It was great to see some of my friends from the U.S. tanning industry over at one of our recent London trade shows. Many people I know don’t like, or should I say, would prefer not to do the shows, but that’s not me! I have to say that even after 30 years in the business here in the UK, I still enjoy the exhibitions.
I guess one of the reasons that I am still able to enjoy them so much is that I’m lucky enough to have an excellent team around me who are a pleasure to work with.
To me, the shows provide a great opportunity to catch up with customers, colleagues and, of course, take a look at what our competitors are up to. And this show was no exception.
Over the years, the indoor tanning element of the big beauty industry shows has somewhat reduced in size due, to a large extent, to the fact that as an industry we are now much more professional and many of the companies with, shall I say, “questionable” products and marketing activities, have long since gone out of business.
That’s not to say, however, that we don’t still have a few in the mix, because we do. And of course I, like many of my fellow co-professionals, find that incredibly frustrating. Bottom line: it’s the rogue suppliers, in the same way as it’s the rogue salon operators, that enable the authorities, the media and the public to at best point the finger at us and at worse, verbally attack us. And thus the myths are perpetuated.
Today, I still get annoyed and frustrated with the myths and ignorance. But I do still love the shows.
I remember being at a show some time ago where a large percentage of the visitors were beauty therapists and beauty course students. Now, I know for a fact that beauty courses have, for many years, been negative about tanning bed use. Course lecturers will often advise their students never to use a tanning bed, but then in the same breath say that it’s fine to encourage clients to use them as they’re a great revenue generator for the salon. Such hypocrisy and ignorance! (On the fact that the students shouldn’t use them – not on the bit about being great revenue generators!)
Anyway, back to the show I attended a while back. Our stand was an island style exhibit, a large and open plan with aisles around all four sides. We displayed, of course, a fabulous array of tanning beds. The show was busy with lots of people both at the stand and also in the aisles but two young girls, students, caught my eye and not I hasten to add for the reasons you may think! They were walking past the stand with their hands held up to the side of their face as if shielding it. I remember wondering what on earth could be wrong with them. Were they embarrassed about the way they looked? Unlikely at a beauty show. Had someone upset them? I had to find out, but when I did – I really wish I hadn’t bothered.
“Are you okay, girls?” I enquired. They replied they were okay, but still wouldn’t look at me or take their hands away from the sides of their faces. “Are you sure? You seem upset?” I sensitively enquired. “Oh no, not at all!” exclaimed one. “We just don’t want to get skin cancer from the tanning beds,” said the other unapologetically. “But the beds at least 15 feet away and not even switched on!” I voiced back at them in disbelief. They simply ignored me and scurried away, faces still shielded. Unbelievable!
At the time, I was annoyed by their ignorance; but they were young and impressionable, so I guess it was as much the fault of their lecturers and the myths they read in the media. Today, I still get annoyed and frustrated with the myths and ignorance. But I do still love the shows. ■
