Chapters
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9
2007-08 Lamp Application Guide
Lotions And Skincare
Lotion Trends ’07
Inventory Insight
Selling Strategies
Moist Skin Tans Better
SPFs
Self-Tanners
Understanding Label Claims
CHAPTER SIX
Lotions & Skincare
Everyone knows that moist skin tans better and it should be discussed with each and every customer that walks through the door of a tanning salon. This discussion always opens the door to talk about the progress of a customer’s tan. It naturally prompts employees to talk about lotions and products and possibly make more sales.
However, that means salon owners and employees must be educated about the various lotions and be able to intelligently and accurately explain their benefits. Successful salons sell the concept of total skincare and are a one-stop shop for professional skincare products.
Professional tanning salons carry a wide selection of skincare products loaded with high-quality ingredients including vitamins, botanicals, essential oils and antioxidants. The range of products allows salon professionals to provide a multitude of products for every client’s tanning and skincare needs.
The 2007 tanning season is witnessing change and consolidation within the lotion sector. Many companies have replaced old favorites with updated formulas in order to appeal to consumer demand. Additionally, many lotion manufacturers are marketing product families in order to capitalize on brand-name recognition. This chapter identifies the lotion trends for the 2007 season, the importance of quality skincare and clears up misconceptions about the most common ingredients found in indoor tanning lotions.
This chapter also includes updated information on inventory, pricing and the art of merchandising.
Lotion Trends ‘07
The fact that moist skin tans better should be discussed with each and every customer that walks through the door of a tanning salon. This discussion always opens the door to talk about the progress of a customer’s tan. It naturally prompts employees to talk about lotions and products and possibly make more sales.
However, that means salon owners and employees must be educated about the various lotions and be able to intelligently and accurately explain their benefits. Successful salons sell the concept of total skincare and are a one-stop shop for professional skincare products.
Promote Expertise
Salon owners should promote the fact that they carry professional products specifically formulated to work with tanning equipment to provide the ultimate tan. Remember, this is a vanity-driven business and clients are looking for ways to look good and maintain youthful-looking skin.
Industry insiders agree that marketing savvy salon owners should reap 30 percent of their monthly revenues from lotion sales—even in a difficult economy. Examine the salon’s customer demographic and zero in on what they want and what they are buying.
A prime example is the following: Salon A’s monthly report reveals that younger tanners who spend less on lotions and accessories are overtaking the 25- to 35-year-old category. The salon owner changes the marketing strategy the next month to attract that demographic with more disposable income. The result was increased profits and a wider audience to market. To sum it up: Salons that sit back and wait for customers to come to them will come up short while salons that aggressively market to their demographic will reap rewards.
Confidential surveys gathered during the 2007 Top 250 Salons search reveal that lotion sales in 2006 saw a dramatic shift to the mid-range price-points with 80 percent of salons reporting that lotion sales accounted for 10 percent to 30 percent of their monthly revenues. Only 14 percent of salons reported that lotions accounted for 30 percent or more of monthly revenues. This number is down from 45 percent the previous year and suggests that consumers are looking for more affordable deals. However, only 6 percent of salons reported that lotion sales accounted for less than 10 percent. This number is down from 35 percent in 2005. Those salons were able to increase lotion sales by 29 percent at the minimum.
What factors influenced the shift in purchasing attitudes? The most common factors include increased consumer spending confidence, more aggressive selling tactics and salon incentives. Many salon owners agreed that product education obtained at trade expos, distributor symposiums or from manufacturers helped increase lotion sales.
Additionally, 83 percent of salons pay employees commissions on lotion sales. In fact, quite a few salon owners hold weekly, monthly and quarterly contests to promote fun competition between employees. It creates a win-win for everyone.
Salons must discuss lotions with clients and suggest new products that will take them to the next level of darkness. Today’s professional skincare products are loaded with high-quality ingredients including vitamins, botanicals, essential oils and antioxidants. The range of products on the market allows salons to provide lotion choices for every client’s tanning and skincare needs.
The lotion sector continues to mature and consolidate. Many companies trimmed their lines or updated formulas to appeal to consumer demand. Brand loyalty is key to success, and manufacturers continue to promote product family synergies.
Tanners are looking for products to help fight oxidative stress and free radical damage to prolong the life and beauty of a tan; therefore, this season’s lotions continue to promote moisturization and anti-aging with products that address firming, toning, slimming and body contouring.
