As mentioned earlier, the skin is the largest organ of the body. Although the skin is less complicated than most other organs, it is still an architectural marvel as it covers the entire body and accounts for about 7 percent of our total weight.
The skin has three main functions—to protect the tissues beneath from injury, from invasion by bacteria and from drying out; to inform the body of changes in environment through a network of specialized nerve sense organs; and, to keep the temperature of the body constant.
Sebum is a substance that the body secretes onto the skin to prevent moisture or water loss from the underlying tissues. Sebum production varies from person to person, but frequent washing with soaps or detergents—or exposure to dry, warm air similar to that from a tanning unit without the proper use of tanning or skincare products—can dry out the skin and leave it rough and flaky.
Here are some tips to for your customers to follow:
- Use a moisturizer before, during and after tanning, and whenever skin feels dry. Also, applying moisturizers to damp skin immediately after a bath or shower will help seal moisture in the stratum corneum.
- If a person is sensitive to perfumes, they may want to avoid moisturizers that contain perfumes.
- Don’t bathe for more than 15 minutes. Ironically, soaking for long periods of time dehydrates skin because it has a tendency to wash away “moisture-sealing” sebum. Quick showers are always best.
- Use a gentle, moisturizing cleanser or body wash as part of an overall skincare regime.
- The face may require a different skincare program than the rest of the body. This is because it is possible to have an oily facial complexion while also having itchy, flaky, bone-dry skin on the legs.
Extending the Life of a Tan
During normal skin conditions, a person loses millions of dead skin cells every day. These are the same cells that hold the oxidized melanin during the tanning process. This normal process literally gives us an entirely new outer layer of skin about every 30 days.
When the skin is lacking proper moisture, the flaking or rubbing-off of skin cells is accelerated. Through proper moisturization that we are able to enhance and keep our beautiful golden tan longer.
Having a better understanding of skin and its important role as the body’s largest organ is an essential part of being an indoor tanning professional. Clients rely on you and your staff to help them avoid possible skin problems that are easily avoidable.
Dry skin can be prevented—or at least minimized—through simple skincare regimes like those mentioned in this article. If a dry skin problem doesn’t clear up in a week or two, suggest that your customers contact their health care provider.
Moisturizing
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.
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.
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.
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.
Skincare Products
Though each skincare system varies in regard to the products of which it is comprised, most include at least one or two products in the following categories.
Cleansers: Cleansers liquefy and absorb makeup, debris and oils to purify the skin’s surface and prepare it for further treatments.
Facial Scrubs and Exfoliants: These products generally contain some kind of gritty, abrasive material and are very simple to use. They literally slough off debris and dead cells on the surface of the skin, leaving it fresh and smooth. Skin that has a misty, gray tinge needs such treatment to remove the dead cells that are giving it that color. These products are not for everyone though. Thin-skinned people should stay away from them, as should people with acne, because they tend to irritate such conditions. There are also stronger exfoliants and peels that can be administered only by a professional in a salon.
Facial Masks: There are two basic formulations for facial masks. One is a clay-based mask that sits on the face to dry and absorb oils. However, it does absorb moisture, so it should never be left on long enough to crack and turn powdery. When it gets to this stage, it stops putting moisture into the skin. The mask should be left on only until it is dry to the touch; then it should be rinsed off. The other type of mask is a gel or cream formula with very high water content. It should be applied in a steamy bathroom. This type of mask moisturizes by introducing water to the skin, causing it to plump and soften.
Toners: In the past, toners were classified as a second stage of cleansing. Since early cleansers contained a lot of mineral oil, the toner was made with alcohol to remove any residue of oil left by the cleanser. Unfortunately, the alcohol in the toner also acted to dry out the skin.
Now, however, cleansers are mostly water soluble, so toners can be made generally alcohol free. As a result, the drying effect that used to be caused by the old toners is no longer a problem. A toner is basically used to refresh the skin, not to strip it of its natural oils. By using a non-astringent toner, the natural acidity of the skin is restored. Equally important is the fact that by dampening the skin, toners even out the absorption of moisturizers.
Eye And Throat Creams: Eye and throat creams are referred to as specialty products. There are no oil glands in the eye and throat areas and, usually, these areas are the first to show aging. Therefore, eye and throat creams are excellent products to use at any age.
Moisturizers: Moisturizers do just what their name implies, they add moisture to the skin to keep it soft and supple. Moisturizers should be applied to the skin when it is still damp from the toner. Putting a moisturizer on dry skin is of little use because it is not very easily absorbed. It would be like putting a hair conditioner on dry hair; you wouldn’t get an even absorption across the shaft of the hair.
Moisturizers are absorbed into the upper layers of the outer skin (the epidermis). They cannot penetrate into the dermis or muscle. Even if a manufacturer claimed a product could penetrate that deeply, it would be useless because the purpose of a moisturizer is to protect the lower layers of the skin by forming a seal on the upper layers. In addition, the FDA considers any product that penetrates far enough to get into the bloodstream to be a drug.
Moisturizers also should contain a sunscreen. Minimizing the effects of uncontrolled exposure to UV rays should be a major concern to clients. Such products should be reapplied at least every six hours.
After-Tan Odor
Many tanners complain about an unusual smell after completing a tanning session. Put their questions to rest by educating them that it is a natural physical occurrence.
Aside from producing a cosmetic tan, indoor tanning units produce heat and generally cause many indoor tanners to perspire. During perspiration, a protein is secreted. Bacteria that live in and on our skin eat away at this protein, which produces an odor. In addition, every person has a unique body chemistry that can be influenced by diet and hormones. A combination of personal hygiene habits, perfumes and lotions also may play a role in producing the “after-tan” smell. Perspiration also may have an ammonia-like smell.
Many indoor tanners have been concerned that they might “wash off” their tans. But in reality, it takes at least eight to 24 hours to visualize the result of a tanning exposure. It is important to note that tanning tends to rob the skin of moisture, so it is essential to moisturize the skin in order to maintain the tan.
In the tanning process, melanin is stimulated, migrates to the epidermis and is oxidized—resulting in a tan. These skin cells slough off every 28-30 days. So for those individuals desiring a tan, a maintenance schedule with subsequent tanning sessions in moderation is often desirable.
So, whether to shower before or after a tanning session isn’t really the question—it’s a question of personal hygiene.
SPFs
Anyone who has had the experience of being burned by in the sun knows the value of sunscreens and sunblocks. However, most people don’t understand how they work to protect the skin. Sunscreen chemicals absorb solar energy (UVA and UVB) before it can penetrate into the skin. 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.
Every sunscreen chemical has a characteristic absorption spectrum. It is capable of absorbing only certain wavelengths of ultraviolet light energy. High SPF (sun protection factor) 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 O (or octyl dimethyl PABA) was found to be the most widely used UVB 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. Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate (octyl methoxycinna-mate) 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 sunblocks alone.
In order to calculate the SPF of a sunscreen, two terms must be understood. SPF is the ratio of the amount of energy required to produce a minimal sunburn through a sunscreen product film to the amount of energy required to produce the same minimal sunburn without any sunscreen protection. MED is the amount of energy needed to produce a just-perceptible sunburn.
In calculation, the following formula is used: SPF = MED protected skin/MED unprotected skin.
