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Sunless Tans Offer Safe Color quickglow Provides Beach-Bronzed Look

from a Spray Gun

By Sangita Srinivasa

MORRISTOWN – August 18, 2004 

When one of Shari Barish's friends returned from a trip to Las Vegas last year, she looked, in Barish's words, "beautifully bronzed." Barish had always known her friend to be a "hip and savvy" person and an early adopter of new beauty industry techniques and products. So she was eager to find out the secret behind her tropical tan. 

This look, she learned, was acquired from a visit to a spray tanning salon. Such salons are not an entirely new phenomenon -- they are well established in California and Las Vegas, the better known ones often patronized by celebrity clients.  TV and film actress Jennifer Aniston was among the first to admit that her golden glow was not entirely natural.

Now the process of sunless tanning is gaining in popularity as more and more people are being persuaded of its advantages: It's quick, painless and has no identified side effects. In addition, the method of delivery ensures an even color as opposed to the blotchy finish that often comes with self-application of tanning lotions.

Hit Upon a Gold Mine

Barish said she was convinced that that she had hit upon a tremendous business opportunity. She did extensive research to learn more about it and then located a person in California who sold her the equipment she needed to open her own place. It was simple, she said, consisting merely of a laser-guided sprayer and the solution that goes into it. Barish experimented on friends in the weeks after she acquired the equipment.  The initial results were not the stuff that swimsuit ads are made of, but she soon became an expert in the application technique

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With her wide smile and cheerful demeanor, the 34-year-old Morristown resident has the ability to make friends easily. "It was a blast," she said of the time when many of these friends submitted to being guinea pigs for her.

When she was ready, another good friend who runs a Pilates studio in Morristown invited her to start her operation in a small space located off of the large room where classes were held. There, with a floor screen to shield the walls from the spray solution, a lamp and a computer, Barish was soon in business.

The whole process takes about 15 minutes. With areas such as the hair, eyes, lips and nails protected, Barish works quickly to cover the rest of the body.  When the spraying is done, she uses a foam brush to even out the finish and eliminate streaks.  "She's an artist," said office mate Rachel Valeich, who operates a massage area in the same building. The two often trade favors, exchanging relaxing massages for appearance-enhancing tans.

Though there are a number of salons that operate automatic spraying booths, Barish said she feels that the process is more precise and controlled when a technician is present.

TV Connection

"People are afraid that it will be like what happened to Ross on 'Friends,'" she said, laughing as she referred to the episode where the popular paleontologist has a spray tanning device run amok on the face and front of his body, resulting in a less than attractive, two-toned effect.

Though privacy, or the lack thereof, is a concern for some people, Barish said that her interaction with clients has the comfort level of a doctor-patient relationship. "I'm a modest person," she said, "but now it doesn't faze me to deal with people when they are not fully clothed."  Most people, she said, wear undergarments or swimwear for the application, but some do away with these in order to avoid any tan lines.

It's certainly an industry that is no danger of fading away. People with tans are perceived as being more healthy and athletic than those without them. Valeich said that after she got a tan recently, friends complimented her on having lost weight.

With all the evidence linking overexposure to the sun and UV light to skin damage and cancer, Barish said she hopes that the more prudent will eschew traditional tanning methods in favor of spray tanning. She acknowledged that "there are diehards out there who love the sun and the tanning (beds)." But she said she believes that a large number of people who find it hard to acquire a tan through those methods, or prefer not to, would welcome the spread of spray tanning salons.

The spray solution contains dihydroxyacetone, or DHA, an ingredient in all tanning products available on the market. DHA interacts with skin cells to create the bronzed look that is the hallmark of a good tan.

The process and products used are FDA approved. There are some limitations on using them on people with respiratory conditions such as asthma or on pregnant or nursing women. Though the ingredients themselves have been determined to be safe, it is still not clear how their inhalation affects these groups of people, Barish said. Barish also cautioned against using a spray tan as a base tan. The solution contains no SPF, she said, and should not be used as protection against the sun or UV light.

Robin Metz of Morristown, a mother of two and a regular at Barish's facility, was all praise for the technique and Barish's mastery over it. "I'm usually a pasty white," the ebullient Metz said, but not, she declared, after Barish was finished with her. "It looked great. I had a wedding to go to, and I was so happy to be able to show off my tan."

Barish said that five to seven days is the average life of a spray tan, with some people's fading faster or lasting longer depending on their skin type. Metz said jokingly that she really took to heart Barish's advice to delay showering after the application. "I wanted to avoid it for as long as possible - till finally my husband said, 'It's time,'" she said, pushing her hands forward in a gesture of mock disgust.

At around $39 for an average session, it's not something everyone can afford to have done on a regular basis. While a lot of her clients have the disposable income to spend on luxury services, Barish said she tries to attract the more cost-conscious customer with a variety of discount packages.

Her advice to would-be entrepreneurs is to combine preparation with a gung-ho attitude. "Research as much as you can," she said. "Go on the Internet, talk to people. I don't want to sound like a Nike ad but(a person has) to go for it, dive in. After that, you can sit back and chew on your nails," she said with a good-humored laugh.