People Are Giving Themselves Fake Abs by 'Sunscreen Contouring'

A six-pack or toned midriff is often the ultimate goal for any fitness fan, but some people are forgoing months of hard work in the gym and taking a shortcut instead.

People are attempting to give themselves fake abs by strategically applying sunscreen on their stomach, in an attempt to "contour" muscles.

Videos are circulating on TikTok showing people applying blobs of sunblock across their midriff, mimicking muscle definition.

One woman, named Mo online, shared a clip of herself, saying: "Trying the sunscreen hack tonight. Fake it till you make it."

The footage, uploaded on Monday, shows her sunbathing in a bikini after applying sunscreen. She later shared the results of her sunbathing session.

"In hindsight I maybe stayed out a bit too long," she says, showing off red patches across her stomach—which does resemble a very burnt set of abs.

The video has been watched more than 1.5 million times and people were blown away by the tip, claiming they were going to try it out for themselves.

Adina Gherghe wrote: "This is genius!"

"I'll try that," Alexia Galipeau wrote.

Phelan commented: "If I squint it looks ok."

Although Felonist reckoned: "I can see the sunburn still lamo."

And Kam added: "Well it's definitely defined."

Larry joked: "Anything but go for a run."

Emily Guerrero commented: "Let's do this next tanning session."

It seems the trend first emerged in summer 2020, after a woman, named Eli Withrow, claimed she could get a sun-kissed contour by carefully applying sunscreen. The hack has now resurfaced as temperatures soar for summer.

Withrow said: "Haters will say it doesn't work, but I'm convinced if you put a base sunscreen of SPF 30 on and SPF 90 on all the spots you would put highlighter on, the sun will contour your face where you'd put bronzer and you'll be naturally snatched all summer."

More than 100 people used the audio as they showed off their own attempts, with people shunning chiseled cheekbones in favor of washboard abs.

Tanning their stomachs in videos shared in June 2020, Ava Berube captioned a video "think smart not hard!!!," while Ilse Bringas simply wrote "contour."

But health experts issued warnings over sunscreen contouring, with Dr. Scott Walter, who calls himself a "Board Certified Dermatologist," stitching Withrow's clip.

He said: "Tanning even part of your skin will still damage it and lead to ageing. Just use a SPF bronzer to get snatched!"

Newsweek reached out to Mo, Berube, Bringas and Withrow for comment.