The Scoop on Norvell's New Sunless Booth

Norvell has made quite a name for itself among sunless tanning professionals - now the company has upped the ante with its new Auto Revolution booth. According to the company, Auto Revolution uses iNTELLiSPRAY Technology. The booth's body sensors calibrate the tanning session based on the height of the client, creating a customized session. By spraying the client only - and not the zones to the sides and above the customer - salons use less solution. Norvell states this can save as much as half the solution cost of a usual application.

The booth's recirculating down-draft technology is said to pull solution downward, while warming the skin. The resulting heated environment helps activate the solution's DHA as part of the tanning process.

Other benefits touted by the company include:

• Handheld sprayer add-on

• No water, no drain - EZ setup

• Automated voice command - two position spray session

• HVLP design

• Virtually no dry time

• TMAX and music player port standard

Two salon professionals who saw the new unit in Nashville provided the following opinions on TanToday.com:

Owner 1

New Norvell booth, IMO - and I am huge Norvell supporter - needs tweaking.

Pros, IMO: Small footprint, sleek-looking.

Cons: No plumbing. I think this will cause issues; the open-air design and no real extraction system will lead to a mess in the room.

Overall time to spray with one nozzle is about four minutes (too long compared to Mystic).

Cost $23K.

Overall, once the kinks are worked out, I think this design will sell well. But for me, things will need to change before I spend that kind of money.

Owner 2

Norvell unveiled the same booth they did last year [Editor's Note: A prototype booth with a corporate partner was shown in 2010, but this year's revamped product was all Norvell.]  It had a few nice changes. First, you no longer have to fill a cup with solution before each tanner. It has a jug inside. Secondly, it now offers prep spray as well.

I personally like the idea of no plumbing. That eliminates an added cost of build-out, as well as water issues. It would simply have to be well cleaned after each session.

The session is actually just over five minutes. I believe last year it was around seven.

• To view an image gallery with photos of the unit - and its dramatic introduction at the show - click here.

As always, if you have new information, a differing opinion or other feedback to add about the new Auto Revolution, use the Comment feature below.