HOLD THE PHONE! YOUR TANNERS AREN’T WEARING EYEWEAR!
At this season’s trade shows, I heard from several salon operators that very few of their tanners were wearing eye protection, even those who had always worn it in the past. The reason? Smart phones! Everyone is busy texting or Candy Crushing during their tanning sessions. Don’t believe it? Think about how many phone calls you hear from your tanning rooms – your guest’s phones are definitely being used. If a salon owner didn’t believe me, I asked their staff members … yep, you guessed it! They are the worst culprits, catching up on texts and not wearing eye protec- tion so they can see their phones!
Is it dangerous to have your eyes open while tanning indoors? Yes; but only if you are NOT wearing eye protection. All goggles and disposable eye protection shown in major tan- ning product distributors’ catalogs and advertised in IST Magazine provide a complete UV block, and yes, they are all see-through. How can eye protection be see-through AND completely block ultraviolet light (UVA and UVB)? Remember: closing your eyes doesn’t block UV light because your eyelid skin is too thin. And, remember that the UV spectrum is invisible. The sunglasses you wear outdoors block UV and are still see-through, right? Indoor eye protection is exactly the same. They block damaging UV rays, but allow visible light (a completely different spectrum) through. The tint in sun- glasses and goggles is just to make it comfortable in the bright sun and a bright tanning bed. Dark sunglasses don’t block any more UV than very lightly tinted sunglasses.
