Amazingly, spring is in the air and along with it comes “The Season.” And on this occasion, I am not just referring to the season for all things tanning. We are, of course, deep into the season for all things fashion – from the glitz and glamour of fashion houses adorning the world’s entertainment elite with their latest creations on the red carpets of awards ceremonies, to the plethora of international Fashion Week celebrations. Every which way you turn in the media, there is a new fashion reference or trend that we will soon see replicated in all our favourite clothing stores.
Whereas the fashion industry thrives on the emergence of such trends, we in the indoor tanning industry ordinarily tend to cast a rather sceptical eye over new tanning trends, and history will evidence this is usually for good reason. Case in point is a recent trend that appears to be sweeping the UK, causing genuine concern for many professional tanning salons.
But it is not just salon owners who are raising the alarm; the bell also rang for us as we have, over a period of time continuing to this day, experienced inexplicably heightened demand for new tanning bed base acrylics – and I mean, enquiries have been literally skyrocketing! Talking with my team, we of course established the enquiry spike was definitely not a component quality issue but was, in fact, the result of an issue driven by social media.
A growing hoard of influencers and “wannabe influencers” are advocating the use of hitherto unheard of creams and lotions during tanning bed sessions.
The problem is an explosion of content across a number of social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and, in particular, TikTok. The common thread? A hoard of influencers and “wannabe influencers” advocating the use of particular hitherto unheard of creams and lotions during tanning bed sessions.
The key problem, and it is one that continues to be a growing problem, is what these products are not: They are not specially formulated for tanning bed use. However, what they are is very inexpensive, poor quality products marketed to compete alongside specially-formulated products sold in professional salons.
I have four key problems with this trend. The first is the ingredients in these products are not registered or even detailed on the labelling and, as such, there is no efficacy in their performance. Secondly, the ingredients may include alcohol and this ingredient alone causes a specific issue on the acrylic shield, causing crazing and cracks. Factor in petroleum and the problems just get worse! As you will clearly appreciate, acrylic shields are expensive parts to replace. With significant spikes in demand, acrylic availability is also a potential issue which could result in downtime for a salon’s tanning bed, losing important revenue at this, indeed any, time of year. Thirdly, lotions sales are a significant revenue generator for salons and this trend will undoubtedly be impacting those sales. Finally, and, I suggest most importantly, we simply have no idea how these products work with UV light and, as such, their use is potentially placing customers at risk of over-exposure and burning.
Many salon owners have banned the use of the known “problem” products and whilst this is obviously difficult to manage once the customer is in the cubicle, heavy residue on the acrylics, oily splashes on the floors and other factors are clues that those customers are ignoring the salon’s policy.
With the ease of availability and low cost, this has quickly become a challenge for our industry to address. What to do? Suggestions welcomed!
