# Melanotan II

Non-selective melanocortin agonist for tanning; works, but has documented serious harms.

- Page: https://peprank.xyz/peptides/melanotan-ii
- Category: Skin & hair (Research peptide)
- Also known as: MT-2; MT2; 'tan jab'
- Routes: Nasal / Injection
- Sequence: DHFRWK (Ac-Nle- N-terminus, D-Phe, cyclic (Asp-Lys lactam), C-amide)
- Safety tier: Strict: Avoid · Balanced: Avoid · Evidence only: Avoid
- Risk axes (0 none to 3 severe): Seen harm 3, Mechanism 3, Data gap 2, Silent harm 3, Product 3
- Positive: 51% of 51 graded reports glowing or positive, shrunk toward the 49% all-report average by 8 reports' weight
- Rank: #33 of 61 research peptides
- Graded reports: 51 (Glowing 11, Positive 15, Mixed 9, Nothing 2, Negative 7, Bad reaction 7)
- Evidence: Small human studies — Early 2000s trials; otherwise case reports
- Access: Grey market
- Onset: Nausea and flushing within seconds to 30 minutes of an injection. Visible tan in fair skin usually after 1-3 weeks with UV; strong responders see it within days, very pale users sometimes only after about 2 months. Erections and libido within hours.
- Lasts: Acute side effects last 30 minutes to a few hours (up to about 8 h at higher doses). The tan holds for weeks to months, kept with maintenance doses every few days to weekly; new moles can persist for years.
- Cost per month: ≈ €4–27 (researchers' estimate)
- Dose users report: 54–350 mcg/day (median 130 mcg, n=7)
- Updated: 2026-10-30

**Why Avoid under the strict bar:** Documented serious harms (melanoma reports, PRES, priapism) from non-selective melanocortin activation.

## What users report

It works for tanning, even in skin type 1, and users love the results. Under 10% see nothing. Nausea, stomach cramps, flushing, spontaneous erections and darkening/new moles are near-universal talking points. ER doctors report priapism.

**Effects:** deep tan with less UV; less burning; libido increase

**Downsides:** nausea, stomach cramps; facial flushing; darkened freckles/moles; appetite suppression

**Risks:** Melanoma and atypical naevi case reports; masks mole changes; Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, sympathomimetic toxidrome (case reports); Priapism; Renal infarction reports

**Typical use:** Community: 250-500 mcg loading, then maintenance every 1-2 weeks.

**Getting it:** Never approved anywhere, and regulators (FDA, UK MHRA, Australian TGA) warn against it. Sold as research-peptide vials and nasal sprays online and through tanning salons and gyms.

**Stacked with:** Melanotan I (The common plan is to build a base with MT2, then maintain with MT1 for a more natural colour, fewer moles and less nausea.); Antihistamine (cetirizine) or ondansetron before the dose (Several users say it largely removes the nausea and flushing; others find nothing helps.); Sun or sunbed right after dosing (The community insists on UV straight after injecting to avoid patchy freckles and moles; the published melanoma case involved sunbeds.); Tadalafil or sildenafil (Taken for the libido effect; the combination and overdoses are where priapism reports come from.); GLP-1 agonists (retatrutide, tirzepatide) (Often run together on Reddit; some find the combined nausea much worse, and one first-dose vomiting and muscle-spasm report came a week after starting retatrutide.)

## Risk profile

- **Seen harm 3/3:** Multiple well-documented serious harms of different kinds: four to five published melanomas arising during or after use (UV-confounded), PRES, an ICU stay for a mass-spectrometry-confirmed sympathomimetic toxidrome with rhabdomyolysis, at least three cases of ischaemic priapism, and renal infarction. No death has been attributed to it.
- **Mechanism 3/3:** Non-selective melanocortin agonism is shown in humans to drive melanocyte proliferation (crops of atypical naevi that regressed on stopping) and, via MC4R, to raise blood pressure; the toxidrome case confirms the sympathomimetic effect.
- **Data gap 2/3:** Only small early-2000s trials; everything since is case reports from unsupervised grey-market use.
- **Silent harm 3/3:** Melanoma develops silently over months to years, and the tan and darkened moles it causes mask the changes a skin check relies on.
- **Product 3/3:** All use is grey-market injection or nasal spray; online vials held 43-88% of the claimed dose with unknown impurities, and some vials sold as BPC-157 have turned out to be melanotan II.
- **Never if:** Personal or family history of melanoma, or many or atypical moles; Hypertension or cardiovascular disease; History of priapism; Pregnancy or breastfeeding (no human reproductive data)

