Tan Talk .. Information for Tanning Enthusiasts

Tanning salons, as well as manufacturers, seem to use a lot of terminology when referring to tanning. Terms such as HO, VHO, and RUVA are smeared all over advertisements and salon brochures. What exactly do all these things mean? Are they important? Well, yes they are, and it is important for you to understand the terms of tanning so know what you are paying for the next time you step into a salon.

Terms such as HO, VHO, RUVA, and VHR�, refer to the strength of a tanning bulb.

HO is a 100 watt bulb.
HOR is a 100 watt bulb with a built in reflector.
VHO is a 160 watt bulb.
VHOR / RUVA / VHR� is a 160 watt bulb with a built in reflector.
What a "built in reflector" means is that inside one half of the tanning bulb the surface is mirrored. This mirrored surface reflects much more of the light toward the tanner.

Number of Bulbs

The number of bulbs in a tanning bed is obviously an important factor in the type of results you can expect. It goes to reason that the more bulbs you have surrounding you, the more exposure you will receive in a given amount of time. Typically, you will find salons with 24, 32, 36, 40, and 48 bulb units. However, you can probably find tanning beds with even more bulbs! There is, though, a point of diminishing returns when it come to tanning bulbs. There can be a drastic difference in tanning output between a 24 and 48 bulb tanning unit, but is there really a big difference between using a 48-bulb and a 52-bulb unit? Probably not much.

What you will find is combinations of bulbs types in a single tanning unit. For example, a tanning salon may have a 40-bulb bed that has 20 VHO bulbs in the canopy (top) and 20 HO bulbs in the lounge (bottom.)
High Pressure / Facials

You may have heard about something called "high pressure" tanning. No, this does not refer to traumatic stresses on the tanner, although the prices of these machines may lead you to believe that is the case. Rather, it refers to the bulbs. The inside of the little lamps are at a higher pressure than the atmosphere surrounding them, hence "high pressure." (Yes, the other more frequent tanning bulbs you find in most tanning beds are low pressure.) High pressure tanning bulbs emit practically all of their light in the UVA spectrum, which can have some advantages over typical low-pressure bulbs that generally emit in both the UVA and UVB spectrum.

High pressure lamps can make up part of the tanning lamp array, such as being used as facial tanners on tanning bed units, or they can be the only type of bulb used, such as in high pressure tanning beds.

Tan Times

The maximum length of a bed time is determined by the total amount of exposure, measured in M.E.D.'s, you receive from a tanning bed. You can receive a maximum of 4 M.E.D.'s in one session. The exact definition of an M.E.D. is rather complicated, and is beyond the scope of this discussion, but it is the standard unit used to measure exposure.

UVB %

More and more today salons and bulb manufacturers are advertising "UVB%." UVB, or ultraviolet B is the wattage a bulb emits in the UVB spectrum as a percentage of the total output of the bulb. It is a relative measurement gotten by dividing a bulb's total UVB by its UVA energy, and has little to do with the bulbs total output. Just because a bulb has a high UVB percentage doesn't necessarily mean it has more tanning wattage than a lower UVB percentage bulb.

Actually, this is a pretty important thing to be aware of when getting into a tanning bed. Generally speaking, bulbs range from about 2.5% UVB up to about 9% UVB, and although that may not seem like a large variance, it can mean the difference between getting good tanning results and getting very burned. In my experience, darker tans seem to come from lowers UVB percentage bulbs, although you may not "feel" like you've gotten any immediate results from the lamp.    Higher UVB bulbs tend to produce more of a "redness." People with fair skin, or beginning tanners, should stick with low to mid-level bulbs.   Higher percentage bulbs can seriously burn a tanner with fair skin. People with darker complexions can benefit from higher UVB bulbs and they may help these skin types tan better.

You may have noticed that some tanning beds have maximum tanning times of 10, 12, 15, or even 20 minutes. That means you are receiving those 4 M.E.D.'s in that period of time. Generally beds with fewer bulbs will have tanning times longer than those with many stronger bulbs.

Price

Well, price isn't really a terminology issue, but a lot of the things discussed on this page have to do with how much a tanning salon will typically charge for use of a tanning bed. A tanning salon will base their price schedule around their "base" tanning bed. This will typically be the bed with the lowest number of bulbs in the salon. Usually, this will be an HO unit using 16 - 32 bulbs. On average, these will be 20 minutes beds and the store will have more than one on the premises. In addition, salons may have "premium" or "upgrade" beds with more bulbs for the customer to use at a higher fee.

Is it worth paying more to use these beds? Yes.   That is if you are ready to use them. If you are just beginning to tan it is not a very smart thing to jump into a 48-bulb RUVA tanning bed, as alluring as it may sound, because you will most likely wind up getting burned or paying extra money for a session in which you will not be able to tan for the maximum time. Once you have an established tan, these tanning beds may just be what you need.

If a tanning salon is, for example, charging $5 for a session in a base tanning bed, a session in an upgrade bed may cost up to $10, or more. How can it be worth it? Well, to maintain a tan you may only have to tan once a week in a 48-bulb RUVA bed, depending on your skin type, while you may have to tan 2-3 times a week in a base bed at the same location for the same results. That is one $10 session versus three $5 sessions. If you are busy with work or school and don't have time to tan, using an upgrade tanning unit may be just what you need!