Eye Pro, Inc.

August 2019 – Do you really know how to clean goggles properly?  Does your staff know goggles need to soak for 10 minutes to be disinfected enough to not pass on the flu and eye infections?  If your salon approach is to just “dip and wipe”, you are NOT killing anything! And, you are also leaving a strong disinfectant residue on the goggles that can harm your clients’ eyes! 

Does your staff know that you need to make completely fresh bed cleaner and goggle cleaner EVERY 24 HOURS to follow every bed cleaner’s directions and avoid your bed cleaner losing its effectiveness? “It’s so important to train new staff and remind current staff to always follow ALL of the necessary steps for cleaning; especially goggles,” reminded Jackie DeWald, EYE PRO office manager. “Our one-page, step-by-step instructional guide outlines each step — like testing with a Quatenary litmus strip to ensure the proper mixture and how and why you should keep cleaned goggles in a sealed container (NOT in a basket at your counter or lying on a tanning bed).”   Continue Reading »

So, you’re in the tan-biz slow season … what to do?

Late summer is a great time to host an event that features eye protection. You’ll use your eyewear event to remind your salon guests that protecting their eyes is critical to their future and to show them all the latest options in the diverse and fun eye protection world. It’s a great way to get your college tanners back into your salon and draw attention to your upgrades, lotions and other services, while increasing your bottom line.

One great aspect of eye protection is affordability – you can contact your favorite distributor and order a boatload of different goggles and disposables for a ridiculously small investment. I recommend you offer many types: the fun, designer types in every color, the super-cheap kinds and dispos-ables. For your eyewear event, arrange your selection boutique-style. A velvet-covered board for display and a make-up mirror work well to let guests try them on to see if they get a tight fit. Offer a free basic pair of goggles with purchase of a basic upgrade tanning package or a tattoo stick – some- thing around $10. They get a free “fancy” pair or several pairs of disposables with a high-pressure session, spray-tan or bou-tique retail item around $25. Keeping with the theme, you could bring in sunglasses to sell for this event. I recommend creating a sign showing 3-4 things they get for each category. Make it simple and offer some novelty products that you’d like to sell to increase your retail revenues.

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July 2019 – EYE PRO, Inc., world leader in eyewear and makers of Ultra Gold WINK-EASE, Lash Room WINK-EASE and WINK-EASE Dark, is offering salons a FREE WINK-EASE window cling.

“Eye protection is required by the FDA for every tanner to wear. Educating your tanners on the importance of protecting their eyes while tanning can be challenging, but having an informed staff makes it easier,” said Jackie DeWald, EYE PRO Office Manager. “Having our window cling on the door is a great reminder for tanners to see as they walk in to know eye protection will be addressed as part of checking in,” she continued. “The increased sales opportunity for the salon to sell eye protection to every client definitely helps the bottom line. Salons need to be creative with eyewear selections, offering both disposable eyewear and various goggles.”

The window cling can be placed on the inside of the salon door or in the front window for maximum exposure. Continue Reading »

A new trend has surfaced in indoor tanning eye protection … more specifically, a trend in NOT wearing it!

Women who have always worn eyewear when they tanned are no longer wearing it. Why? They’re getting eyelash extensions – it’s expensive, time-consuming and tanners are afraid of damaging their glued-on lashes, so they forgo wearing their goggles during a tanning session. I think these salon guests are hoping that their very long lashes will protect their eyes; but, unfortunately, eyelashes offer no UV protection and closing your eyes only provides a 25% ultraviolet block.

As you may know, UV rays from tanning beds tan your skin, but the rays also burn your eyes. It’s important to wear FDA-compliant eyewear to protect your night vision, color vision and prevent eye burns such as “snow blindness” or “welders flash,” as well as possible development of growths on your eyes.

I also spoke to Jason Brooks, National Sales Manager for New Sunshine LLC, makers of eye protection for the Australian Gold, Designer Skin and California Tan brands. “As long lashes gained popularity, we invented Designer Skin Glamour Eyes,” Brooks stated. “We designed Glamour Eyes goggles with a tall cup, so that long, voluminous lashes have room, but the goggle won’t create ‘raccoon eye’ tanlines. This goggle style also has a clear nose-piece that prevents tan lines, and Glamour Eyes include a trendy, compact carrying case.”

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June 2019 – EYE PRO, Inc., world leader in eyewear and makers of Ultra Gold WINK-EASE, Lash Room WINK-EASE, and WINK-EASE Dark, supports salons all year long and offers online training and certification options 24/7, 365 days a year!

 “Summertime is a challenging time for salons when business drops off,” explains Jackie DeWald, EYE PRO office manager.  “We offer our FREE online eye protection training 24/7 on our website. If you have staff not yet trained on the importance of eye protection, we encourage the training during the slower off-season. Having a trained staff demonstrates you are a professional studio. Your educated staff will be able to encourage your clients to wear their eyewear and that free training could result in add-on sales to keep cash flow coming in,” DeWald continued. 

“The off-season can be a perfect opportunity for salons to re-group staff and get them up-to-date in all areas of your business,” said Brenda Fishbaugh, EYE PRO president. “We encourage each salon to utilize ALL of our industry’s trainings available. Many manufacturers also offer free trainings and your slow season is a perfect time to catch new staff up, plus encourage your seasoned staff to take refresher courses.”   Continue Reading »

I recently received email from a tanner who asked how many times one could wear disposable eyewear. She asked how long disposables block ultraviolet light and couldn’t she wear them several times before they quit protecting her eyes?

