By Ashley Wottring, California Tan Sunless

The sunless market is saturated with different brands to choose from, and in some cases each brand has multiple solution options. How can you choose which solution will work best for your salon? Below are a list of questions that you can research or ask when deciding what solution you want to carry in your salon.

1. What results do your customers want? Are your customers looking for the darkest tan possible? Do they want the convenience of showering soon after application? Once you best understand your customers, begin researching which brands meet their needs.
2. What are the terms of this solution? All products should have an open container symbol that denotes how long the product is good for (i.e. 6, 12, 18 months) based on the ingredients it contains. However, that doesn’t mean your solution will remain stable or usable for that length of time. The most obvious sign of a solution that is not stable is the solution turning green when sprayed. When shopping for solution, it is important to ask what the stability time is on a solution; this will vary from brand to brand. This is especially important because when a solution turns green it should no longer be used and could result in discarding $50 (or more) of your product.
3. What differentiates sunless solution? Why is this solution so special? Unless you purchase solution from a young company, all solution should contain EcoCert® and NaTrue approved DHA (and most of the time that DHA is patented). So ask… does this solution contain patented technology? Is it tested by outside sources? Does it have a unique technology such as the freedom to shower in one hour?
4. Are you falling for marketing hype? Sunless solution cannot be certified organic in the United States. Your sunless tan will only last the length of your skin cycle (approximately 5-to-7 days). When a company is making a large technology or product claim, ask them to clarify and further explain to help prevent falling for marketing hype.
5. How easily will your employees be able to assist customers? Salon employees have a lot to remember, from understanding the lotions available for sale to the rules and performance measures for your salon. Adding sunless to your business is giving them more information to memorize, so make it easy for them! Mixing and catering sunless color sounds fun, but can be overwhelming for the salon employees – let alone the customer. At the end of the day, it could result in an unhappy customer and a stressed out employee. To help prevent this, find a solution that is easy to match to customer’s skin toneand is easy for your staff to explain.

Let your staff be a part of the decision making process! They talk to customers every day, and they hear the good, bad and everything in between. Including them in the testing process not only validates their importance but also helps point you in the right direction.