AIRBRUSH TAN PHILADELPHIA PROFESSIONALS IN AIRBRUSH TANNING To watch our CBS News Segment, press the CTRL key on your keyboard and CLICK HERE then scroll down to read the interview, as well as reading our newspaper article in the Northeast Times. Click here to read our newspaper interview.How’d you get that perfect tan? By Julian Walker Times Staff Writer Achieving the perfect tan is like searching for the Fountain of Youth. Everyone has heard the stories. No one has really found it. But when it comes to tans, there seemingly are countless methods to get that desirable golden-bronze hue, much like a Thanksgiving turkey fresh out of the oven, but those methods aren’t always a sure thing. There’s the old-fashioned way, sunbathing, but dermatologists warn of the cancer-causing potential of the sun’s harmful UV rays. There also is the more modern approach, tanning salons, which have duplicated the process through the use of fluorescent bulbs. Though skin safety issues have been greatly toned down by the technique, there are safe-tanning advocates who aren’t totally sold on the method. More recently, sun-worshipers have reached for the tanning creams, lotions and sprays that now flood store shelves, eager to quickly get that sepia tone without a lot of sweat. Some tanning parlors have even incorporated those “sunless” methods for use in their booths. Deborah Zahal strongly believes that these various methods have drawbacks, whether they’re health risks or an unnatural-looking tone. Zahal likes to think that a business she recently established with her husband can provide the perfect, even tan. There are no potentially harmful side effects, she contends. And not a speck of skin is denied equal coloring. “Tanning beds have UV rays that are dangerous,” she said. “That’s why this is safer. And it tans you instantly. With a tanning bed you have to build up color after several sessions.” So how does Zahal approach tanning? The name of her business — Air Brush Tan Philadelphia — explains it all. She and her husband, Doron, started their company in May after returning from a trip to Florida. Deborah got an airbrush tan during the trip. “When we came back, I wondered who was doing it up here, because I was so pleased with the tan. When we learned that nobody was offering it up here we began to research it. Before my tan faded we had our business,” recalled Zahal, in her thick Scottish brogue. Once they completed that research and became familiar with the process, the couple started applying tans to clients’ bodies at their home in Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County. Before long, they inked a deal to perform the airbrush tan technique at the three locations of the upscale Salon L’Etoile: in Manayunk, Jenkintown and Bucks County. Last week, Zahal demonstrated the application of airbrushed “bronze” to the skin of a bikini-clad model at the Jenkintown Salon L’Etoile. The entire process takes between 30 and 45 minutes, explained Doron Zahal, a native of Israel whose background in body-painting gave him a good foundation to pick up the airbrush technique. It is performed in a small wood-paneled booth, with fluorescent light fixtures on the walls and two mounted wall fans to exhaust the excess spray from the room. Doron Zahal, draped in a black vinyl salon smock, uses a stainless-steel airbrush stylus attached to a small glass jar that serves as a reservoir for the FDA-approved, sugar-based solution used to coat the skin with the varnish-like veneer. Only the outer, dead layer of skin (known as epidermis) is coated with the color. As those skin cells shed, the tan fades. Before the process begins, clients apply a balm called “barrier cream” to their hands and feet to protect those appendages — the thick skin on those body parts tends to collect a disproportionate amount of the dye, giving the appearance of dirty hands and feet. Doron Zahal then applies the coloring agent to the body in a fine mist. In some spots where the mist collects, it resembles trickling beads of brown sweat. “It feels a little like damp, cool air, and after a couple minutes it’s dry,” model Heather Fantacone, of Southampton, Bucks County, explained as Zahal sprayed her. “It’s relaxing for people who are afraid of being in a closed capsule or who don’t like coming out smelling like a microwave,” she added, referring to traditional tanning booths. “It doesn’t leave you with those white (untanned) spots on your butt and underarms, and it doesn’t leave you looking orange, like self-tanning creams do. This is good for bodybuilders, models, and is perfect for weddings. Plus I never have to worry about it aging me.” And because Zahal personally applies the tanning mist like an artist working with a living canvas, he can retrace his steps to make sure he hasn’t missed any spots. The client also can inspect the job for satisfaction. To complete the process, Zahal uses a common blow dryer to aerate the tan and splashes some baby powder on the customer’s skin to seal the tan and reduce any tackiness that the tanning solution may produce. The solution is water-soluble, does not stain and can be washed out of most fabrics. Water doesn’t damage the airbrush tan, either. It lasts between 10 days and two weeks — moisturizing lotion helps extend the life of the tan — with the proviso that clients not bath or expose their skin to water for the first six hours after the procedure. A full-body airbrush tan costs about $40 per session, give or take a few bucks depending on the tanning package that a customer purchases. Though that may be a fee slightly higher than what is charged by other tanning salons, the extra cash buys you peace of mind, said Zahal. “The point we’re trying to get across is that this is safe for the skin. There are no harmful UV rays involved,” Zahal said. “As dermatologists are getting more information about this process, they are touting it as the safest way to tan without the sun.” •• For more information, visit www.AirbrushTanPhiladelphia.com or call 215-938-8877.