Mystic Tan: The Future Of Sunless Tanning

A Just A Little Bit Orange Feature
By Clara Pettitt
Copyright © 1/18/99. All Rights Reserved.

When Dr. Tom Laughlin told me about his invention the Mystic Tan, which uniformly coats the human body with a sunless tanning solution in seconds, my second thought was: What a fabulous thing this will be for people with vitiligo, albinism, and medical conditions causing photosensitivity.

My first thought was: Where's mine?

The Mystic Tan is already in use commercially at the Palm Beach Tan franchise located in the North Dallas region of Texas, approximately 1800 miles from me. My only hope is to encourage a huge outcry for Mystic Tans on every street corner.

It all started in Rayne, Louisiana, the small town where Laughlin (pronounced loff-lin) and Troy Cooper, future CEO of Palm Beach Tan, grew up. According to Laughlin, "Troy is four years my senior, but we developed and maintained a close friendship."

The two men went in different directions in their careers. Laughlin, who has a Ph.D in Biophysics, worked for heavyweights in the consumer care products industry such as Schering-Plough (Coppertone) and Johnson & Johnson (Neutrogena). Before Cooper joined Palm Beach Tan (PBT), he was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for National Video, Inc., a publicly owned franchising chain which grew to 700 stores nationwide.

In October of 1995, their interests coincided. Troy Cooper, then a consultant for PBT, was looking for ways to distinguish PBT from other tanning salons when his old friend Laughlin said to him: "I know another way to tan people."

Laughlin outlined his concept to Cooper. As the PBT web site describes the finished product:

"Mystic Tan is a full body DHA tan utilizing the latest in 'misting' technology. The Mystic Tan tanning booth is located in a private room. You simply enter the room, disrobe, and step into the booth. A push of a button activates the unit, which will produce a fine mist of tanning solution and moisturizer that will coat the body uniformly. Excess mist will be extracted through a ventilation system and a drying system will activate. The whole process takes less than 2 minutes. When the tanning process is finished you simply step out of the booth, towel dry any remaining mist, dress and exit."

According to Laughlin, "I first began contemplating the coating of people while an employee of Southern Research Institute [Birmingham, Alabama, 1983 - 1988]. I worked with coating processes during that time, and even was a co-inventor of a new fluid-bed coating process."

Photographs courtesy of Mist-On Systems, Inc. All photographs are the property of Mist-On Systems, Inc. and cannot be used without permission.