100 new moles/freckles (lost count) as well as the reappearance of some birth marks that I thought had disappeared. Here is the catch though, they aren't really NEW. One thing I read about melanotan is that it shows the true nature of your skin, be it for better or worse. That is to say, that any past sun damage will become evident when using this product. Personally, I was a bit alarmed at first, particularly with the moles/freckles on my face. But after a while you get used to them and your new appearance. Again, this is not a safety issue (at least this is my understanding), as the freckles/moles were always there, just far lighter.

I have not experienced any nausea to date and I am currently using 1.5mg per day (close to double the recommended dosage). I still want to get a little darker, so will continue for another week or two. Pretty much the only side effect I got was the most documented side effect of them all - the viagra side effects. And the gf wasn't complaining there ;)

What about the injections?

Ok, this was something I was not keen on from the start. But it really isn't a big deal, the insulin syringes are tiny and (for the most part) painless. I still don't like doing it though, as every so often it will really hurt for some reason, or I'll get an insect-bite like mark there for a few days or so. I react VERY badly to mossie bites (I'm talking like a 5c coin size swelling for each bite which takes about 1-2wekks to clear), so it could just be that I react to these worse than most people too. I think for most people, there should be no problem at all.

One other thing however, is that I have leaned up considerably since starting the experiment. Less subcutaneous fat may also be causing slightly more painful injections.

Was it worth it?

I think I look a LOT better with a tan. Frankly, I look pathetic (IMO) in the photos on the left. I might still have looked decent without a tan, but everyone seems to like the results. But more importantly, I can go out in the sun without getting paranoid about getting burnt. Seriously, I would get burnt in about 10 minutes in the sun without sunscreen. While I haven't pushed the limit to see how long I can last now, I can stay out far longer and just tan, rather than burn.

One thing I have noticed tho is that I look VASTLY different in different light. Sometimes I still look fair, sometimes I still look very brown. I'm not sure if this is just my skin, or a lighting effect, or whatever, but it certainly makes it hard to judge when I should stop....

Would I recommend it?

For the most part, yes. I would never recommend it to a ginger, cos it just won't look right. Not to mention the fact that you would be absolutely covered in freckles/moles. I would recommend it to anyone with white skin who burns rather than tans. I still can't really comment on what will happen when I come off it, but from what I've read, the tan should last quite a while.

Basically, when it came down to tanning, I considered all the options, and this appeared to be the safest one. Unfortunately, it cost a bit and required injections, but I don't think I'd ever reach the colour I have without causing considerable skin damage. So if you absolutely must have a tan, but do not want to risk the skin damage or premature aging, then I would definitely recommend this.

EDIT
- Don't expect to get a perfect tan off this stuff (if you tan naturally/easily, you probably will). While I am happy with the results, I certainly do not have a perfectly even tan. My hands are considerably darker than the rest of my body, in particular the joints (knuckles, finger tips). This is very noticeable, although no-one other than my gf seems to have noticed so far. A couple of other areas of my body have also darkened excessively, but I didn't really care too much (other than the initial concern). I also have a dark patch on one of my quads, no idea what that is from, but it wasn't there before using.

- Everyone responds differently to this stuff, your experience may vary. I would say that I had a fairly mild response to the stuff though, I imagine most people would actually get better results than I did.

Questions?

Any questions, feel free to ask.

I hope that some of you find this helpful.
 
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thanks for review man, im keen to try melanotan next year before summer, im way to white atm.

Maybe try natural sunlight pictures to show a real difference?

Was it just 20 minutes sunlight each day? 10 minutes each side? Would it matter if your lying down or just walk around? probably a stupid question but im interested to know

also, i have quite a few moles on the back of my body, would that matter?
 
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thanks for review man, im keen to try melanotan next year before summer, im way to white atm.

Maybe try natural sunlight pictures to show a real difference?

You can't really try it TOO far before summer tho, as you still need some good sun to get tanned. The point is you need far LESS sun tho, hence less skin damage etc.

Yeah I know, I kinda got screwed. Basically, the day the stuff arrived, it was overcast and raining for about 3 days. So I took the pics in the kitchen. Then when I went to take the afters, the light went out lol.

Here is one of me outside, it is a bit easier to see the tan. As I mentioned earlier tho, its hard to really tell what colour I am as I look different under different light...

back outside.JPG

It was probably about an hour of sun in the early weeks (more lately as the weather has improved). Just lying front and back in the yard.

I have noticed that the sides of my legs are somewhat white still, so will have to lie on the side to even those up a bit.

It doesn't matter if you have a lot of moles, unless you care about them going black. If you look carefully at the pics, you will see my most prominent moles are nearly black now. You WILL notice a shitload of freckles/moles pop up tho, especially if you already have quite a few. Whether this is an issue or not depends on whether you care. Safety-wise, it shouldn't be an issue, as more melanin = more protection from the sun.
 
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So where to know, do you continue using it for the rest of your life? Or a few months a year?
 
So where to know, do you continue using it for the rest of your life? Or a few months a year?

An injection a day will get you darker, 1-2 injections per week is supposed to maintain your colour. Can't comment yet on how effective that will be. I am guessing that probably 1 injection per week will be plenty to maintain during summer, but will need 2 or more per week during winter if you wish to maintain it.

I'm not sure what I'll do at that point, I'll see how long my current stock lasts and how I look in the end.
 
How much are these vials, mcg per vial. price ect.

Can these be sourced form australia? or you have a relibale source overseas?
 