## Top reports

- Glowing, skin-hair: “I was so doubtful at first, I didn’t even see decent results until 2ish months in. When you are genuinely starch white it takes significantly longer which I feel like isn’t talked about much here.” — [r/Melanotan2](https://www.reddit.com/r/Melanotan2/comments/1h2rex0/45_month_results/)
- Glowing, skin-hair: “i only use nasals. this is proof it really does work. i have never had a real tan in my life until now!! i am a TRUE skin type 1 btw” — [r/Melanotan2](https://www.reddit.com/r/Melanotan2/comments/1ktxbvu/results_with_just_nasals_as_a_skin_type_1/)
- Glowing, skin-hair: “Went to the Derm for the first time during use (last summer) and DID have to have some shave biopsies (5) but all came back fine.” — [r/Melanotan2](https://www.reddit.com/r/Melanotan2/comments/1v7immf/2nd_summer_using_mt2/)
- Glowing, skin-hair, 0.8 mg every other day (after months of nasal spray): “I really felt it was never going to work for me and I would have to resort back to my fake tan. But here we are, I have my first tan ever!” — [r/Melanotan2](https://www.reddit.com/r/Melanotan2/comments/1k8wr0i/4_months_on_melanotan2/)
- Glowing, skin-hair: “Eyebrows, beard and hair got darker as well. Would 10/10 recommend.” — [r/Melanotan2](https://www.reddit.com/r/Melanotan2/comments/1sx740d/been_on_for_7_weeks_best_descision_i_have_done/)

## Cheapest in Europe

- [Baltic Peptides](https://balticpeptides.com/product/melanotan-2/) (LT): Melanotan 2 10mg, €35, €3.50/mg
- [Europa-Peptide](https://europa-peptide.de/en/shop/melanotan-ii-10mg/) (PL): Melanotan II 10mg, €37, €3.69/mg
- [Particle Peptides](https://particlepeptides.com/en/buy-peptides/12-melanotan-2-10mg.html) (SK): Melanotan 2 10mg, €47, €4.68/mg
- [Modern Peptides EU](https://modernpeptides.eu/product/melanotan-2-mt2/) (DE): Melanotan 2 (MT2) 10mg, €48, €4.80/mg (contents not stated on the page)

## Studies

- [Dorr et al. 1996: evaluation of melanotan-II in a pilot phase I clinical study](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8637402/) (controlled, n=3, 1996): Five low subcutaneous doses visibly darkened the face and upper body; spontaneous erections with a yawning/stretching complex and mild nausea at most doses, somnolence at 0.03 mg/kg.
- [Wessells et al. 1998: synthetic melanotropic peptide initiates erections in men with psychogenic erectile dysfunction](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9679884/) (rct, n=10, 1998): In a placebo-controlled crossover, 8 of 10 men developed erections on 0.025 mg/kg; nausea, yawning and reduced appetite were more frequent than on placebo.
- [Wessells et al. 2000: alpha-MSH analogue on penile erection and sexual desire in men with organic erectile dysfunction](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11018622/) (rct, n=10, 2000): Erections after 12 of 19 injections versus 1 of 21 placebo doses, with higher sexual desire; 4 of 19 injections caused severe nausea.
- [Hjuler & Lorentzen 2014: melanoma associated with the use of melanotan-II](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24355990/) (observational, n=1, 2014): Case report of melanoma in a 20-year-old skin type II woman three months after a 3-4 week MT-II course combined with sunbeds.
- [Schulze et al. 2014: eruptive naevi and darkening of pre-existing naevi 24 h after a single melanotan II injection](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24334249/) (observational, n=1, 2014): Case report of new moles and darkening of existing ones within a day of one dose, the pattern Reddit users describe.
- [Kaski et al. 2013: melanotan and the posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23648958/) (observational, n=1, 2013): Case report of PRES (a hypertensive brain syndrome presenting with headache and seizures) after melanotan injection.

## Sources

- [Risks of unregulated use of alpha-MSH analogues: a review (Int J Dermatol 2017)](https://doi.org/10.1111/ijd.13585)
- [Melanoma associated with the use of melanotan-II (Dermatology 2013)](https://doi.org/10.1159/000356389)
- [FDA risk note on Melanotan II](https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-present-significant-safety-risks)