Marc Inbane

Marc Inbane is a Dutch self-tanning and skincare company based in Tilburg, the Netherlands. It was founded in 2012 and is best known for its Natural Tanning Spray, a sunless tanner built around dihydroxyacetone (DHA) derived from sugar beet or sugar cane [2][4]. The company positions its products as a way to achieve a year-round tan without UV exposure, and sells them directly online as well as through retailers and salons in more than 40 countries.

The brand remains active. Its most recent visible activity includes a founder interview published on the company blog reflecting on 2024 and looking ahead to 2025, alongside newer launches such as a NAD+ tanning drop [6].

Marc Inbane was set up on 21 April 2012 by three friends — Ingo, Bart Engel and Nele Engel — at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The unusual name is a composite of the founders' first names: IN from Ingo, BA from Bart and NE from Nele [2].

According to the company, the idea took shape after the three missed a flight at Schiphol and, while waiting, noticed that travellers returning from holiday looked more radiant and rested than those departing. That observation prompted the concept of a self-tanner that could deliver a summer complexion without sun damage. Ingo left the company in 2015 to return to sports, after which Bart and Nele Engel continued to run the business from Tilburg [2].

The brand's flagship is the Natural Tanning Spray, the product that launched the company and which it markets as offering an even tan for up to five days. The range has since broadened to include tanning drops, a mousse, gradual tanning lotion, tinted SPF powders and creams, plus skincare, accessories, gift sets and scented candles. Later additions include a Hyaluronic Self-Tan Spray, which the company describes as combining tanning with skincare, and Tanning Drops NAD+, marketed as pairing tanning with anti-ageing.

The self-tanning effect relies chiefly on DHA, which the company describes as a carbohydrate extracted from sugar beet or sugar cane that reacts with the top layer of the skin to turn it brown over roughly two to six hours [4]. It is used alongside erythrulose, a slower-developing, longer-lasting tanning active, with supporting ingredients including aloe vera, ginkgo biloba extract, vitamin E and a third-generation hyaluronic acid. An independent ingredient breakdown by INCIDecoder confirms DHA and erythrulose as the active pair, supported by botanical antioxidants such as aloe, soybean and milk thistle extracts [7].

Marc Inbane states that all of its products are manufactured in-house in Tilburg, and that they are dermatologically tested, vegan and free from parabens, silicones and sulphates [4].

The company frames its products as a safe and natural alternative to harmful UV rays, emphasising pure ingredients and in-house craftsmanship [2]. Much of its messaging centres on performance differentiators common to the sunless-tanning category — that the tan develops without an orange undertone, without the typical self-tanner odour and without staining. Pricing sits above the drugstore tier, positioning the products toward the premium end of the self-tan market.

The brand reaches customers through several channels: direct-to-consumer via its website, available in Dutch, English, German and French, and through dealers, distributors, salons and beauty professionals across more than 40 markets.

Beyond its core range, the company has linked a partnership with SkinVision, a skin-cancer detection app, from its website, and publishes blog content on early detection of skin cancer and on UV radiation [12].

Marc Inbane describes itself as "award-winning" and cites more than 1.5 million customers, though it does not specify which awards it has received [1]. Independent coverage is limited: the Natural Tanning Spray has been reviewed by beauty bloggers, including a 2017 standalone review on the blog Sarandipity, and analysed in detail by the ingredient database INCIDecoder [13]. No Wikipedia entry exists for the brand in either English or Dutch.

The company is active. It maintains a direct-to-consumer site in four languages, sells through wholesale channels in more than 40 countries, and continued to publish blog content and launch new products into 2025, including the NAD+ tanning drops [6]. Founders Bart and Nele Engel remain associated with the business.