The "Barbie Drug" Has a Dark Side 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 II (Tan Jabs): Why They're Not Worth The Risk It doesn't take much to fall down the Barbie Drug rabbit hole. In self tanner subreddits and on TikTok Shop, the tanning injectionaka Melanotan IIis marketed as a self tanner alternative that works by I accidentally undid years of skin work and didnt realize it until it was too late., At the beginning of November, I started taking melanotan 2 and honestly?, I loved it., My tan deepened