The Tanning Dilemma: Sun-bathers know risks, but seek bronzed skin anyway

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The Tanning Dilemma


Sun-bathers know risks, but seek bronzed skin anyway
10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, July 22, 2006

By HELENE BLATTER
The Press-Enterprise

At the height of summer, as shorts, tank tops and bikinis become wardrobe staples, many Inland residents are looking to shed their pale winter skin.

While some get their tans from lotions and sprays, others are still browning their skin the old-fashioned way, in tanning beds and on beaches, despite the well-known dangers of ultraviolet rays.

"Everything has its risks, but at least I'll be cute," said Michelle Glover, 30, who visits Hollywood Tans in San Bernardino two times each week.

Pale skin once signified wealth and high status, since ruddy, tanned skin marked a life spent out in the field. But after the Industrial Revolution forced blue-collar workers out of the sun and into factories, bronzed skin became a symbol of the leisure class, a mark of people who had time to be out in the sun, focusing on their appearance.

Today, that perspective persists.

"I don't think tan has ever lost its appeal," said Sarah Joinson, an aesthetician at Karen Allen Salon and Spa in Riverside who offers bronzing applications for customers who want a UV-free tan. "I would not say pale is in."

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In a 2005 survey by the American Academy of Dermatology, 92 percent of respondents understood that getting a tan from the sun was dangerous. Still, 65 percent said they thought they looked better with a tan.

And so, for the beauty-conscious, the dilemma continues -- how to get the quickest, cheapest, darkest and most natural-looking tan, while weighing the risks of sun exposure.

Local Trends

Californians like Glover, who make a priority of looking good, are a bonanza for the indoor-tanning industry, which has more businesses here than in any other state after Pennsylvania.

Chad Calongne, leasing director for Planet Beach, a Louisiana-based chain with a store in Chino Hills, said the growing Inland area has become an industry target. With 316 stores nationwide, the company plans to open 200 to 300 more by the end of next year.

At Hollywood Tans in San Bernardino, business is booming. Co-owner V.R. Paladugu opened the franchise in April and added a second location in Redlands in May.

Without any advertising, he said, he's averaging 160 customers per day in San Bernardino. On a recent Tuesday, the store peaked with 191 people, serving 22 customers per hour between 3 and 9 p.m. Between the two stores, he has 1,300 members, who pay a minimum of $19.99 per month for unlimited tanning.

Paladugu attributes his success to the store's open, airy design and the signature vertical tanning booths, in which tanners stand upright, surrounded by rows of ultraviolet bulbs, for just minutes at a time.

"We're not reaching out to nontanners, because they have to make informed choices," Paladugu said. "But if you're tanning, I think it's a better, safer, hygienic way to tan and you're in and out of here fast."

Dermatologists say there's nothing "safe" about indoor tanning.

James M. Spencer, professor of clinical dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and co-author of a study on indoor tanning for the American Academy of Dermatology, said the most popular bulbs at salons mimic the effects of the sun. And while they may be more efficient, it's the same as drinking poison quickly instead of slowly, he said.

The only thing they can claim is that they're less likely to burn you, he said, but you don't have to burn to get skin cancer. The other argument, that a base tan from a salon might help protect you when you head outdoors, also is incorrect, he said.

"It's a logical idea that turns out not to be true."

But despite the dangers of tanning booths, Spencer said, customers, mostly Caucasian women ages 20 to 35 and a growing number of teenagers, don't seem to care.

"They're more worried about looking hot for the prom," he said. Later, they'll want Botox and lasers for their wrinkles, he said, and if they'd stayed out of the sun or the tanning booth now, they wouldn't need them.

Tracey Ninneman, 43, of Winchester, a longtime tanner and customer at A Tropical Tan in Murrieta, says a tan makes her feel and look better.

"I know if I didn't go to a tanning booth I'd be out in the sun," she said. "You choose your poison. I don't smoke. I only drink occasionally. This is something I do for 20 minutes per week. I'll take the risk."

The Alternatives

According to the trade publication, Global Cosmetic Industry, the fastest-growing sun-care product is self-tanners, which work with the skin to alter its color. Sales increased nearly 80 percent between 1997 and 2005.

But while A Tropical Tan and Paladugu's Hollywood Tans offer automatic spray-on tans that take just seconds to coat customers in self-tanner, Paladugu said interest is limited to customers who need a quick fix for a special occasion or to cover up tan lines.

Cynthia Surita, owner of A Tropical Tan, estimates that despite its benefits, only 20 percent of her customers opt for the spray over tanning beds. A single spray-on application costs $21.95, while monthly membership for unlimited tanning begins at $34.95.

Some tanners complain that the spray-on process still has its limitations and can leave you with an uneven, orange tan.

But Valentina Watson, owner of Moon Tans by Valentina, believes she's found the perfect solution.

She started her business through a Colorado company and offers airbrush tans, custom-colored in her customers' homes. Like all self-tanners and spray-ons, she said, her product uses dihydroxyacetone, or DHA, a safe ingredient that works with the amino acids in the skin to produce a natural-looking tan.

The color lasts an average of 10 days, she said, and costs $55 per application for Inland customers.

Watson's client, Debby Topping, 41, of Redlands, said she burns easily and had been looking for a tan alternative.

"I think (a tan) makes you look healthier," she said.

She tried spray-on booths at salons -- you turn terra cotta and you stink, she said -- and as for self-tanners, she felt they were streaky and fake-looking. Now, she said, she's found something that works.

Spencer and other dermatologists approve.

"(Sunless tanners) are totally safe," he said. "If you want to be a different color from which you were born, knock yourself out."

Reach Helene Blatter at 951-368-9667 or hblatter@PE.com

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