I replied by explaining that the problem wasn’t the UV blocking material, but the sanitary aspect of using disposable products only once. I explained that all disposable eyewear is categorized as a Class One Medical Product, just like ear swabs, disposable medical gloves, and cotton balls. Disposable eyewear manufacturers are licensed by the FDA (Food and Drug Ad- ministration) to create products intended for one-time use only. You wouldn’t want your doctor re-using your tongue depressor on you next week, would you? I asked Lisa Parsons, Director of Brand Development for Devoted Creations, how she answers this question. Parsons explains that disposable eyewear is like a Band-Aid. “You really don’t want to save a bandage and then put it back on a few days later, right? Once the disposable eyewear is pulled off the paper backing, the adhesive can pick up skin cells and bacteria that the big cooling fans blow around the tanning room during a session. Re-useable goggles don’t have adhesive, so oily fingers, tanning lotions and dead skin don’t contaminate them quite as easily.” Lisa, voted a top tanning trainer several times, concludes by adding, “You should clean your re-useable goggles with antibacterial soap and dry them thoroughly after every use. Storing them in a resealable bag prevents contamination.”

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May 2019 – EYE PRO, Inc., world leader in eyewear and makers of Ultra Gold WINK-EASE, Lash Room WINK-EASE, and WINK-EASE Dark, wants to support salons as much as possible — and has a special online section of their website dedicated to doing just that!

 Looking for a checklist as to what makes a “clean” salon to see how yours measures up? Want to know how to start selling eyewear instead of offering it for free?  Know what the proper procedure is for cleaning goggles?  Or what really does happen to your eyes when you don’t wear eyewear?  How about how to prevent raccoon eyes?  The answers to all of those questions and more can be found in the “Salon Tips” section of WinkEase.com – EYE PRO’s website — and best of all, it’s FREE and available 24/7 to any salon.  

“Offering salons support is so important to us at EYE PRO, and to our industry as a whole,” reminded Jackie DeWald, EYE PRO office manager.  “That’s why we have a dedicated area of our website called ‘Salon Tips’ that offers quick and easy ways to help educate your salon team, as well as information on proven ideas and sales tips. We offer a variety of things: our FREE 30-minute online staff training, downloadable single page PDFs of salon tips, including a 104-point salon cleaning check list, our WINK-EASE one-time use letter to share with tanners that want to re-use their disposable eyewear, articles explaining how to switch to selling eyewear instead of cleaning it, a Tanners’ Quiz, and so much more,” she continued.  “Our goal is to be an online resource to help salons increase sales. The ‘Salon Tips’ section is found on our website (WinkEase.com/support/salon-tips/) and we add new tips all the time.”  Continue Reading »

I receive many emails from tanners concerned about protecting their vision when tanning. Here is one about a common mistake that can easily be avoided.

Dear Brenda:

I had my first sunbed session yesterday and used the gold eye stickers. I did not put them on correctly and just stuck them like a sticker on my eyelid. I was in the tanning bed for eight minutes. My eyes were also closed the whole time – do you think I damaged my eyes?

Thanks for your help,
Rob

I responded:

Hi, Rob:

Thanks for your question – it’s a good one. I appreciate you caring about your eyesight enough to ask. Shame on the salon staff for not explaining how to use dispos-able eye protection!

The display box for every disposable brand has a diagram that shows assembly, as well as a photo of a person properly wearing the product. You’ll also find directions on the back of every pair, regardless of manufacturer. We recommend that salons display the stickers folded into cones placed on top of the box, so tanners see how to use them properly.

Luckily, disposables are a complete UV-block, so wearing the sticker flat on your eyelid protected you reasonably well, but didn’t block all of the ambient light that may reach the sides of your eyes. In addition, it probably created a big, white “raccoon eye” tan line, since the sticker covered more of your eye area than is necessary for vision protection. When folded into cones, the stickers block ambient light and you can see through them, allowing you to adjust sun- bed controls and check the timer without removing the eye protection. In a booth, vision is also critical for a safe exit.

The greatest danger to your eyes during indoor tanning is photokeratitis, or an eye burn, which causes redness, itching and watering.

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April 2019 – EYE PRO, Inc., world leader in disposable eye protection for indoor tanning and makers of Ultra Gold WINK-EASE, Lash Room WINK-EASE and WINK-EASE Dark, is offering fun tanning ads for salons to use to promote their pro-tanning presence on social media.

“With today’s world driven so much by social media, we want to help support the salons and our industry in any way we can,”  stated Brenda Fishbaugh, President of EYE PRO, Inc,. “We have created a ton of fun and positive seasonal tanning memes that are available at no cost to salons to post on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to help promote tanning during the Spring season.”

“Social media has changed the way businesses communicate and interact with their clients, and tanning memes are a way to make a fun, positive, immediate connection,” suggests Jackie DeWald, Office Manager for EYE PRO. “Spring is a perfect time to extend your sales season.  It’s important to still stay in front of tanning clients as they start going outside to tan.”  Continue Reading »

Every day, thousands of tanners think they’re protecting their faces during a UV session by using a hand towel meant for wiping sweat off their bodies. Women who cover their faces with a towel think they are protected from UV rays and getting dreaded wrinkles … WRONG!

A towel provides a sun protection factor (SPF) of 5 – not enough to protect your face and certainly not enough to protect your eyes! For protecting our eyes during a tanning session, the FDA has only approved the use of UV-block goggles and disposable eye protection. But let’s talk about how that towel is also not protecting your SKIN.

Did you know that many clothing manufacturers are now offering UV-Block garments? Why? Simply because the clothes we wear outdoors in sunny weather do not provide protection from UV damage. Yes, the tanning rays are sufficiently blocked, so you aren’t tanning your skin, but all the invisible rays penetrate the fabric, possibly causing damage. “Weave is more important than fabric type,” reports the Skin Cancer Foundation newsletter. “The tighter the weave, the higher the SPF and darker clothes tend to be a higher SPF,” the report asserts.

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