A Just A Little Bit Orange Feature. By Clara Pettitt. Copyright © 06/03/2002. All Rights Reserved.

Sunless.com at the International Esthetics, Cosmetics, & Spa Conference — Page Three

Jan Marini Skin Research

As I peered at the products at the hectic but shiny Jan Marini counter, a nicely dressed professional looking woman asked if she could help me. "Ur, I'm interested in your sunless tanning products," I said.

As a lowly representative of a sunless tanning consumer guide, I had been shot down at the Babour counter. The women who have enough money to buy Babour products do not read cosmetic reviews [do you really want to learn that you just spent $90 on two ounces of vaseline? Folks who buy products like that ignore what Paula Begoun has to say].

Jan Marini is a high end line that caters to spas and dermatologists, but I persevered, because Jan Marini had a really great looking sun special. With a cute bag! [at that point in the day, I had learned the magic words, "Will you ship?" and was no longer a rational member of the human race].

But this woman was very cordial. She explained that their sunless tanning product was very much like any other sunless tanning product. My mind shut down at that point, because it wasn't at all what I was expecting to hear. Finally I came out of my fog and noticed the woman's name tag: Jan Marini. "Ah. You're Jan," I said.

She fixed me up with three of the sun specials, and, yes, she did ship!

See the Jan Marini Skin Research web site for more information.

Fake Bake

Back in 1999, Fake Bake drove me bats with their packaging. My small and not particularly strong hands could not get the product out of the container without massive effort.

I've heard rumors for some time that Fake Bake was going to make major changes; at this convention, I finally saw the fruits of that.

The lotion has been repackaged in a new container, similar to that of Beach, a mousse and a cream/powder bronzer have been added to the line, and the whole brand has received a much needed face lift.

At the convention, Fake Bake sales people wore eye catching purple gloves. If you look closely, you can also see that, on the woman at left, one arm is tanned and one is not.

I picked up two sets of the Body Polish, the Self Tanning Lotion, the Beyond Bronze Mousse, and the new cream to powder bronzer.

I asked about the new mousse: how did it fit into the product line? "Use the mousse on your face and the lotion for your body," the sales woman advised.

See the Fake Bake web site for more information.

American Vitiligo Research Foundation

In the midst of all the glitz and signs proclaiming "Lose weight while you shower!" there was a quiet spot, the American Vitiligo Research Foundation.

Prominently displayed was a picture of Kaleah Mishon, a vitiligo patient who embodies the heartbreak of this disease. Vitiligo is tough on the spirt; for a child, it is an unimaginable burden.

According to Thomas B. Fitzpatrick, MD, Ph.D, quoted at the AVRF web site, "Four options are currently available for the treatment of vitiligo: sunscreens; cover-up; restoration of normal skin color; and bleaching of normal skin with topical creams to remove normal skin pigment to make an even color."

It is the goal of AVRF to improve the third option, restoration of normal skin color. The second option, cover-up, includes the use of dihydroxyacetone [DHA], the active ingredient in sunless tanners.

Long before dihydroxyacetone was sold by Coppertone in the first sunless tanning product in 1960, it was used as a cover-up for vitiligo patients.

But DHA has many limitations. It works best for skin type I - III; vitiligo patients with darker skin tones cannot get a match with their pigmented areas. Even when it works, it is very time consuming to apply to unpigmented areas.

Vitiligo patients tell me they have the best luck applying sunless tanners using small artist's paint brushes. They have to apply sunless tanners every day of their lives.

For young, active children, cover-ups are a failure.

Depigmentation seems to be the best option, but it is forever. If a cure is found, depigmented vitiligo patients won't be able to restore their natual skin tones. Kaleah's mother wrote at the AVRF web site, "When I ask her about being old enough to make the decision to depigment completely, she gets upset at the thought of not looking like the rest of her family."

At the convention, AVRF held a raffle to raise money for research. AVRF is a private tax-exempt charity.

See the American Vitiligo Research Foundation web site for more information.

Next: DDF, Healthy Tan, John Abaté...