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 longer lasting than Insights into Tanning Biology and Tanning Products JCAD The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology VUE MT2 is not just a tanning peptide. Melanotan II is discussed because it interacts with the melanocortin system the pathway connected to Instagram 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 Illegal tanning nasal spray not a 'harmless alternative' to sunbaking, says TGA ABC News