Popular ingredients include the latest in vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants and botanicals including oxygen, aloe vera, vitamin E, vitamin A, mango butter, shea butter, cucumber extract, agave nectar, black walnut, lutein, caffeine, pomegranate, CoQ10, marine extracts, olive oil, hemp seed oil, babassu oil, kukui nut oil, grape seed, jojoba, mint and chamomile. Other choice ingredients include bronzers, DHA, erythrulose, silicone, ginseng, wine extract and copper. Fragrances including fresh aromatics, soothing scents, fruits and spices continue to appeal to the masses.
When it comes to packaging shelf presence and durability are musts. Many suppliers introduced new and improved packaging designs to provide the consumer with a more durable product with an updated look. Suppliers also are offering gift-withpurchase promotions.
Lip glosses, balms, SPFs and after-suncare products continued to be popular because salons are promoting responsible tanning whether it occurs outside or inside. Many after-suncare products and body washes include a hint of DHA that helps lengthen the life of the tan. Lip products keep lips moist and nourished during the tanning process and provide great point-of-purchase items.
In terms of marketing demographics, lotion manufacturers continue to target the 20-something generation of tanners with innovative product lines supported by creative marketing and advertising campaigns. These products feature brightly colored lotions that carry hip names and cool catchphrases as well as reasonable price-points.
Sunless tanners remain popular because they offer customers a quick fix to their tanning experience. Private-label brands also allow salons to market their own facility, products and services, and most importantly, a defense against lotion diversion. Private labeling allows salon owners the tool to control where the products are sold and the price-points.
A salon should be a destination point that drives the customers past the other stores that sell competing products. A professional tanning salon can provide personalized service from well-educated and professional staff.
Inventory Insight
Deciding how much inventory to stock, and then how much money to ask for your products, are two key factors for successfully retailing lotions in your salon. Deciding how much is enough is an individual task that requires serious consideration if you are to run a profitable business and retain satisfied customers.
How Much is Enough?
The amount of inventory a salon should carry will depend on a number of factors, including the size of the salon, how many pieces of tanning or sparelated equipment it offers, the type of clientele it caters to as well as how much business it does per season. Obviously, a salon should stock up on its inventory at the beginning of its high season and then order more products as necessary as the season begins to taper off.
However, the general consensus among industry experts is that the worst thing a salon owner can do is being caught short-handed, at any time of the year. There is no magic answer to inventory; however, salon owners should not be afraid to have enough because lotion sales mean money.
Some salon owners say, ‘I don’t want to get stuck with a case of something I can’t sell.’ However, properly marketed any salon owner can sell lotions. For example, if a salon owner has a slowmoving product, provide a couple of free tanning sessions with the purchase.
Knowing your customers and anticipating how much business will come through your door in a particular month will help you determine how much inventory to stock. A helpful strategy is to go back and look at the previous year’s receipts to see what sold, how much of it sold, and if its sales increased or declined during a particular month or season. Whatever the case, if you are going to carry a product, don’t just have one bottle of it in your salon because one item on a shelf will never sell because people think nobody wants that one bottle. Veterans suggest having at least three each of one item because it will help sell the product faster.
In addition, having only one or two bottles of a product in the salon means that if one customer buys a bottle, and then another customer also decides to buy a bottle, in one fell swoop you have no product left.
This is especially true with the topselling items. Salon owners should always have a good stock of product on the shelves, and some for backup. The shelf life of most lotions is at least one year, if not two to three years. One national lotion manufacturing company suggests always making a fresh supply of products available to customers, and displaying them in substantial quantities.
For instance, some salons tend to put out one or two bottles of each product, perhaps because they want to make their retail area look artistic, or maybe they just don’t want to invest in a lot of inventory. However, it’s definitely much more appealing to present a fully stocked retail center with rows and rows of products.
A salon owner in Detroit says her hot products move even faster when she creates a display with a quantity of 12 or more products because it reconfirms to clients that the product must be great because she has a lot of it compared to everything else. She tells clients that she is stocking up on the product because it’s the hottest-selling item and she doesn’t want to sell out.
Salon owners also should study the various manufacturers and order quality products. Once you have decided on which products to order, keep them stocked consistently in your salon so that regular clientele can depend on the product being there when they need it.
Finally, most lotion products can sustain variations in temperature without the quality being affected. Should a salon need to store its surplus inventory, keeping the products at room temperature is ideal as extreme heat or cold can produce slight changes in color and consistency.
Pricing Lotions
Before deciding how to price your retail lotion products, try conducting a break-even and return-on-investment analysis of your business.
