THE BRONZE AGE

WASILLA — Melissa Parrish spent much of her 20s in the sun and bronzing under the harsh lights of tanning beds. Even so, it was still a surprise when, at age 32, the young mother was diagnosed with skin cancer.

She knew the risks and worked in the medical field, including a stint as a paramedic, “but I just thought it wouldn’t happen to me,” Parrish said.

That’s why some initially find it odd that Parrish, along with friend and business partner Nicole Vaughan, have recently started Naked Turtle Mobile Spray Tanning. Unlike salons where people buy time to lay in tanning beds, Naked Turtle comes to its customers and sprays an organic, chemical- and alcohol-free solution to create a natural-looking tan.

“We both have been into airbrushing and have been airbrushing artists just for fun,” Parrish said.

When she stopped tanning after her cancer diagnosis, Parrish tried spray tanning at the salons as a safe alternative. What she got was an unpleasant experience.

“I’m a young mother and I want to look nice and feel good about myself,” she said. “When you’re tan, you feel better; it hides blemishes. I would do the (spray) booths, and you get sprayed down and you’re dripping wet from this big blast of stuff. Then you come out and have to wipe down really good. And then you have these streaks and spots, and it’s just awful.”

That’s when Parrish and Vaughan decided to start their own spray tanning business. Because both have had bouts with skin cancer, Parrish said developing a tanning solution that’s 100 percent safe and organic was a priority.

A Naked Turtle tan comes from a combination of water from Alaska Pure Water, caramelized sugar (which is the bronzing agent), cranberry seed extract, walnut shell extract, sea kelp, Hawaiian sea salt and vitamin C.

The result, Parrish said, is a tan that not only looks natural, but fades naturally as well. That’s a far cry from the over-the-counter aerosol sprays that are becoming more popular.

“Those are awful, and it takes a long time to go away,” she said. “The products we have absolutely will not make you orange, and with the gun we spray with, it’s almost impossible to get a bad spray tan.”

A typical spray tan takes about 30 minutes, costs about $50 and comes to the customer. Naked Turtle will bring its portable spray tent and equipment anywhere, Parrish said.

“We prefer to do it in a shower or bathtub, but we’ve been to some strange places,” she said. “We went to a warehouse last week and sprayed a guy. A good majority of our clients have been men. I think men either don’t want to go into the salons or don’t have time and just want somebody to come to them. We’ve been to hotels, we’ve done (tans) outside in the backyard, in the garage.”

People also can host tanning parties, where the cost per tan will be reduced. Those are popular for mom gatherings and bachelorette parties.

Parrish also advises that any kind of tanning is not a substitute for using sunscreen. “It doesn’t protect you from the sun, it just makes you look like you’ve been in the sun.”

For now, Parrish’s medical prognosis is good, but she’s not out of the woods.

“About five or six months ago I had a melanoma,” she said. “Thankfully, it was caught early. I had another one a couple weeks ago.”

Parrish and Vaughan have even put their artistic abilities to work for some clients, using airbrushes to create abs on those who may not have earned them the hard way.

Although Naked Turtle is a business and making a profit is key, “the business is also based partly on education and prevention,” Parrish said. “Even the American Dermatological Society and the American Medical Association say that the only safe tanning is spray tanning.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.