Riviera Tanning isn’t really new, only bigger, said Denise Ross, one of the owners. Ross said she wanted to own her own tanning salon since she worked part-time in one throughout high school. Although she got her wish seven years ago, when Frederick’s beauty salon made space for several tables in its Front Street store, earlier this month, Ross’s dream came true when she and her partner relocated an expanded facility to a space in the Plaza Center of town.
“It’s a better location for us,” Ross said, “and it allowed us to expand and offer even better accommodations.” She said business was so brisk it outgrew the Frederick’s location.
Although always a big tanning buff, Ross said she came to Secaucus from Sussex County to work for Tops Appliance store and opened the salon initially as a part-time enterprise. Gradually business increased to the point where she had to give up her job and work at the salon, which is what she wanted all along.
“It took about three years,” she said. Since then, business continued to grow until she and her partner sought out a large place.
When Pets Plus closed its doors earlier this year, Ross and her partner jumped on the chance to take over the prime center-of-town location, converting the storefront into a tanning spa with eight tables and two stand up tanning units.
A controlled environment
Customers, she said, come from varied walks of life, though many come from the corporate offices on the other side of Route 3 as well as from nearby towns such as Weehawken and North Bergen.
Although Ross said more women than men use the service, three men and one woman came into the store while she was being interviewed. Each had a different complexion. One man looked pale, but 20 minutes later, he came out with the first signs of a tan. Another more muscular man had clearly come in before, seeking to reinforce a tan he had developed during previous visits.
Ross said even good tanning salons like hers can only do so much for people.
“Some people just don’t tan,” she said. “Although anyone who does will get a better tan here than they would outside.”
Although she just turned 33, Ross hardly looks it. Part of this is the benefit of a rich tan, acquired under the lamps. The units vary in time and potency, with some of the more high powered units designed to provide quicker tans. Times vary in the units from eight to 20 minutes.
“We recommend a shorter period of time for people just starting out,” Ross said.
The stand-up units, designed for someone in a hurry, look a little like soda machines and are only marginally larger. They contain two sections, one in which the client changes from street clothing, another with walls thick with tanning bulbs. The tanning beds look like something out of science fiction.
While the idea is for the client to get naked so that rays can strike every inch of skin, some people are shy – even though each room provides absolute privacy – and they start off wearing a swimming suit as if going to a beach. “Eventually, they go in with nothing on,” Ross said. “That way they avoid tan lines.”
The salon supplies a beauty bar and shower where people can freshen up after their session.
Machines are safer than natural sun?
Tanning like this, Ross said, has been growing on people for years, partly because of the horror stories about the effect of sunlight can have on skin. Machines like those found in Riviera Tanning can control the intensity and the time people are exposed, she said.
“Many people come here to get a base before they go out into the sun,” she said. “This helps them prevent burning.”
When done correctly, the machine creates a tan that won’t peel or damage the skin. Machines often also provide a fuller tan than natural sun, since the light is more consistent and applied more fully.
“In natural sun, people get some light here and there,” Ross said.
Since people’s skins vary, the time needed to get a tan also varies. The Irish and others with lighter complexions will take longer than someone with darker complexions, such as Italian or Spanish people. In general, however, a person needs about four sessions to get a good tan.
“But most times, you’ll notice a difference after the first session,” Ross said.
Riviera offers various discount packages. Ross said over the years, prices for sessions have increased.
“They used to be cheaper, but people had to stay longer to get the effect they wanted,” she said. “Now with more powerful units, they can take shorter sessions and come here fewer times per week. Instead of coming in three or four times a week as in the past, people can come in once or twice.”