Business Profile: Sole Tan, Yorktown
Summer may be over, but you can still get a tan in northern Westchester.
Ossining resident Donna Smith has been providing a place to tan all year-round for nearly seven years as owner of Sole Tan in Yorktown. “Sole means sun” in Spanish, Smith explained last week.
Smith said there are several benefits to tanning. “It makes you feel good. When you look good you feel good,” she said. “The heat sometimes helps your aches and pains. People with skin disorders it’s good for, as long as it’s done in a responsible environment. We promote responsible tanning here.”
She defined responsible tanning as including practicing “common skin care” and “not to over tanning.”
“The object is that you don’t get burnt,” Smith said. “We start you out gradually. We have products here that will help – lotions that will condition your skin, that can give you more color.
Even though Smith said there are many benefits to tanning, there has been some controversy over indoor tanning, especially regarding adolescents patronizing tanning salons.
“I don’t want this to be a kids’ hangout,” Smith said. “We don’t have a lot of teenagers tanning anymore. The laws have changed.”
State law bars youths under 17 from going to tanning salons, Smith noted. Congress is also looking to legislate adolescent tanning, Smith said. “They’re trying to do away with all teen tanning,” she said. “The pharmaceutical companies are very rich. And the pharmaceutical companies don’t like us because if you’re tanning, you’re not putting SPF (sun block) on your body.”
“Because they’re very wealthy companies they can afford to pay the lobbyists,” Smith said. “They do us a lot of damage. A lot of the studies (about tanning) are 30 years old. They’re not new studies.”
Smith said the pharmaceutical companies “don’t want cancer cured because they won’t make their billions of dollars,” even though doctors know the cures for cancers, Smith.
Smith recently became certified in laser hair removal and that service will be offered at the salon in the near future. Smith, who has been a licensed cosmetician since 1969, said her state certified salon will also soon provide other services, including facials and eye lash work.
Currently, Sole Tan provides spray tanning services. “It takes six hours to develop and people look fabulous,” Smith said.
Smith said she enjoys her work. “I love the customers,” she said.
Having a tan is “just part of looking good and feeling good,” she said. “It gives people confidence.”
Being tan makes people look healthier and “mentally feel healthier because you feel good,” Smith said.
Sole Tan is located at 1761 Front St. in Yorktown. For more information, call 914-243-4537 or visit http://www.tanatsoletan.com.
