How would you like to attend a trade event where you were just supposed to lay around and get massages, or sit and get facials? Well, that’s what they did in London at their newest beauty and tanning exhibition, called “Nails-Beauty-Tanning”. I attended the two-day show on March 20-21 at the Olympia Exhibition Center in London, and was the only one there that was actually walking around!
Everyone else was being spray-tanned or receiving some esoteric beauty treatment—makeup artists were pampering away, light beams aimed at faces to remove wrinkles, people had electrodes galore on their bums (that’s what they call it there; see photos if you need more explanation), teeth were being whitened with lasers, feet were soaking in detox baths—remember, this really was a tradeshow, not a spa! The reason I knew it wasn’t a spa was that I was given a skewer of marshmallows to dip in a multi-tiered fountain of chocolate for a treat…was I dreaming?

England only holds one show dedicated to tanning every two years; it’s called “Shine”. To promote their products the rest of the season, tanning companies in the United Kingdom exhibit at beauty or fitness events and often play second fiddle to the big cosmetic and beauty companies for space and attention. At this new show, the tanning industry got a big boost with the word “Tanning” being added to its name.

The Nails-Beauty-Tanning show followed just three weeks behind the largest exhibition for the UK tanning industry – Professional Beauty – that switched venues from the heart of London, creating lots of grumbling. The Nails-Beauty-Tanning organizers felt this would be a great opportunity to capture the traditional location and dates of Professional Beauty and start a new show at the “same place, same time.”

It worked, kind of. The show was much quieter than the traditional U.S. tanning event, but that allowed for more time to speak to real buyers. Every booth (called a “stand” there) had marvelous product demonstrations. Ladies got their nails painted with the coolest colors and airbrush techniques, temporary tattoos were rubbed on here and there, makeup artists painted away on lovely faces, permanent makeup was done, jewels were applied to teeth (yes, it’s big biz there), and people in all manners of undress had electrodes attached to their bodies to remove fat, cellulite, wrinkles…you name it. Much of the equipment sold in England is not sold in the U.S. since the FDA frowns on such things. (Come on, what’s a little electrical current going to hurt?)

For sheer entertainment, nothing was weirder than the “Nailympics”, in which nail techs wore costumes while painting attendees’ nails. The rules were obscure, but look at the photos and tell me you don’t think the acetone in the nail polish remover has ruined these girls’ brain cells! There were about 100 or so teams painting at a time, and all the Japanese tourists in London were ringside with cameras snapping away. Any photos you see here, I took over the heads of the Japanese tourists (thankfully, I’m 5’3”, a full head taller than any of them).

For other bizarre antics, the Miracle Bra exhibit was fun, too. These are the stick-on gel bras you’ve seen on infomercials. Anyway, the Miracle Bra girls were happy to show attendees how the bras work…bet you’re sorry you missed that!

I visited my friends Billy Jay Bagnall and Maxwell Bagnall from Designer Tanning Products of Nottingham (which I thought was a made-up city in the tale of Robin Hood, but it exists!) Billy Jay insisted that I needed a “detox” – a half-hour, warm water footbath. Not hard to sign me up for that after walking around in high heels all day! The special contraption, called the “Total Style Bio Energizers D-Tox Spa” pulls contaminants from your body through the soles of your feet, after which the footbath looks like a backed-up sewer! The water turns different disgusting colors based on what you’ve contaminated yourself with (don’t ask) and after watching several ladies do it, I’d have to say that the water does look different after each person; sometimes thick and sludgy like...well, just enjoy the picture. Now, you know I have NO shame – and my feet felt sooo much better after the D-Tox treatment. Whether it was just from sitting for half an hour with my feet in warm water, or the electrical current ridding me of toxins, I can’t say.

The excitement didn’t stop with the footbath – a celebrity was at the show! Yes, world champion bowls player, Richard Corsie, was there meeting with spa distributors. Now, the term “bowls” might mean absolutely NOTHING to us Yanks, but when I was in Scotland visiting Richard, we were swarmed at restaurants! I took a call from Richard while in a taxicab and the driver almost wrecked! The game of bowls is similar to ten-pin bowling, but played with an oddly shaped ball on artificial turf, and is more like the game of horseshoes. When he’s not swatting away his many fans, Richard Corsie is king of the spa biz in the UK. He sells custom Klafs saunas to the likes of Virgin Records/Airlines mogul Richard Branson, Mick Jagger, and other stars you’d recognize.

Oh, yeah – I was there for tanning stuff, right? Ergoline UK displayed their beautiful beds at a large stand at the show entrance, and was showing off the new TV unit. This great gimmick will hook up to most Ergo sunbeds, and you have to see it to believe it. During the tanning session, the tanner wears special goggles to watch a TV located behind them! A salon can play DVDs or MTV or any channel – how cool is that? The system is a bit pricey, but what a great way to set your salon apart from your competition.

Helionova, the Ultrasun importer, was also showing numerous high-end equipment models at a big stand; they now include Magic Tan sunless spray booths in their product offering.

A few words about sunless tanning in England: Rick Norvell of Norvell here in the U.S. attended the show and spray-tanned hundreds of women (tough job, Rick!) “Sunless tanning is huge in England,” Rick commented. “The market per capita appears to be several times larger than in the U.S.” Rick notes that, “Hand spraying is the larger market as the salons believe the results are a better guarantee of customer satisfaction.” He added that, “The lack of sunshine in the UK is a definite factor for alternative tanning methods vs. outdoor tanning. It appears that the amount of good competition is driving the public’s education and awareness of the benefits of offering sunless tanning as an alternative.”

Fantasy Tans from Chicago attended the London event. Lisa Diaz and Lester Szurko were busy spray-tanning attendees and training their new European distributor, Ergoline UK. Ergoline UK has also just brought on the Mystic Tan spray booth, so they are now into sunless in a big way.

Take a look at the photos below and tell me what is clearly the most important product selling in England? Okay, anti-psychotic drugs for the crazy nail techs would be a good guess, but I was thinking tiny black bikinis! Every spray-tan company offered tiny black bikinis to the chicks being sprayed, who ducked into a storage room in their stand to put on a tiny black bikini, get spray-tanned and then go change clothes. I loved the little black pop-up dome tents that Fake It! sells to offer tanners a place to change. They also have a very inexpensive spray backdrop for hauling to bridal showers, cheerleading practices, school dances, teen parties, etc. They suggest you pack up your little folding backdrop, the pop-up tent and your spray gun and go find a bunch of people standing around who want a tan!

The UK tanning organization, called “The Sunbed Association” was represented at the event by Kathy Banks. They were selling Dr. Michael Holick’s book, The UV Advantage and had some photocopies of the only positive article about indoor tanning they’ve had published there.

One new twist at this event was that representatives of the tanning industry had a chance to speak for the first time at a non-tanning show. Industry leaders spoke about insurance, negative press, the benefits and risks of UV exposure, and offered an update on The Sunbed Association’s activities and a Sunbed Association training seminar.

England does tanning a bit differently—there is only one tanning 2005 product catalog in circulation. I’m sure you’ve been buried with catalogs from U.S. tanning distributors since the ITA Expo in November 2004; try to imagine that there are less than ten distributor catalogs printed in the UK and only Kaloss has theirs in the marketplace. Soon to follow suit will be Ergoline Plus, Blue, BASC and Bliss.

Ah, Bliss…what a great way to describe a trade event that offers every type of sunless tanning and non-stop pampering! n
Thanks for the great story, Brenda! - IST