Summer is the time of year people like to be tan. Some will spend hours
baking in the sun to achieve that bronzed look, others will go to tanning
salons; but both methods can be harmful to your health.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, 90 percent of the 1
million plus new cases of skin cancer diagnosed this year will be traced
to ultraviolet light exposure; and cancer isn’t the only illness
people who spend a lot of time in the sun or on tanning beds can get.
Overexposure
to harmful UV rays can also cause cataracts, immune system changes,
wrinkles, and premature aging of the skin.
“What many people don’t realize is that skin cancer and tanning
don’t have to go hand in hand. You can get a sunless tan that looks
great,” said Lester Szurko, CEO of Fantasy Tan, the world’s first
airbrush tanning company. “All you have to do is walk into one
of the salons that offers our cutting-edge sunless technology, and
you can
walk out looking like you spent two weeks on the beach in Hawaii.”
Sunless tanning is nothing new. The concept has been around since the
1960s when Coppertone introduced the first sunless-tanning product: QT
or Quick Tanning Lotion. These days, you can find tanning pills, sunless
or self-tanners and bronzers that allow you to smooth, swipe or spray on
a light bronze glow or a deep, dark tan.
A Fantasy Tan is applied via a special air brush system resulting in an
even, natural looking tan. The formula as well as the specialized air
brush system are the result of years of research and testing. What sets
a Fantasy
Tan apart from one you could achieve with a sunless tanning cream or
lotion is its ability to evenly cover the body without blotching. “The airbrush
sprays it on perfectly every time,” said Szurko.
Gail Doonan, 51, of Tinley Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, considers
herself one of Fantasy Tan’s biggest fans. “I started sunbathing
when I was a teenager and did it religiously until last year when I was
diagnosed with skin cancer near my eye,” she says. “I promised
my doctor I’d stay out of the sun from now on, but missed the
look and feel of being tan.”
Doonan went out and bought some sunless tanning lotions, but says they
didn’t work as well as she’d hoped. “My skin got all orange
and blotchy. It was terrible.” To cheer her up, one of Doonan’s
friends recommended she get a Fantasy Tan, a service available at a
salon not too far from where she worked.
“I love the coverage, and how natural it looks,” said Doonan. “People
often ask me if I just returned home from vacation. They don’t realize
I haven’t spent any time in the sun at all.”
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, the main ingredient
in a Fantasy Tan, dihydroxyacetone (DHA), is the most effective sunless
tanning product available today. As the colorless sugar interacts with
the dead skin cells located in the stratum corneum, or outer layer of the
epidermis, a color change occurs.
“This change usually lasts about seven to ten days from the initial
application, longer for people who take the time to maintain their tans,” said
Szurko. By maintenance, he means frequent moisturizing and the use of soaps
and washes that don’t promote exfoliating.
“Many soaps, moisturizers, and body washes contain ingredients that
make the skin exfoliate. Realizing the negative impact they have on a Fantasy
Tan’s longevity, we developed our own line of friendly products our
clients can use,” he said.
Fantasy Tan makes a mild body cleanser guaranteed not to cause exfoliation.
The company also has a daily moisturizer to keep the skin hydrated, a personal
bronzer to touch up areas of the tan that are fading, and an exfoliator
people can use to cleanse their skin before they come in to get a new tan
sprayed on.
Doonan says she gets a new Fantasy Tan every week to ten days. She has
been doing it for more than a year now.
“It’s just like getting your nails done. You go in every so
often for a touch up,” said Doonan. “I don’t mind it
at all. The entire process takes just 15 minutes to complete.”
Fantasy Tan made its first appearance in Hilton Head, S.C., in 1997, and
is now offered at hundreds of locations in the United States. You can
also find the technology in use in 30 foreign countries. To find the salon
nearest
you, log on to www.fantasytan.com and click on the button that says “Salon
Locator.”
