As the summer sun slowly burns away in the sky above, the golden-brown tan most have achieved from having fun in the sun for the past few months is going to start to fade.
Don't fret. East Lansing houses nine tanning spots, all equipped with enough bulbs to light the whole city if there were ever another blackout.
But as technology grows and science becomes wackier, there are fresh options to attaining that sun-kissed look besides faking-and-baking.
"It looks like an airbrush," said Bethany Smith, a MSU merchandising management senior and manager of Tanning & Co., 423 Albert Ave., about the newest tanning phenomenon, known as FabTan, Minute Misting or, to put it in the basics, spray tanning.
"You go into a little room with the person who applies the solution and they simply spray it on your skin."
The 'solution' is a sugar-cane derivative that reacts with the top two layers of the tanner's skin eight hours after it has been applied, Smith said.
"It's FDA approved," Smith said. "And it's easy to do and looks natural."
The very thin spray solution is applied over the tanner's skin and can be put on thicker or thinner for either a deeper or lighter tan, she said.
"And no, it doesn't turn you orange," Smith said as she demonstrated the airbrush tanning on a patch of her own hand, which resulted in a glistening spot that didn't look anything like the color of an Oompa Loompa's extremity.
Since the bulbless tanning option came to East Lansing roughly a year ago, many students are forking over their cash to try out this intriguing way to darken their skin.
"I'm a light-skinned African-American and I get really pale," telecommunications senior Heather Canter said. "So, I want to stay dark, but without the UV rays."
Television advertising brought a good deal of attention to the spray-tanning market.
"I was going to go to a regular tanner," Canter said. "And then I saw a commercial on TV for it, so I thought I would try it."
As for utilizing the spray-on-tanning versus basking in the sun, Canter admits that the old-fashioned way of bronzing one's skin via the sun is no longer needed.
"You don't need to (tan in the sun)," Canter said. "It keeps your tan for up to five days and then you go back and pay $20 to get tan again."
Some students aren't as excited about the newfangled way of tanning.
"I tried it once because I wanted to be tan for the weekend," said English junior Jill Moore. "I had heard it was fast and lasted for almost a week, so I thought I would go get it done."
As for choosing between old-fashioned bulbs or high-tech spray, Moore said she would stick with the UV.
"I'm just more comfortable being in the tanning room by myself," Moore said. "And regular tanning is cheaper."
But price and effort are the least important benefits of sunless tanning, according to Dr. Marcy Street's dermatology office, the Cosmetic and General Dermatology Center, 2900 Hannah Blvd.
"The tanning booth subjects you to ultraviolet rays," nurse Peggy Brown said. "Spray tanning doesn't have that, so you're not subjected to getting cancer."
It's been proven that tanning in a booth with bulbs results in just as many ultraviolet rays and as much skin damage as being in the sun does, Brown said.
"People should never go to a tanning booth and that's all there is to it," Brown said. "Sunless tanning is way better."
Lindsey Anderson can be reached at ander848@msu.edu
