Reminder of serious health risks with 'Melanotan 2' self tan products Irish Pharmacist 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 Melanotan What It Is and Its Relation to Skin Cancer Melanotan What It Is and Its Relation to Skin Cancer Man warns against 'dangerous' tanning injections after turning so dark he 'looked like Madge from Benidorm' and now has the freckled skin of a 60 year old