Planet Beach, Logan’s new spa, offers customers more than just darker skin
There’s a new place in town where customers can come out smelling like coconut and looking a little darker.
Planet Beach tanning spa allows all who enter into its orange, purple and yellow atmosphere to use equipment designed for those longing for beach bodies or a little relaxation.
While the business has lay-down, stand-up and spray-on beds, according to Richard Leisy, the store owner, what sets them apart from other tanning salons in the area is their “hydration station,” a liquid vitamin steam bath that looks like something from the future.
“It’s amazing. It’s sort of like a steam sauna and a body wrap in one,” Leisy said.
The hydration station looks much like a rocket with a clear shield that comes over the body when a person is lying down. The sides have lights that change colors from red to blue to green to yellow.
It has a vibratory massage on the bed and uses steam and radiant heat to raise body temperature and open pores, Leisy said. The body then absorbs liquid vitamins in the steam and preps skin for UV light.
Leisy also said if a person applies lotion to their skin before using the spa bed, the body will absorb it and stay moisturized much longer.
Because Planet Beach offers this service and tanning, Leisy said, “We are really proud of our equipment. We’re proud of our products here and have the highest quality service in the industry.”
Another thing that makes them different is they have memberships for both tanning and the hydration station, Leisy said. Also, he added, all of the associates are Smart Tan certified and their credentials are posted on the wall.
“It’s an international Smart Tan network. It’s an organization dedicated to educating and training the public and stores on moderate tanning and benefits of UV light,” Leisy said.
Such benefits, Leisy said, are added Vitamin D that a person can get from the sun or from tanning beds and more serotonin is released from UV light, as well.
Because of the knowledge Planet Beach associates have, Leisy said, “We promote moderate tanning. We’re not only tanning specialists, but we’re skincare specialists.”
Planet Beach has been open since Dec. 19, and since then Leisy said they have been extremely busy and are looking into adding equipment to meet customers’ needs.
Whitney Thompson, a freshman in nursing, went tanning there and said she really loved her experience.
“The people were very personable,” she said. “The cleanliness and atmosphere was a lot better than other tanning places I’ve been too. You can really tell they have tried hard to make their tanning studio a step beyond the rest.”
Thompson said she tried the stand-up bed and really liked it because it was a high-quality bed and eliminated all lines.
Thompson went to Planet Beach because she got three free tans as all first-time customers do. Leisy said everyone has to buy protective eyewear, which cost $3, and then they get three tans for no charge.
Brooke Douglas, a sophomore in business information systems, was another student who took advantage of that opportunity.
“I liked it,” she said, “but I wouldn’t pay to go there. It’s too expensive.”
Planet Beach’s prices start at $8 for the basic bed and go up from there. Leisy said the best deal is to get a membership with unlimited tanning.
Leisy said anyone 18 years and older can tan. People ages 14-18 must have parental consent and no one under 14 can tan at Planet Beach without a medical condition and a doctor’s note.
Although tanning may be craze, people should be careful about too much UV exposure. Leisy said a person should never burn.
Dermatologists suggest people should wear SPF 15 outside and most recommend people don’t use tanning beds. Indoor tanning lamps can emit UV as much as 15 times that of the sun, significantly increasing a tanning bed user’s skin cancer risk, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.
Planet Beach will modify how many minutes a person tans in a bed and Leisy said they are really careful so that customers don’t overexpose their skin.
-mnewbold@cc.usu.edu