According to industry experts, in doing so, salon owners will determine how many tanning sessions they will need to sell each month and what profit they make if they sell X number of bottles of lotion. When they want to make a profit, they can look at their fixed overhead for the month, see that they need to tan X number of people or sell X number of bottles of lotion to achieve their break-even point, and after that they will start making money for themselves. It’s always that perfect combination of the two, the tanning and the lotion sales that will bring you to your break-even point and start making you money. If you can’t break even, you can’t make a profit, so you’ve got to know where your break-even point is. You need to walk before you can run.
Lotion manufacturers and distributors offer a suggested retail price that will allow salon owners to make up to a 50- percent profit on each bottle of lotion they sell.
Most manufacturers offer a generous markup for salons, so they can make a profit with the suggested retail price. In addition, most suggested retail prices are very fair and if a salon wants to discount a product, they can still make a profit, and, if they want to charge more for a product, they can do that as well. It just depends on how salon owners want to run their business.
Some salon operators use the suggested retail prices to ensure uniformity of pricing in the industry. “That’s what retail is there for-it’s for everybody to be uniform,” says one salon owner. “The suggested retail price gives us enough money to make a profit, and I don’t think anybody needs to ask more than that. We also use it so that when a customer buys a $60 tanning package, we can give them $3 or $4 off a bottle of lotion if they buy it at the same time. If we ask suggested retail, we have that ability.”
Offering three levels of prices on lotions, an entry-level, mid-range and high-end price, also will encourage sales by catering to a wide range of clientele. Salon owners need to appeal to everybody, and there is always someone who wants to upgrade and try the next step up. Salon owners can refer to other industries such as airlines, which have coach, business and first-class; the auto industry has economy, mid-sized and full-size cars.
Besides its suggested retail pricing, some manufacturers have developed price curves for their lotions, such as: for excellent results, very good results and good results. One manufacturer suggests when selling lotions, salons start with the excellent products because they don’t necessarily know if customers will object to the price. Salon owners always should start off with the higher-end products and work their way down. If the customer says the price is too much for them, then there always is something else to suggest.
Other ways salon owners can move their lotions while still making a profit are to offer a percentage off a tanning package with the purchase of a lotion, or vice versa, or to offer a free tan with the purchase of a bottle. Another sales method that is gaining popularity is to sell a sample packette of a lotion to a customer, who then can bring back the empty packette to use as a coupon for a certain amount off the price of a fullsize bottle.
One salon owner offers an additional piece of pricing advice to salon owners. “If I sell someone a $50 bottle of lotion, and they are coming to my salon to tan, I’ve got to look at that person for at least 10 or 12 more visits,” she says. “If their $50 bottle of lotion is not performing, I’m going to hear about it, and I don’t ever want that to happen. We always can use a demo bottle, but if somebody pays for a lotion and in their first visit or two it’s not working for them, then we get them into something that is. Otherwise they’ve lost the trust in what I’ve said about lotions, and I’ve lost them as a lotion client. If I get them into a lotion that suits their needs, they’re a lotion client forever.”
Selling Strategies
You’ve stocked up on the season’s new lotions, but the bottles are collecting dust on your shelves and sitting untouched in your display case. What gives? Perhaps you’re not doing all that you can to move lotions and other ancillary tanning supplies.
Selling products effectively takes a plan, which involves knowing your market, your customers and their tendencies, and keeping up with industry trends. It’s all about merchandising. Most of merchandising is in how products are displayed—how they are arranged in the salon to catch customers’ eyes and lead to a sale. Salon owners need to decide if they prefer to sample lotions, whether to put products behind glass, and how often they should change the arrangement. With this plan in hand, it comes down to one main principle: A display must appeal to a customer’s senses. If they are intrigued visually and can then feel and smell the items, they will be much more inclined to buy.
Some salons keep displays of point-of-sale bottles right by the registers, where customers are sure to see them. This gives managers the freedom to develop their own display feel, within certain parameters. Other salon owners spread out the products and feature different lines on different shelves to attract more interest from clients.
Sampling For Success
Experienced tanners swear by their favorite brands of lotion for one simple reason: they work. Today’s formulations are chock-full of vitamins, botanicals, essential oils and antioxidants and allow salon professionals to provide a multitude of products for every client’s needs.Regular patrons don’t need lotion pep talks; however, it is often tough to sell clients on a professional-grade lotion when they find out that a typical bottle costs anywhere from $25 to $50. That’s why sampling is one of the industry’s most important sales tools and the best way to help new clients ease into the full indoor-tanning experience without breaking their banks.
