Specialty solarium for tan look

Press, 19 November 1982, Page 3

Specialty solarium for tan look

"I always look busy and I always have a tan” was the key to success for the shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis. . The manager of Christchurch’s first speciality solarium, Ms Kathy McQuilty, is also counting on the healthy and status-symbol look of bronzed skin to make her new “Tantriffic” venture a success.

Ms McQuilty is herself an advertisement for the clinic, which provides an “up-mar-ket” tanning service for those who have not the time or inclination to risk the sun’s rays. “Tanning is an ‘in’ thing to do at the moment,” she said. “It also makes people look more prosperous if they have a tan.”

Officially opened last evening Tantriffic has clients, mostly aged in their late 20s and early 30s. About 70 per cent are men — business executives and office workers. Setting up shop has been an expensive business. The three sunbeds cost $5OOO each to import from Germany. Ultra violet A rays are used, which tan without burning unlike natural sunlight which contains ultra violet B rays.

A course of 10 half-hour sessions costs $7O, a casual visit $7.50, and the most expensive 30%-session course costs $lBO.

Cosmetic tanning is not new in Christchurch. A spokeswoman for the Jazzercise Fitness Centre said that the centre offered U.V.A. tanning, and the manager of American Health Studies, Mr Conrad Stricke, said its tanning courses were always popular at this time of year.