Our Mystic Tan Field Trip Page Two

Then it was back to Totally Tan, where Jodi, Frank and I paid for our sessions [Linda decided to wait and was rewarded for her patience on Mother's Day when her husband gave her a gift of ten sessions!].

The young man behind the counter was intrigued by us. He knew that we had met through a web site, sunless.com. He said, "I thought all people on the Internet were..." His voice trailed off. "Weird?" I suggested. "Yes! I guess I'm behind the times," he said mournfully.

Having used a Mystic Tan in Texas in September of 1999, I went first as the "experienced" user. Elizabeth Youngman, the owner of Totally Tan, gave us the lowdown on how the machine worked, and for the first time I realized that there was a big difference between this Mystic Tan machine and the one I had used at the Beltline/Macarthur location near Dallas.

When Dr. Laughlin invented the Mystic Tan, he actually invented two different systems. One type is now manufactured by Palm Beach Tan for tanning salons; the other type, called Mist-On Tanning Systems, is manufactured by Dr. Laughlin for the rest of the tanning market: spas, gyms, fitness centers, even home units.

From the point of the view of the customer, the difference between the machines is this: in the Mystic Tan, you turn around once during your session. In the Mist-On Tanning System, you don't. According to Elizabeth Youngman, the Mystic Tan is easier to maintain, and I noticed that it appeared to take up less floor space than the Mist-On Tanning System. I wondered if I would find a difference in the performance of the two machines [I didn't].

When I stepped into the private room with the Mystic Tan, which looks like a very large phone booth, I tossed my robe and flip flops. I put a papery cover over my hair, adjusting it so that it was back and off my forehead. In my excitement, I completely forgot about the barrier cream. Instead, I hopped straightaway into the Mystic Tan and closed the door firmly. Elizabeth told us that not closing the door would have a bad effect on our fake tan, which made perfect sense to me.

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