Allowing clients to sample the latest products free of charge or for a small sum gets them to see, feel, smell and touch the products before they buy. Assuming the salon operator stocks quality products, customers should be able to see results after two or three sessions. If the tanner sees results, it could lead to a full-sized bottle purchase and a long-term client.
Sampling physically will prove why the bottle is at its price-point.
The more samples you sell, the more bottles you will sell.
One uncertainty salon operators might face with sampling is whether to charge clients. Lotion samples can be a nice ancillary item, says one sales and marketing expert.
“Trial-size packaging no longer is used just for introducing new products,” he says. “Demand for convenience and portability is driving the development of smaller-size containers to be used as unit-dose or travel-size packages.”
Many salon operators often sell packettes or sample cups for $1.50 to $2. Some even have had success by selling their samples as high as $5. Then again, “free” still has a high value in any business.
“Giving free samples to our customers tells them that we care,”
says an Ohio salon owner. “By caring, I mean we take the time to find out what they like and don’t like, and then we go through what we offer. From there they can decide what they want to try.”
Free may be a scary word for business-minded operators, but it’s important to remember that free samples could lead to a lot of lotion sales because quality lotions do their jobs. Veterans advise salon operators to be careful when it comes to sampling. Some people will sample a product more than once, never buying the bottle. Counter that by keeping all the information about the customers in the computer and on their chart so you know what they tried, when they tried it and what they thought of it.
Display Options
Salon owners have varying opinions when it comes to displays. Some like to have their products out and easily accessible to employees and customers, while others prefer to keep their lotions locked up for security reasons.Many salon owners believe strongly about keeping products in the open and readily available to customers “I do not like it behind glass cases, because if it’s behind something, the customer’s going to see that you’re going to have to open up the case, and they’re not going to bug you for that,” says one salon owner. “They don’t want to bother you if you’re really busy.”
The exception to his rule is the products in the hallways. But he has a compromise there. So customers can read the bottles from behind the glass without assistance, he keeps one bottle facing the front and one of the same lotion facing the back, so customers who want more information on the ingredients can read them without assistance.
“Some customers don’t care what the ingredients are,” he continues. “They’ll take the word of whoever’s working that day. But I always tell customers if it’s really busy that they can go read the back of the bottle.” Still, the lotions in the enclosed hallway cases are accessible from behind the counter as well.
Some salon owners have found it necessary to lock up product. “Things tend to grow legs and walk out a lot,” says another salon owner. “My glass case is closed. Of course you have to be very attentive to people looking at what’s inside. You have to immediately go up and unlock it without them asking and say, ‘Here, take a look.’ Hand them the bottle, let them feel it. I also have jewelry in there. We tell them, ‘That looks great. You’d love this. Put it on.’”
Keep It Fresh
By nature, consumers are stimulated by sights, sounds and changing tastes. Just look at how television commercials and magazine ads are different even from last year or a few years ago. Advertisers constantly are morphing how their messages are delivered, and so should salons—only the “advertising” in salons come in the form of in-store displays.Salons are no different than any other retail business, in that displays that fail to change also fail to keep the customers’ attention. Conversely, displays that are different every week or month demand to be noticed.
Displays must be kept fresh or they lose appeal and the interest of your regular customers. Experts suggest changing them as often as you can, but at least monthly. Also, make sure they are seasonal to increase sales when buying patterns naturally increase.
No matter what kind of merchandising plan a salon picks, it should be interactive. That’s not to say the salon should be thumping with sound, video displays, touch screens or virtual-reality stations. We’re talking interactive in the traditional sense—employees attending to customers, being available for every question and responding courteously and knowledgeably. It’s the perfect complement to any merchandising program.
It is important to ask every tanner if they have their lotion each and every time they tan in your salon. Veterans agree that education is key to continued selling success. It doesn’t matter what kind of display you have or where you have it—you just need to pick the bottle up, put it in the customers’ hands and talk to them about it.
Moist Skin Tans Better
Your client’s skin is gasping for moisture like a flower in the desert. All winter, the elements have taken their toll. For at least three months the dry winter wind has sucked moisture from the delicate skin surface, while the cold temperatures blocked the production of natural oils and emollients. Your client’s skin is dry to the touch and tight in appearance; therefore, salon operators must come to the rescue with a good moisturizer.