How much are these vials, mcg per vial. price ect.

Can these be sourced form australia? or you have a relibale source overseas?

Vials are about $50-70 (10mg) sourced from Australia.

I got mine from
http://europatan.eu/melanotan

You can source them from overseas a LOT cheaper and given it is not illegal, you SHOULD get them in, but I didn't want to risk it.

The above website has excellent customer service and very fast delivery. A bit pricey, but you should be able to negotiate a little bit.

I think most people would get away with using far less of the product than I needed. 20-30mg seems to be plenty for most.
 
is sunscreen needed when tanning with melanotan, i am like you, 10 mins in sun and i burn
 
An injection a day will get you darker, 1-2 injections per week is supposed to maintain your colour. Can't comment yet on how effective that will be. I am guessing that probably 1 injection per week will be plenty to maintain during summer, but will need 2 or more per week during winter if you wish to maintain it.

I'm not sure what I'll do at that point, I'll see how long my current stock lasts and how I look in the end.

Honestly while most people look better with a bit of a tan there is no way I could be fucked doing that.
 
is sunscreen needed when tanning with melanotan, i am like you, 10 mins in sun and i burn

If you are going to stay out longer than 10 mins, then yes, otherwise you will burn (until you have built up enough of a tan).

Basically, this just makes you tan faster. So you still need to be safe. Once you have a dark tan, you have quite a bit of inbuilt sun protection, so you can stay out safely for longer periods.

Basically, I started with 10 minutes each side, around 2pm ish (just outside of the heat of the day). As I (slowly) got darker, I got out for slightly longer and slightly closer to the heat of the day. Even now though, I wouldn't want to stay out for longer than about 30 minutes in the heat of the day without sunscreen. After all the $$ and injections, i sure as hell don't want to peel. Not to mention the skin damage.
 
Any studies on the long term side affects ect? Effects of the body producing to much?

mabey even slowing or halting the absorbtion of vitamin B12 and D?
 
Honestly while most people look better with a bit of a tan there is no way I could be fucked doing that.

Yeah I know, and some people will think it is the ultimate form of vanity to inject for a tan.

But seriously, look at front pic comparison. After seeig that, I am VERY glad I did it. I look like a different person.

I mean really, all the effort I put into the gym, training like a madman, dieting, etc etc - A very small injection a day on top of that isn't really that hard.

In saying that tho, I don't think I could ever inject anything bigger (ie juice). Subcutaneous injections are nothing compared to intramuscular (apparently)
 
Any studies on the long term side affects ect? Effects of the body producing to much?

mabey even slowing or halting the absorbtion of vitamin B12 and D?

I'm not sure. People have been using it for years without a hitch, but like all of these sorts of things, it takes YEARS to have studies done. Especially when it comes to human testing.

So anecdotal evidence would suggest there are no long term sides, but who knows. I probably wouldn't want to use this long term just in case. But the same is said about things like creatine too, so who knows.
 
Had some friends use this, all of them got very brown very quickly and were pretty satisfied.

How did they compare to the photo of me outside? I would still say I am light brown in that one.... Did they get darker than that?

And how long did it take them?

From people I've spoken to, it took me far longer than most people.
 
How did they compare to the photo of me outside? I would still say I am light brown in that one.... Did they get darker than that?

And how long did it take them?

From people I've spoken to, it took me far longer than most people.

Hard to recall as it was last year but I know one them was darker then your outside shot(he already had pretty brown skin though) the other two who both had a similar starting complexion to yourself both got pretty dark but if it was darker then your outside shot then not by much. As for a timeframe im not that sure sorry, i wasnt paying that much attention.
 
Hard to recall as it was last year but I know one them was darker then your outside shot(he already had pretty brown skin though) the other two who both had a similar starting complexion to yourself both got pretty dark but if it was darker then your outside shot then not by much. As for a timeframe im not that sure sorry, i wasnt paying that much attention.

I don't know why people who are already pretty brown bother with this stuff, they can very easily (and safely) tan naturally!

That's cool, no probs. Like I said, from people I've spoken to, it appears my progress has been slower than most. Still happy with the results, just not particularly happy with the amount of melanotan its required.
 
Once again mate the pics look realy good, it took awhile but the results are worth it in the end. 1-2mg per week should be enough to maintain.
 
I don't know why people who are already pretty brown bother with this stuff, they can very easily (and safely) tan naturally!

That's cool, no probs. Like I said, from people I've spoken to, it appears my progress has been slower than most. Still happy with the results, just not particularly happy with the amount of melanotan its required.

I couldnt beleive it when he told me he was going to use it, he was already browner then most.

All three of these boys were working in outdoor trades and we live on the central coast so they all had plenty of time to get some sun at work and the beach. Not positive but i'd hazard a guess and say they were all getting more sun then it says too.
 
Once again mate the pics look realy good, it took awhile but the results are worth it in the end. 1-2mg per week should be enough to maintain.

Thanks mate, and cheers for your help.

I couldnt beleive it when he told me he was going to use it, he was already browner then most.

All three of these boys were working in outdoor trades and we live on the central coast so they all had plenty of time to get some sun at work and the beach. Not positive but i'd hazard a guess and say they were all getting more sun then it says too.

Yeah, thats a bit ridiculous.

It kinda defeats the purpose of using this stuff if you end up staying out in the sun all day anyway. The reason I chose to use this is because I want as safe a tan as possible, and without leathering my skin in the process.
 
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