Offering Sunless Services?

by Judie Bizzozero

Sunless has become an important player because it offers indoor tanning salons a new way to build their businesses and increase profits. Sunless tanning also has opened up a limitless market, satisfying not only the tanning enthusiast but individuals who otherwise choose not to tan—indoors or outdoors—or who cannot achieve a tan.

Innovative delivery systems and customized sunless solutions have made interesting inroads over the past few years. In addition to traditional sunless tanners in a bottle, sunless stand-up units, airbrush sunless systems and turbine-powered sunless systems have become extremely popular in just a few years.

For those salons offering airbrush or turbine sunless tanning, NTTI has two great online sunless certification courses designed to educate staff about this growing trend. Tanning salons that offer superior sunless airbrush and turbine services delivered by well-trained and certified sunless airbrush technicians have a leg up on non-certified competition.

Sunless Process And Products Course. NTTI was the first to offer an industry online certification course for the rapidly growing sunless segment of indoor tanning. The course covers the basics about sunless tanning and is designed to help salon employees expand their knowledge of the sunless process and promote another increasingly popular service for the tanning industry.

Sunless Airbrush Technician Course. To provide a competitive edge to salons offering sunless airbrushing, NTTI was the first to offer an industry program specifically designed for the airbrush technician. Based on research and tests conducted by some of the leading manufacturers of sunless spray systems, this course takes the technician from setup to application while discussing technique, safety, pricing and more.

The Skill Factor

Like any artistic skill, airbrush- or turbine-tanning application is a talent enhanced by time and practice. The face is the most common application area. Whether the client chooses a full-body application or a quick touch-up, facial applications are an invaluable service.

As with most personal-care services, sunless airbrush/turbine technicians should communicate with each client before, during and after the application because it allows the client to become an important part of the sunless process. Technicians should let customers know that having air sprayed on their faces may result in an odd sensation. Provide clients with a test run using only air to get them accustomed to the feel. Instruct clients to keep their eyes and mouths closed during this test pass. Remind clients to keep their eyes closed the entire time the sunless solution is applied to the face. Be sure to let clients know when solution will be sprayed over their nose, mouth or eyes so they have ample time to hold their breath.

As technicians gain experience, they can even add some darkening on the cheek to highlight the curve of the customer’s cheekbone, much like makeup is applied for the same purpose.

Maintaining an informative conversation will help relax customers and make them eager to make their next sunless appointment.

The following sunless facial tips were developed from research and testing conducted by staff at NORVELL.

• Ask the customer to hold his or her face with the chin slightly raised to help smooth out skin at the front of the neck. Do a general, light overspray of the entire face and neck first to create an even, overall base color.
• Spraying the sunless product directly on the ears is unnecessary and often counterproductive. Natural oils often cause ears to over-darken from a sunless application. Overspray from the face will blend color onto the ears nicely.
• Feather the spray lightly into the hairline to give a natural tan effect. It is important to note that light-blonde and platinum hair may be discolored temporarily by this step. Special care should be taken when applying sunless spray to people with this hair color. Most staining will disappear after the hair is washed the first time.
• Touch up detailed areas of the face that may not have been sprayed evenly on the first pass. These areas typically include the nose and the area beneath the eyebrows. Special precaution must be made to avoid spraying directly into nostrils. Pay particular attention to the area of the face shadowed by the nostrils. The lower lip has a natural turndown, so instruct the customer to push the lower lip outward with his or her tongue (keeping the tongue inside the mouth). This allows the technician to evenly cover this often-missed area.