Don Smith

FYI To Ask Don's Army:

[Note: Please read "Stay With Me...#1, 2, 3 & 4" before you read this post.]

Lesson 1:

Therefore, the "core" or baseline business of indoor tanning salons delivering UVR (but not those who offer only spray tanning ) is that they help their clients develop PROTECTIVE PIGMENTATION.

Thus, instead of saying "A tan, is a tan, is a tan", we should be saying that acquired (or adaptive) "Protective pigmentation, is protective pigmentation, is protective pigmentation".

And the form of "protective pigmentation" we help our clients develop is known as FACULTATIVE PIGMENTATION. Facultative pigmentation is the acquired or adaptive and transient form and CONSTITUTIVE PIGMENTATION is what we call our permanent natural skin color. Constitutive and facultative pigmentation work together to protect our skin, i.e., they make up our PROTECTIVE PIGMENATION.

[Note: When you read a medical journal, the words "facultative pigmentation" are usually used in place of the word "tanning" and we should IMMEDIATELY start doing the same. Remember we agreed earlier that the word "tanning" has negative connotations in the mind of the American public and there is NO SUCH NEGATIVE CONNOTATION with the words PROTECTIVE PIGMENTATION.]

Thus, PROTECTIVE PIGMENTATION (constitutive and facultative) protects us 4 ways.

1. Photo-protection. Facultative pigmentation (a "tan") protects the skin from being sunburned.

2. Thermo-protection. Facultative pigmentation (a "tan") acts as a "chromophore" and, because it absorbs heat producing infrared wavelengths, helps the body dissipate the heat into the air and thereby keep the body temperature regulated.

3. Immuno-protection. Facultative pigmentation (a "tan") helps protect you two ways. First of all, it protects you from environmental "insults" by "sheilding" the skin's immune defense system from the immuno-suppressive wavelengths and, secondly, by allowing the immuno-stimulatory wavelengths to pass through.

4. Enhancing Repair Capacity. Facultative pigmentation (a "tan") works in ways not completely understood to "enhance" our normal and natural "cellular repair" mechanism.

Therefore, kiddies, the "lesson" of Lesson 1 is that we should resolve (as an industry) to "downplay" the negative words "tanning" and "tan" from this point forward and replace them with the words "PROTECTIVE PIGMENATION" which, I think you will agree is much more positive AND descriptive.

Moreover, since none of us (especially me!) will live long enough (no matter how hard we work) to rehabilitate the word "tanning" in the minds of the American public and so we should "turn lemons into lemonade" by CLEARLY STATING what we do when we help our clients utilize UVR to develop protective pigmentation.

The "bottom line" is that "traditional" tanning salons (those delivering UVR) are "providers" who help their clients develop adaptive and protective facultative pigmentation that supplements our natural skin color. This "protective pigmentation is photo-protective, thermo-protective and immuno-protective and helps stimulate our normal, natural cellular repair process.

Aren't the words PROTECTIVE PIGMENTATION much more descriptive and meaningful than the words tanning or cosmetic tanning? If you agree, then start using the words PROTECTIVE PIGMENTATION right away.

[Note: Lesson 2 will cover using the word "cosmetic" henceforth to ONLY describe the spray tanning process.]

Don "Who Loves The Words 'Protective Pigmentation' Because They Are TRUE And Meaningful" Smith



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[ This Message was edited by: Don Smith on 2002-09-05 17:12 ]

neon

I am really enjoying this whole "Stay with me" thread. How many more lessons do you have in mind? Or will you move on to #6 soon?

I also love the words "Protective Pigmentation", but if I listed myself under this in the phone book then no one would find me. Could you give us some examples of how we could use this term more often?

solarmeter

Assuming the FDA/FTC doesn't consider "protective pigmentation" among their "banned claims" list, make a big sign and put it in the window with letters 10% bigger than "tanning".

If every salon did that, gradually the public would become accustomed to the term. Then "tanning" letter size could be made smaller and smaller as the years go by... until it is too tiny to read!

Don Smith

Steve:

I've already started the ball rolling with FDA/FTC regarding reconsideration of the "mandated" use of the word "cosmetic" when it clearly doesn't apply to UVR "delivering" systems (and it has never applied because we have known about photo-protection and thermo-protection for 20+ years!).

Think about it. The FDA/FTC, if they force the indoor tanning industry to only use the words "cosmetic tanning" are "mandating" that we lie to the American public and we can't allow them to do that!

Cosmetic tanning = spray tanning .

The development of PROTECTIVE PIGMENTATION = UVR tanning.

It's not an issue for discussion. This is a matter of being allowed to state the incontrovertible facts.

Don "Who Says We Should Be Able To Say What We Do Without Lying" Smith