my spray tanning journey…

How did I start my business? How did this even happen? Something meant just for me, turned into something more. In my case, it was the desire to be TAN, that turned into an amazing business opportunity. Did I plan this? NOPE! But I am sooooo thankful it happened for me, and that I was able to obtain the tools I needed to peruse my dreams.

Remember the Versa-Spa and Mystic Booth? I sure do! I remember the very first time I EVER saw one I was probably in middle school, visiting my grandmother in LaVerne California. Paris Hilton was on the show I was watching but I can not for the life of me remember what it was.

Let’s back up just a bit. I am fare as fare can be so I was simply amazed with the idea of being able to step into a booth, it sprays you, you wait, and you’re TAN! I had to try this thing! In my life I have suffered several sunburns. Multiple times as a kid I had blisters up my back, on my scalp shoulders, the whole bit. I should have been taken to the Dr at LEAST once, and did not protect my skin well enough as an adult. I did not understand Melanin, the long term effects sun damage causes, how prominent and aggressive skin cancer can be, or…….the cost to treat it. So with that in mind, lets go back to the Mystic Booth and Paris Hilton. Haha.

I was wow’ed! I was amazed! I was curious! And I was determined to try one of these things! I wanted to be tan soooo bad! Too bad for me at the time, I lived in Oregon. We were a bit behind when it came to sunless tanning, access to it, or affordability. It wasn’t Hollywood. It wasn’t California at all. And honestly, even if I was in California, I wouldn’t have been able to use one anyway. Nothing was free and I had to work and pay for everything I wanted, and even sometimes the bare necessities. So I never had the chance to use one. That is not until High School.

I found out a Tanning Salon in Salem had one! And I saved as much as I could from each check until I could afford to go. I went in, told the girl I had never been there before and had never used a Mystic Booth before. And I wanted to be DARK! She said something like, (very uninterested unamused tone) ‘Great… You should probably start with Medium, you’re very fare.’ Me: ‘No thanks!’ (Clearly I know nothing about sunless tanning and/or DHA at this point). Her: ‘Ok. Go in there, do this, do that, make sure you use the barrier cream. Make sure its thick on your palms. Step in, hit start, follow the prompts.’ So here I go! I am SO excited! I was scared to death! And for good reason lol! Not only did it scare the ever loving crap out of me when it started, it was COLD, it was wet, it was sticky, and more than once, and I was not in the correct position before it started spraying again!

I am sticky. I am uncomfortable. My clothes are sticking to me. I’m scared to sit down. She gave me no care instructions. So here I am. Just doing my uneducated and excited best. I rinse. I’m orange. I’m stripey. My palms are fine, but I have a very distinct lines in between my fingers and wrists from the barrier cream, and entire spots are missed. Well….not doing that again. Super sad. My hopes and dreams are crushed. I will never be tan.

Fast forward a couple years. I decide to try again. This time I had YouTube! Yes, I am that old lol. YouTube was amazing! It’s how I learned why I can not pull off 4 color eyeshadow looks. How to do my hooded eyes properly, how too apply false lash strips, how to cook a few things and much much more. YouTube was a Gold Mine! I watched these videos multiple times! A girl took her camera into the room with her and set it outside the booth to record the process. Yes, her camera, not her phone. We weren’t quite there yet lol. I went back in, Rubbed in the little bit of barrier cream on my hands, on my feet and other areas, I asked for a nose plug, brought dark loose clothing for after. And I was prepared, for the sticky. Did it go better this time? YES! The color was good. It was pretty even except one spot on my calf which I know now was likely from me touching something or leftover product on my skin….but besides that it was pretty good. My friends were impressed and I loved it!

Fast Forward about 10 more years. I am now married with 3 kiddos. A Military Wife. Recently moved to Virginia and my husband was coming home from a 10 month deployment! He was coming home to a son who was a year older than when he left, and his 6 week old baby girl was about to turn 1. (Am I tearing up right now? Yes lol) I had lost ALL of my baby weight (single mom of 2 moving across the country (and dealing with everything encompassed in a move) alone with 2 kids and a 90lb dog is not easy). I had started working out. It was summer. I was feeling great! And there was one thing missing! I wanted a Spray Tan! There was not a single place near me to get a spray tan. The closest place was over an hour away. And if you know anything about Virginia you will understand when I say, there was no way on Gods green Earth I was going through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnels, with 2 kids, for a spray tan! Not happening. So I was pasty and happy that day instead. No big deal. Still one of the most memorable days of my life. I had my husband back. My daughter was going to get to know her dad. My son wasn’t going to cry himself to sleep anymore becasue he misses his Daddy. All - Good - Things.