Moisture is critical to good skin health because it helps maintain a good skin barrier and creates a flexible, pliable skin that is soft to touch. Moist skin will tan better and more evenly than dry skin. The skin knows that moisture is important and uses a variety of methods to retain moisture in its surface.
Moisturize With Oils
The skin retains water within its natural oils to help them maintain an ordered structure around each skin cell. Each skin cell is surrounded by a variety of different natural oils. Together, the skin cells and the natural oils help form the acid mantle or barrier in the stratum corneum. Water helps increase the flexibility of the oils so the oils can surround the cells to maintain an adequate skin barrier.During cold winter months, the skin’s ability to make natural oils for the stratum corneum is greatly reduced. We have known for many years that cold weather causes skin to become dry and brittle. Recently, scientists discovered that one of the reasons is a decrease in the production of natural oils when skin is exposed to cold temperatures. If the skin is not producing enough natural oils, then we can help by adding oils.
A quality moisturizer not only will add moisture to the skin, but also add some oils to the skin. A client with severe dry skin requires a moisturizer with more oils than a client with slightly dry skin. For clients with severe dry skin, recommend a moisturizer with a greasy feel. Clients with slightly dry skin can expect improvement with a less greasy moisturizer.
Be careful to remember that the best moisturizer is one that your clients will use. The moisturizer has to be enjoyed by your client; it has to be used regularly. If your client will not use a greasy moisturizer, then the moisturizer will sit in the bottle and you may lose future sales.
Moisturize With NMFs
The skin retains water within its natural proteins to keep them flexible. Each stratum corneum cell is a flexible sack of proteins. Without water, the proteins lose their flexibility and become rigid. The skin becomes rough to the touch, even cracking in severe cases. Water helps increase the flexibility of the proteins so the cells can relax to a smooth surface that begs to be touched.Normally, skin creates natural moisturizing factors (NMFs) to hold moisture in the stratum corneum and increase the water content of the skin. In dry winter conditions, the skin cannot make NMFs because the water content of the skin is too low. Also, NMFs are stripped away by the use of hotter bathing water and strong detergents.
A quality moisturizer will add moisturizing factors back to the skin where they can lock moisture into the skin. Sodium PCA, or sodium pyrollidone carboxylic acid, is one of the most efficient NMFs because it binds lots of water.
Moisturizing lotions also may contain moisturizing factors that are not natural, but moisturize much the same way. Some examples are sodium isethionate, glycerin and panthenol.
Moisturize With Vitamins
The reduced barrier function of the skin caused by the dry cold winter allows a variety of environmental pollutants to enter the skin. These pollutants can deplete the antioxidant system of the skin, making the skin more susceptible to oxidative damage. Vitamins can reduce or eliminate this damage.A good moisturizer will help replace the vitamins skin needs. Vitamin E, or tocopheryl acetate, is a potent antioxidant that should be found in a good moisturizer. Vitamin C, frequently included as ascorbyl palmitate, acts in concert with vitamin E in a healthy antioxidant system. Scientists have found several situations where these vitamins are more powerful together than alone.
Moisturize With AHAs
AHAs have been used for more than 3,000 years to improve the condition of skin. Scientists are not sure if the AHAs affect the structure of the natural oils or the proteins, or some other system yet to be discovered. They have shown that AHAs increase the flexibility of the skin much like water. Skin treated with AHAs becomes softer, more supple, and the color improves over continued use.
A quality moisturizer for your tanning clients will contain a low level (less than 1 percent) of AHAs to generate good moisturization in the skin. A moisturizer with a high level (greater than 1 percent of AHAs) will decrease the melanogenesis process, causing your client to lose their tan.
The Results
Dry, cold winter prevents skin from maintaining a moist healthy condition due to the loss of natural oils, natural moisturizing factors, and vitamins. A good moisturizer will contain these three items with a low level of AHAs. Your clients need to use a good moisturizer regularly and to apply it generously. Moisturizing skin helps replenish and retain the normal moisture content of the stratum corneum, keeping the skin soft and supple. Moist skin is healthy skin and healthy skin will tan better and more evenly than dry skin.SPFs
It’s only the middle of March, the winds are still blowing cold, arctic air from the north and salons nationwide are filled to capacity with clients seeking solace from the cold winter. Yet, before long, those winds will be shifting to the south, and many of your loyal customers will be turning to Mother Nature for a dose of relaxation and nourishment.
While many salon owners believe that the summer doldrums brings a dramatic decrease in their tanning business, this is not true for marketing savvy operators. By marketing your facility as a one-stop shop for clients’ skincare needs such as outdoor lotions and oils, you will keep your cash ringing throughout the summer months.
