More Americans seek a safe, sun-kissed look

The Bush twins do it. So do the Redskinettes. Lobbyists, lawyers, pundits and prom queens. It’s the only way to glow.

Faux bronzing has grown into a $5 billion industry in America and includes tanning beds; spray tanning booths, such as Mystic Tan; and lotions, creams, gels and drugstore moisturizers with built in self-tanners.

“Number one, it makes you look good,” said John Overstreet, executive director of the Indoor Tanning Association in Washington. “Number two, it makes you feel good.”

Fans who overdue it, such as bronze-hued presidential candidate John Kerry in the 2004 election campaign, are known as “tanorexics.”

But that does not stop people from flocking to the tanning booth.

The booths operate like a power airbrush with nozzles spraying a fine mist of solution over the naked body. The result is a torso that appears to have just returned from two weeks on the beach.

“Last year, Mystic Tan just took off,” Mr. Overstreet said. “It was wildly popular.”

The Dallas-based company boasts 3,800 booths in 12 countries.

“It’s a social phenomenon,” said Troy Cooper, founder of Mystic Tan. “A lot of people have become ‘event tanners.’ Doing it for a special event.”

There are dozens of tanning salons in Washington, with new ones popping up every day.

“Mystic Tan is the hottest and newest. We’ve had bodybuilders and wrestlers, Playboy centerfolds,” said Scott Shortnacy, who owns eight Washington-area Solar Planet salons, which feature tanning beds and Mystic Tan.

Seventy percent of indoor tanners are women between 20 and 35, Mr. Overstreet said. Tanning sessions are not cheap, with some costing $25 per session, and requiring many applications. The solution is supercharged with static electricity, and the technology is the same as that used for spray painting cars.

“The units themselves cost $30,000, and the ingredients are expensive,” Mr. Shortnacy said.

But for 28-year-old Gretchen Goldberg, it’s worth it.

“I’m getting married on Saturday,” she said after a recent tanning session at Solar Planet. “For me, I think I look better. Rather than being the color of a white wall.”

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