TanSome Sunless Tanning Lotion — History


In 2000, Bill Bryan (Peggy's husband) purchased a commercial tanning bed for his home, and began using it; in fact, he used it a lot. Over time, he became very, very dark brown. Sometimes as he would lie in his tanning bed, he could literally smell his skin cook as he tanned (kind of like a turkey smells if it burns during baking).


After several weeks, he noticed his skin begin to wrinkle, and become dehydrated. Yep, Bill knew his tanning bed caused skin wrinkling, as well skin cancer, and dehydration, but his enthusiasm for a dark tan NOW placed him in self–denial. Besides, a good looking tan NOW is worth any health problem LATER, right? WRONG!


After many months of literally baking himself within his tanning bed, he decided to quit kidding himself and kick the tanning bed habit. He then turned to sunless tanning lotion for his tan (he once saw actor George Hamilton say on TV that the reason he was always tan was because he used self–tanning lotion every day).


After Bill used several self tanning lotions on the market, he became frustrated because they all left him with orangey–looking hues with a severe unevenness of color. Some areas were over–tanned, while some areas were under–tanned; but all areas were orange! He became frustrated because he wanted a dark bronze tan (a dark bronze tan highlights the body's shape and muscles more than a dark brown tan; that is why dark bronzers are used by bodybuilders and swimsuit models during competition).


Bill wanted a sunless tanning lotion that would not only give him a dark bronze tan, but hydrate his skin using a premium body lotion rich in antioxidants, natural nutrients, tropical oils and butters, and vitamins. He also realized that a gradual tan would solve the problem of color unevenness, but nothing like this was on the market. It was his total frustration of not finding what he wanted that led him to take his next step.


He visited the local drug store and purchased a well known "instant self–tanning" lotion and a bottle of premium body lotion. He then returned home and mixed the two lotions together, thinking that the body lotion would dilute the "instant" tanning lotion, and provide a "gradual" tan. What he got was a huge glob of chemicals that wouldn't mix together. So, he decided to get rid of it, but he couldn't even flush the glob down the toilet!


Bill knew nothing about cosmetics chemistry at that time, but he knew he needed help! He enlisted the help of a technical team consisting of a cosmetics chemist (to create the lotion's ingredient list and manufacturing process), and a mechanical engineer (to develop the design–of–experiments testing to determine the lotion's efficacy and shelf life).


Over a two–year period, the team developed a Premium Body Lotion as the lotion's base; it was filled with ingredients for skin hydration and nourishment. They then developed the Time–Released Tanning Agents and placed them within the lotion's base. Of course, nothing works right the first time. It took many dozens of experiments before the right balance of ingredients would yield a sunless tanning lotion that was not only effective, but would also have at least three (3) years of shelf life. Since that time, it has been independently verified by a Certified Industrial Hygienist the shelf life of TanSome Premium Sunless Tanning Lotion exceeds five (5) years from date of mixing.


For the vast majority of cosmetic manufacturers, the profits of sunless tanning lotions (and cosmetics, in general), are obscene. Bill wanted to manufacture a high quality sunless tanning lotion at a reasonable price. Since the introduction of TanSome Premium Sunless Tanning Lotion in January 2, 2003, several other companies have copied our model of gradual sunless tanning.


A few of these companies have even copied our model of placing their tanning agents within a "moisturizer." However, these companies use un–natural industrial chemicals manufactured in large bulk containers, then price their sunless tanners like they are made of handcrafted gold. Compare the ingredients of your lotion to TanSome Ingredients and see for yourself the difference between "natural" and "industrial."


To see how unreasonable our competitors charge for their products, and how reasonable our price is, compare cost per fluid ounce at Sunless Tanning Cost.