Missing that healthy summer glow? Or hoping to even out the tan lines left by your last great day of skiing? Fortunately, there are now some safer alternatives to sunbathing for achieving a perfect golden glow.
After her own brush with skin cancer, Connie Love added an alternative to sunbathing—airbrush tanning—to her busy salon in Ketchum. “This technique offers us a way of maintaining the look of a golden tan while protecting our skin from sun damage,” she explains. “It’s a much healthier option.”
Love uses an airbrush to apply a tan-activator to her clients’ skin. The tan-activator works with amino acids to activate melanin production in the skin, creating a real tan without UV light. “Unlike body bronzing, airbrushing is done without touching the skin—a technique that may be more comfortable to some people,” Love says.
Many local spas and salons offer body-bronzing treatments. While techniques may vary, body bronzing basically involves a two-step process of exfoliation and a massage-like application of bronzer into the skin. This approach gives clients genuine tan-like results, highlighting the skin with healthy color without exposing it to damaging UV light.
It is important to remember to wear SPF products on exposed skin, even in the wintertime. The sunlight may not have the warmth we associate with damaging rays, but our skin is still exposed to UVA and UVB rays. So, when you’re bundling up to enjoy a day in the snow, remember to apply sunscreen—and bring it along to reapply regularly throughout the day.
Eleanor Jewett lives in Hailey with her husband, Eric Rogers. When not writing for the magazine, she stays busy running a landscape company with her husband and working on a Master’s degree in Education.