A quick tanning alternative

Students are flooding the town's tanning salons with spring break less than a week away.\nKim Davis hopes students will consider her business before they head to the beach.\nForget tanning beds. Air brush tanning is healthier and produces quicker results, the Air Tan manager claims.\nAir Tan, located at 105 N. Dunn St., and SolSpa, 316 N. Walnut, are at least two tanning salons in town that offer air brush tanning.\nFor those concerned about the risks associated with using tanning beds -- skin cancer, wrinkles, aging -- spray tanning has many benefits, Davis said.\n"You feel much better about yourself," she said. "It's instantaneous. It takes one month of tanning to get the equivalent of one session of an air brush."\nIn addition, Davis claims airbrush tanning does not have any harmful side effects. The solution has healthy ingredients to help improve skin, she said.\n"The removal of problems such as aging and skin cancer is definitely an advantage over a regular tanning bed," she said. "You just look healthier and you feel better about yourself."\nThe procedure for air brush tanning is straightforward. Air Air Tan offers a changing room and then an application room where a technician uses an air brush to apply the solution, which does not stain. The spray process and drying lasts about 20 minutes and Davis recommends wearing loose clothing. The tan lasts about five to 10 days, and Davis recommends people "shower the night before and exfoliate to get rid of the top layers of skin, so that the spray is on a fresh layer of skin."\nAnd it seems airbrush tanning is catching on. After Bradford opened Air Tan in Castleton, Ind., one year ago, she opened a store in Greenwood, Ind. and now in Bloomington.\nBut there are those who are skeptical.\nIn a poll by Reuters, 47 percent of college students said they used a tanning bed in the last year. \nJunior Courtney Leamon said she is apprehensive about air brush tanning because the tan might not look as good and the process is expensive. Air Tan charges $25 for one application, whereas one can get several tanning sessions for the same price. \n"I tan because I look better, but the dangers don't seem real to me since I've never known someone with them," Leamon said. "I do think the idea of an air brush tan is a good idea and would get rid of the problems with skin cancer and wrinkles."\nSolSpa Manager Jeff Mills maintains that air brush tanning is a good alternative.\n"Air brush is a safe alternative and also if you need instant color without getting burned," he said.