Melanotan & Tanning Injections: Safe or Risky? No, you don't need the 'Barbie drug' to tan, whatever TikTok says. Here's why melanotan II is so risky Melanotan & Tanning Injections: Safe or Risky? 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 Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) Fact Sheet and Position Statement on Sunless Tanning MT 2 (Melanotan II) Polar Peptides