Sunless, Inc. is promoting safety in sunless tanning. “We want salons to be more safety conscious when it comes to sunless,” says Brandon Cardinal, VP of Sales and Marketing at Sunless Inc. – the largest sunless company in the world.
There is no such thing as “safe” tanning and sunless should not be defined that way, but it should be defined as an alternative to UV tanning. “Sunless, Inc., like the FDA, suggests spray-tan techs wear face ventilators and eye protection during a session,” Cardinal explains. “And, we encourage tanners to wear a disposable thong garment, nose plugs, and our disposable eyewear to protect sensitive mucous membranes.” He points to an example with which many of us are familiar. “When you get your nails done, the tech wears a mask,” he says. “She doesn’t give you a mask, and we understand why: she’s exposed to the chemicals several times a day, you are exposed once a month. Spray-tan techs need to be aware that if they are sneezing or coughing up brown discharge, they need to start wearing a ventilator.”
Sunless, Inc. now offers printed signs that salons can post in spray-tan areas recommending that guests wear protection. The company’s safety packages also include nose filters, tech goggles, mouth filters, and disposable garments. “Our goal is customer safety and we want to safeguard our guests’ health,” Cardinal says. He recommends that every salon post signage about protection and make the disposable thongs, eyewear and nose filters available to each tanner.
In last month’s “Eye to Eye” column, I interviewed a military nurse-turned-sunless specialist and shared her ideas on safety in her salon. This month, I talked with Jessica Rafferty, Sunless Coordinator at Sun Seekers in Portsmouth and Dover, NH. She has been in sunless for over two years. Sun Seekers has a Mystic HD automated spray-booth, Norvell and Evolv systems, with five spray-techs.
“Our techs definitely wear eye protection when spraying bridal parties or are spraying a lot of people,” says Jessica. “We also have a great mist-ventilation system to protect our staff and guests. We play a Mystic video to ‘soften’ guests to the idea of using personal protection, and use social media a lot to gently educate them.” The salon offers free disposable eye protection, free undergarments, and sells protective lip balm, as well. “Every day, we have more and more guests opting to protect themselves during their spray sessions,” she says.
Jessica learned that freshly-applied lash extensions need to be covered when getting a spray-tan. “Lash extensions should not get any moisture on them for the first 24 hours, because it weakens the adhesive,” she explains. “We’ve found that the deep-cone, clear disposable eye protection for sunless tanning helps our customers’ lashes stay nice much longer.”
Mat Rockey, CEO of Hush Lash Studios, confirmed that a new set of lashes or a fill must remain dry for 24 hours. Spray-tanning the face does wet the lashes – so until the lash glue sets, eye protection is critical.
Jessica summarizes, “I’m a ‘super-hippie’ and very conscious about what we ingest and environmental toxins. So, why risk your health when it’s so easy to protect yourself?”
Want more info on the Sunless, Inc. protection packages and their safety initiative? You can email your questions to Brandon@NorvellTanning.com.
It is recommended that salons post signage about sunlesss protection and make the disposable thongs, eyewear and nose filters available to each tanner.