Damaging Summer Heat
The sun is responsible for our very existence here on earth. Its light is the fuel for photosynthesis, which is the process by which plants create their energy, and we, in turn, depend on the plants for food and oxygen. The sun’s infrared rays keep us warm and its visible rays give us light to see by. The sun’s ultraviolet radiation also is useful; however, at the same time, it is dangerous to us.As you know, ultraviolet radiation is divided into three different bands—UVA, UVB and UVC. Virtually all of the UVC is filtered out by our atmosphere so that none actually reaches the earth’s surface. However, both UVB and UVA reach the earth in significant amounts.
The summer months of June, July and August bring heat and discomfort as well as dry, thirsty skin in need of nourishment and care. By offering a complete array of moisturizers and SPFs, your clients will turn to your salon as their complete skincare source instead of spending money at the drug or department store down the street.
With the public becoming more aware of the dangers of overexposure to sunlight, SPFs are a natural fit into your retailing sector. Not only can you promote sunscreens for outdoor use to your faithful tanners, but word-of-mouth advertising from these clients may attract additional customers who don’t tan indoors. Just because you are a tanning facility, doesn’t mean that nontanners can’t turn to you for skincare education.
In addition, it is important to promote responsible tanning whether it occurs indoors or outdoors. By taking a proactive approach and acting as an ambassador to this industry, you as a salon owner and educator can squelch bad publicity about tanning as well as secure additional sales of sunscreens.
A Working Solution
Anyone who has had the experience of being burned by the sun knows the value of sunscreens and sunblocks. However, most people do not understand how they work to protect the skin.Sunburn is caused by overexposure to ultraviolet rays, mostly UVB. In fact, sunburn almost is exclusively a UVB phenomenon; however, research continues on the different effects of UVB and UVA rays. This is important because the SPF system measures UVB protection and not UVA. During a sunburn the skin turns red, swells and, in some severe cases, blisters. A sunburn continues to develop for 12 to 24 hours after exposure.
Sunscreens are chemicals that, when applied topically, keep ultraviolet rays from penetrating the skin. They work either by absorbing or reflecting solar energy. The absorbed energy excites the sunscreen temporarily; then, as the chemical relaxes back into its original state, it transforms that entry into something harmless (usually heat). This process is repeated countless times per second.
In addition, every sunscreen has a characteristic absorption spectrum that is capable of absorbing only certain wavelengths of ultraviolet light energy. High SPF sunscreen formulas contain blends of more than one sunscreen because no single-chemical is capable of absorbing all UVB radiation.
High SPF products contain Oxybenzone (or Benzophenone- 3), a UVA absorber. In 1986 (the last year data was published) Padimate (or Octyl Dimethyl PABA) was found to be the most widely used UVA absorber in the United States. Contrary to consumer belief, this is not the same as PABA, which rarely is used anymore because a small percentage of people are known to be sensitive to it.
One ingredients in the SPF market is Parsol® 1789, a highly effective filter against the sun’s UVA rays. Many of the leading SPF manufacturers use Parsol 1789 because it also contains skincare properties.
Another new property that has been incorporated in SPF formulas is zinc oxide. Most people associate zinc oxide with the white thick paste lifeguards used in the past. It was known to be the best sunblock available, but it was cosmetically unacceptable and therefore not used by the mainstream population. Fortunately, things have changed, and you now can get the physical sunscreens that are transparent. For example, zinc oxide is now manufactured so that the particles are so small that you can not see them. These space age physical sunscreens are referred to as microfine powders and Z-CODE (microfine zinc oxide) is an example that has been incorporated into one manufacturer’s higher block SPFs in the past year.
Additionally, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate (Octyl Methoxycinnamate) is becoming an increasingly popular UVB absorber, especially in PABA-free and sensitive skin sun products. Use of a broad-spectrum sunscreen product that blocks UVA and UVB is much safer than UVB blocks alone.
Make sure to inform clients to apply sunscreen approximately 20 minutes before being exposed to the sun. This allows the sunscreen time to “set up” on the skin so that it can do its job correctly. Remember, an SPF 2 blocks out approximately 50 percent of ultraviolet rays; an SPF 10 blocks out about 85 percent of ultraviolet rays; and, an SPF 15 blocks out approximately 95 percent of ultraviolet rays and is the reason that most health professionals suggest an SPF of 15 or above.
