Over the last quarter century, tanning equipment has consistently improved to provide enhanced comfort and results for tanners, as well as more earning potential for business owners. But, for much of that time, there were really no fundamental changes in lamp technology. Finally, over the last several years, the tanning experience gradually began to be totally redefined.

KBL’s introduction of hybrid tanning models that incorporate red light and adjustable UV output was the first big step. Since then, new models have continued to improve the customizable experience and provide more comfort and skin care. Now, the evolution has culminated with the KBL P9S series. The P9S, available in extraSun and hybridSun models, completes the full-body, customizable, more skin-sensitive tanning experience with the introduction of SunSphere LEDs in the facial and shoulder areas.

“In my mind, this is one of the biggest, if not the biggest technological introduction since I started in the tanning industry in 1997,” says Bill Pipp, Vice President of Sales at Tanning Supplies Unlimited, a U.S. distributor of KBL equipment.

Previous KBL hybridSun and extraSun models, including the P9, the direct predecessor of the P9S, brought us hybrid tanning with full-body Beauty Booster LEDs that promote a beautiful long-lasting skin color and a silky-smooth skin feel and appearance. Tanners could also select their personalized tanning experience, adjusting the UV output from sensitive to intensive to match their personal preferences and tanning regimen. The option to turn off the UV facial lamps and receive only red light on the face appealed to those tanners who were concerned about heat or overexposure on their faces. But, now, the P9S provides the best of both worlds, setting new standards in UV-technology for the face and décolleté.

Earlier UV-systems generate unwanted heat during a tanning session as a result of infrared radiation, which often leads to reddened or tense skin after sunbathing. The P9S’s innovative LED-based SunSphere system avoids this unwanted infrared radiation and only uses the wavelengths desired during tanning, homogeneously distributed via aspherical glass lenses. Blue UVA LEDs guarantee excellent direct pigmentation for an immediately visible tan. Red beauty LEDs provide skin care while tanning. And yellow UVB special lamps build up pigments. As KBL puts it, “It’s the perfect spectral combination for an incomparable tanning experience.”

“I call it the evolution of what we’ve always been trying to do. We’ve fine-tuned the system to provide just the right amounts of all the wavelengths to maximize tanning, minimize reddening and add in skin care,” Pipp says.

“So, we’ve really hit all the parts of the body with a specific wavelength dispersal that meets the exact needs of those parts of body. The system really allows you to get specific wavelengths in the amount you’re supposed to get them. In preSelection, further modification addresses your specific tan level at that time. We’ve finally fine-tuned tanning to the individual desires of each customer during each tanning session.”

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.