Somewhere along the way after he got home I had mentioned I wanted to get a Spray tan and what had happened. I then told him (because I had been watching YouTube videos obsessively for months before the move to VA because my hair dresser offered spray tans and that got me interested, again) that I wanted to learn how to do Spray tans. Then I would teach him, and I could be tan FOREVER! Lol. And also, as we knew, there was nowhere near by that offered Spray tans. Let alone Mobile Tans. * Ding Ding Ding * Good idea Fairy! This is an opportunity!

Luckily he was extremely supportive and was on board. I told him I was going to use the Credit Card for my training and equipment/supplies and would use the $ from tanning my friends to pay it back. He said no. Just buy the stuff and do what you need to do. Okay cool. But if you know me you know I am extremely hyper independent (even though he literally funds my entire existence at this point) and was determined to pay it back. So I would tan my friends here and there. Then they would call or text and be like ‘Hey, so and so needs a Spray tan and I was telling her about you. Can I give her your number?’. Of course! And this is where the business idea really spawned.

It wasn’t until after we had moved to New York that I started to take it seriously. I made a Business Name, I started surrounding myself with my color scheme, Black & Gold. I started creating images on PicMonkey and Word Swag. Editing my own content. Offering discounted tans to models for my Instagram and Facebook page. Created consent forms. Kept track of clients and what I used on them on Index cards. Had a filing system, the whole bit. My daughter even got bit by the entrepreneur bug and started helping me with my clients at 4 years old. She would greet them at the door, show them to the studio, and say ‘My mom will be right in. Do you need a drink or a snack?’ (Am I tearing up again…..? Maybe…. Yall I’m a crier lol). It really started to come together. However, as a mom with now, 3 kids, and a husband in the military working rotating shift work, I physically could not give my business the time it would have needed to thrive. And that’s okay. Did I beat myself up about it? Constantly! But my kids and my family as a whole needed me to hold everything together. I was definitely the glue. But I felt good about it! By the time we left NY i typically had an average of 2-3 clients a week. And that was PERFECT for my busy life and gave me a little extra cash to take the kids out. I also met my Sugaring Lady, Carrie. Bless her. I still think about her every time I lay my eyes on Sugar. I loved it! It was instant gratification like Spray Tanning. It made people feel confident. I was into it!

From New York we moved to Sunny San Diego CA, and my business Skyrocketed! I was so flippin happy! I would pay my oldest to chill with the kiddos for my mobile tans, and they would all chill upstairs if I had a studio tan. Business was going so well I was averaging multiple clients a day. I was considering moving into a space and had started looking into renting a brick and Mortar. Telling myself the whole time, if it’s meant to be, it will be. I was set to go look at a really nice spot close to home in 4 days! And then the world got rocked. Covid hit. My business plummeted, and never recovered. Was I sad? OF COURSE! However, if I had signed a lease for that space, I would have been paying 2k a month for a year, and would not be legally allowed to work! So, HUGE blessing in disguise.

In the mean time I decided to go to school. Why? Because I wanted to offer more services. Specifically……Sugaring! I have ALWAYS loved makeup, skincare, nails, everything beauty (I grew up the Tom boy and Ugly Duckling) and was learning to LOVE everything about myself. And all of the thing listed previously, helped. So I studied and I studied and I studied and graduated at the top of my class with my License in Esthetics.

Which leads me to here! We got to Forney and I hit the ground running! I filed for my LLC, transferred my license, started building up my home studio, offering mobile tans, paid to build a website, and started settling in to my surroundings. When I was ready I hired a trainer for a 1 on 1 sugaring class that focused on Brazilians (I was not about to do one on someone without professional, official, certifiable 1 on 1 training. Plus, I wanted the certificate to hang on my wall and give my guests confidence in their service provider.

So here we are! That’s my story of how Pixie Dust Tanning Co. came to be.

What inspired the name? Well, I have loved Tinkerbell since I was a tiny kiddo. She has sass, and beauty, she’s brave but loves with her whole heart. She wont hesitate to defend someone and cherishes those around her.. except Wendy. Obvs.

Thank you so much for reading my story! <3

Feel free to reach out with any questions and have an amazing rest of your day.

Blog Post Title Two

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Three

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Four

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.