It is useful to have an assortment of products with varying SPF numbers. The suntan lotion that is desired in the early days of summer, may have too great an SPF for the last days of August.
Another point to consider is that different parts of the body require special care in the sun. Because of their prominence, noses, cheeks and lips often require a product with a stronger SPF than needed for arms and legs. Educate your customers that regular use of suntan products and common sense about how long to spend in the sun is extremely important.
Self-Tanners
Imagine this dilemma: One of your customers is leaving on a cruise in less than one week, and she has been so busy that she has not had time to tan. What to do? Being the knowledgeable salon operator, have the perfect solution—suggest a sunless tanner or a sunless tanning experience in a standup booth or from an airbrush or HVLP unit.
Afraid that offering a sunless tanner is counterproductive to selling indoor tanning? Think again. What better way to secure customer confidence than by showing them how to even out those unsightly pressure points and uneven tan lines? You already offer a complete line of skincare products to keep your customers’ skin moisturized and provide darker, more beautiful tans. So round out that skincare promotion by offering sunless tanners and you will find it will shed new light on your profits.
Solution Evolution
Self-tanners have gained popularity in the past few years for a number of reasons. The medical community’s condemnation of UV light has caused some sun worshippers to seek refuge indoors. And while indoor tanning offers a controlled environment and all the comforts one could want, the media’s incisive industry bashing has caused some fear to getting in a tanning bed.Another reason self-tanners are gaining favor is the ease of application and upkeep. In the past, a lot of people thought self-tanners were messy and difficult to apply. Today, self-tanner application has been refined and products have gained a respectable place in industry.
In addition, many salon owners are noticing a trend toward their clients covering their faces with towels to avoid premature wrinkling. Sunless tanners are the perfect remedies for those telltale towel lines on their faces and necks. In addition, it is a great product for those people who have problems tanning or for those difficult areas to tan such as the feet and hands. Sunless tanners also can be used to fill in pressure points and even out tan lines. And, for some fair skin people, sunless tanners can be used to augment the tanning process.
How It Works
Years ago, sunless tanners didn’t live up to their promise of deep, golden tans. Instead, they left the skin streaked and splotched with a distinctive orange cast. Today’s sunless tanning products are far more sophisticated than those introduced nearly 30 years ago. In fact, in the last few years, these products have undergone a sort of metamorphosis—streaks, splotches and orange are out; smooth, bronze and beautiful are in.The key ingredient to the products’ evolution is Dihydroxyacetone, or DHA, which is an extract of sugar cane. DHA reacts with proteins in the skin to produce a bronze coloration on the top layer of skin—in essence, a cosmetic effect that does not saturate the skin.
Over the years, the formulation technology has been greatly improved to provide better application and coloration. Many of the earlier products were formulated using higher DHA concentrations; today, sunless tanners use lower concentrations because of the improved technology.
However, even though technology has improved sunless tanners, the key to successful marketing is education. For example, if a client puts a product on and immediately notices a color change, that product must contain a dye. Reputable products don’t react like that because they oxidize the dead skin cells on the top layer of the skin to produce a bronzing effect.
The majority of self-tanners on the market are a medium grade of color. How dark they tan really depends on the individual’s skin type and the condition of the skin. It is important to remind your clients that what works on one person may not necessarily look the same on another.
The first step to ensuring a great sunless tan is to exfoliate the skin. The skin needs to be clean and free from dead skin cells in order to alleviate uneven distribution. Clients also need to exfoliate well and then dry off completely before applying a sunless tanner. For example, if a client is young and has soft, supple skin, he or she probably doesn’t need to exfoliate as much. If he or she has naturally dry skin or are in a place with a lot of humidity, exfoliation is the key to getting an even, all-over tan.
The second, and probably most important step, is application. Some experts suggest spot testing the product to see what shade of bronze will result. The key to obtaining an even tan is to apply a smooth, thin layer of the self-tanner. Avoid using too much self-tanner in one application; you can always go back and apply another layer if the color isn’t dark enough.
When applying the self-tanner, special attention should be paid to the knee, elbow, ankle and eye areas. The reason? Color is proportional to the surface area of the skin, and these areas are likely to become darker because there is a higher concentration of self-tanner in the fine lines.
It’s also important to wait for the product to dry completely before getting dressed, since DHA interacts with proteins and can cause some fabrics to stain. Also, avoiding the hairline is crucial since hair is protein and self-tanners will cause it to discolor.
