The (G)lowdown: Mobile Spray Tan Company Comes to Elon
Three years ago, 19-year-old Carly Frei transformed her dorm room into a tanning gallery and began offering organic airbrush spray tans to her fellow classmates at College of Charleston. These spray tans became so popular on campus that Frei decided to officially launch her very own mobile spray tan service, Chucktown Tan. After much success and support, the entrepreneur expanded her business to other college campuses and developed a new company called GLOW BOSS. Now a senior at College of Charleston, Frei has successfully brought the mobile spray tan service to two additional campuses, and Elon happens to be one of them.
I found out about this company back in February, after returning from a sun-filled Winter Term in South Africa. Just as my tan began to fade, my roomate Mackenzie told me about a mobile spray tan company that a childhood friend created. The company, GLOW BOSS, was in the process of expanding to other colleges, and Elon was at the top of the list.
We spent the next few weeks thinking about how successful GLOW BOSS would be on our campus, especially with spring break approaching. After lots of research and helpful feedback, we got in touch with Carly, the founder of the company, and pitched our idea. She told us about the details of the job: we would take a pop-up mobile tent to the client’s house, set up our space, and spray them in the comfort of their own homes. We make good money and as second semester seniors only taking two classes, we have all the time in the world.
After completing professional, airbrush spray tan training (never thought I would say that), I was still skeptical of the results. My pale skin coupled with my passion for running meant that spray tans don't usually end well for me, so I wanted to test it out for myself. A few days after getting trained, Mackenzie and I received boxes in the mail consisting of a pop-up tent, the airbrush spray machine, and the organic tanning solutions. Later that night, I got my very first airbrush spray tan, and I am obsessed.
The first thing I noticed was that the solution was scentless, both on and off of my skin. This was huge for me because no one wants to risk smelling like nauseating chemicals for the sake of getting a sun-kissed glow. Although I knew the solution was organic and alcohol-free, I thought a scentless spray tan was too good to be true. Not only was I free of any artificial scents, but I also looked like I had just returned from a caribbean vacation.
The next test occurred a few days later at my local gym. I am currently training for a half-marathon, so it is important that I keep up with my training, even if that means sweating off some of my spray tan. After a six-mile run on the treadmill, I looked down at my arms expecting to see streaks, but it still looked perfect. I even attended a hot yoga class the next day and my tan still looked amazing.
Throughout the following week, I continued to go about my daily routine and never once thought about messing up my spray tan. Even while maintaining my training schedule – running 5 times per week – the tan lasted a good seven to eight days before it began to fade. When the tan eventually started to lose its intensity, it happened naturally and evenly over a good amount of time. All in all, my favorite thing about these spray tans is how natural they look without doing any damage to your skin. Needless to say, it’s time to bid adieu to orange skin and streaking, and say hello to glow.