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For this month’s sunless tanning focus, I recently talked to a veteran salon operator, Cami Hondel, owner of Local Acapulco in Saco, ME. She does a fantastic job marketing her sunless services, and the season has started out strong for her. I caught up with Cami just after a wicked nor’easter had hammered the New England coast, and we chatted about the impact spray- tanning has made on her business.
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IST: Cami, I’ve known you for a long time, but let’s start with the basics. When did you start offering sunless tans? What made you take the plunge?
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Cami: When I bought my salon 11 years ago, it had a California Tan airbrush machine and the previous owner did one or two spray-tans a year. For a year, I did nothing with sunless; I knew nothing about it and felt I had my hands full with UV services. I took the plunge after my first tanning convention with Jay Abbott at Central Maine Tanning Supply. He had a sunless representative at the show and I took the class to get certified, and then, I was self-taught. I spray-tanned friends and family over and over again until I figured out what I was doing. Then, I slowly started to team up with make-up artists, photographers, models, and I would spray-tan them to get a mention in their work. My name started to spread and my sunless business took off.
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IST: Well, it sure has! So, I’d guess that most of your spray-tanners are women. What are the demographics? Do you have any guys who spray-tan?
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Cami: About 90% of my sunless business is women between the ages of 20-60. I have a handful of male clients who are models or body-builders – the male demo is still growing, I feel.
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IST: What percentage of your tanners are 100% sunless vs. using both UV and sunless?
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Cami: I’d say I am split down the middle between UV and sunless. I brought in a Norvell Auto Revolution Spray Booth in August 2017, and it peaked the interest of my UV tanners who do not typically get sunless tans. Now that they can hop in a booth to spray and then, “double dip” with a UV session, the sunless numbers have gone up for people doing both.
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IST: Cami, having taught you an accredited class on UV a couple of years ago, I know you realize the importance of indoor tanning education. How difficult was it to learn the sunless process?
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Cami: It was not difficult for me – I did a lot of research on companies and products, asked a lot of questions and went to every training course in my area. I still take classes, even though I’ve been doing it for ten years. There is always something new to learn, a new technique that could improve my skill. You have to WANT to spray-tan, and it will come easy to those who are passionate about doing it.
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IST: Periodic maintenance of UV systems is important to their service life and the tans they produce. How important is it with a spray system? Are they hard to clean? How often?
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Cami: It’s so important to keep the spray unit clean! I clean my filters and airbrush gun daily. On days I do 20 or more sprays, I clean my gun in between, so that I don’t have solution build-up. My gun and spray unit are big money-makers for me – to get 100% performance from them, I have to keep them pristine.
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IST: There you have it! Get educated in the process, buy a quality sunless system, and keep it clean. It also helps to have a passion for the business, and Cami sure does!
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“There is always something new to learn, a new technique
that could improve my skill. You have to WANT to spray-tan
and it will come easy to those who are passionate about doing it.”Cami Hondel, Owner Local Acapulco
