So, that’s it, my friends – summer is officially over. It is strange but true: the weather truly does affect our mood. There’s a general sense of gloom in the air now that the darker evenings are drawing in and the opportunity for a sunny summer weekend socialising with friends and family is a somewhat distant memory.
In reality, we didn’t actually have many sunny weekends in the UK during the summer months this year; but as we do every year, we lived in hope that the sun could and indeed would be shining down on us – well, on the weekends at least! In the UK, our fascination with the weather is renowned and can be illustrated by the fact that the BBC’s weather app continues to be downloaded an average of 15 times a minute even though it was launched more than two years ago! Interestingly, the most popular viewing time is 7am on a Friday morning – no doubt hopeful planning for the weekend!
All in all, come summer, winter, rain or shine – a professional indoor tanning salon is always the perfect place to tan!
However, planning anything that relies on the weather in the UK is a risky business. It’s common practice these days for organisers of music festivals, sports events and even weddings to take out bad weather insurance when the event is scheduled for the height of summer.
Yet for me, the UK weather is just another reason why I love being in the indoor tanning business. Walk into a tanning salon at any time of the year – height of summer to depths of winter – and it’s always as though you are walking on sunshine! The pleasure derived from lying in the sun (okay, in this instance on a tanning bed) is at the very least two-fold – being tanned makes us look good as well as feel good. The knock-on effect is palpable: big smiles, positive conversations, happy people …it’s a great business to be in!
One could easily argue that a regular dose of UV would have an enormous beneficial impact on our public health services. I’m not suggesting indoor tanning should be available on our tax-funded National Health Service (NHS) – but then again, come to think of it, why not? Can you imagine the reaction of the anti-tanning trolls if we were able to achieve that?
It goes without saying that, in my opinion, there is far too much focus and media attention on the public health impact of too much or overexposure to UV. And let’s not forget that these often self-diagnosed case studies from UV-abusers are in the absolute minority compared to the number of people who can and do tan responsibly.
The persistent and well-funded campaigns over the years to demonise tanning and in particular indoor tanning have had an impact – although perhaps not the impact the anti-tanning groups set out to achieve. People want to be tan, they love to tan and there is absolutely no escaping that fact. Yet nowadays, as a result of ongoing anti-tanning messages, people are far more aware of the need to tan responsibly and avoid overexposure or burning.
For Joe Public, that’s all well and good when you live in a climate where the sunshine is guaranteed and you can plan your tan. Yet, with our inclement and unpredictable UK weather, when the sun comes out, our bodies crave the UV and, despite all the scaremongering, it is still not uncommon to see beaches and parks filled with people soaking up all the sun they can while it lasts, often suffering very sore and no doubt damaging results!
So, is it any wonder that people who understand the need to plan their tans turn to the professional indoor tanning salon, avoiding the desire to overexpose when the sun shines?
All in all, come summer, winter, rain or shine – a professional indoor tanning salon is always the perfect place to tan!