Once the color has fully developed, another coat of self-tanner may be added to darken the tan. Mistakes and uneven patches can be fixed easily by exfoliating the area or by adding more selftanner. Make sure to tell clients to allow self-tanners to dry before beginning any activity, as sweat during application can cause an uneven or streaked tan.
Since self-tanners work on the top layer of skin, the average tan only will last for approximately three to four days, gradually fading as the top layer dries and flakes off. Salon operators need to remind customers that self-tanners don’t contain any sunscreen and even though their skin is tan, they still can get sunburned.
In addition, because DHA often is associated with skin dryness, it is important to suggest a moisturizer to complement self-tanners. Not only will it alleviate the dryness, but it will ensure another sale for you during typically slow months.
Understanding Label Claims
Two types of claims can be made for product performance: drug claims and cosmetic claims. Drug claims are those claims which state that the product alters the physiology or function of any part of the human body. Cosmetic claims do not describe any physiological effect on the body.
For example, “reduces perspiration” is a drug claim for antiperspirant because it states that the product will alter the natural perspiration process. “Dries quickly” is a cosmetic claim because it describes the product but does not indicate any physiological effect on the human body.
A sunscreen might be marketed as a product that “prevents erythema caused by the sun (sunburn).” That is a drug claim. “Unfragranced,” however, is a cosmetic claim.
These examples show a clear division between drug claims and cosmetic claims. Actually, however, there is a gray area where drug claims and cosmetic claims may overlap. That is why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration monitors product claims to determine whether any given claim is a drug claim or a cosmetic claim.
In recent years, the overlap between drug claims and cosmetic claims has become more problematic. Basic research has discovered previously unknown physiological effects of accepted cosmetic ingredients, and cosmetic companies have become more aggressive in developing a cosmeceutical approach to marketing.
Many cosmetic ingredients can in fact result in temporary changes in the structure and function of the skin. Claims for these changes might be considered drug claims by definition. However, because these changes result from application of accepted cosmetic ingredients used in an ordinary cosmetic situation, they should logically be considered cosmetic claims.
Drug Claims
A company can make a drug claim only after the FDA approves the claim. The FDA has the authority to force a company to remove its product from the store shelves if any drug claim is made about the product without prior agency approval. Or, when consumer safety is at risk, the FDA itself can seize the product.There are two general categories for FDA drug claim approval. The first applies to all products within a given class of over-the-counter products. The FDA issues a monograph on the class, and OTC products can be marketed with drug claims that adhere to the restrictions set forth in the monograph. For example, any antifungal product containing an effective level of an active ingredient approved in the OTC antifungal monograph can make the claim “cures athlete’s foot.” This is an approved efficacy claim based on the proven effect of the active ingredient.
The second category for FDA drug claim approval is for claims which do not fall within an approved OTC monograph. These are approved (or not approved) only after an extensive review by the FDA. If a company wishes to make a drug claim for a product beyond the claims approved in the monograph for that product category, then it must submit an Investigative New Drug application. After an exhaustive clinical study, the FDA will review the claim and determine whether it is approved for marketing purposes.
Cosmetic Claims
Cosmetic claims are reviewed by the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. The NAD reviews questionable claims reported by consumers and by companies in competition with the company making the questionable claim. On occasion, the NAD may review unreported claims that the agency itself views as questionable. In 1993, it reviewed 12 cases; in 1994, it reviewed 19.NAD’s task is to determine if advertising claims are substantiated by data submitted by the company to support those claims. NAD will make one of three determinations: either the claim is substantiated, or it must be modified based on available scientific information, or advertising based on the claim must be discontinued because the claim is unsubstantiated.
For example, in August 1994, NAD recommended that one company discontinue its claim, “beautiful skin in four days.” The claim was unsubstantiated because the company could not supply data supporting the claim. When challenged, some companies will willingly discontinue questionable claims. If a company disagrees with an NAD decision, however, it can appeal to the National Advertising Review Board.
Superiority claims are a source of difficulty. This difficulty arises when two or more cosmetic products each claim superiority in the same performance attribute. For example, one skin cleanser says it is milder than a second, while the second claims to be milder than the first. NAD may allow both claims, but only if the competing companies can each supply scientific data supporting their mildness claims.
Suppose the first company conducted a clinical study in which subjects were asked to evaluate mildness. As a group, the subjects responded that the first product was milder because they experienced less dryness. In a separate clinical study conducted by the second company, its product was found to induce less irritation than the first product. In this case, both the competing claims are correct, both are supportable and both would likely be allowed by NAD.
