Tanning Salons in Mount Prospect

Inside Ultimate Exposure Tanning Centers' 34 Chicagoland locations, a full lineup of UV- and spray-tanning equipment infuse skin with a healthy summer glow year-round. Individual sessions in the automated spray-tanning booths—such as VersaSpa—or UV beds gild bodysuits for nights on the town, and unlimited monthly packages fashion a continuous golden hue previously only available to sunbathing satellites. The salon stocks a variety of tan-accelerating lotions from Swedish Beauty, Australian Gold, and Designer Skin, which deepen bronze hues and moisturize skin to fashion a long-lasting radiance.

Escape Tan and Spa is an oasis of heat and light. The shop’s most powerful UV beds harness the power of miniature suns, radiating "high pressure" UVA wavelengths that penetrate deep into the skin to create a rich, long-lasting color. Two milder levels of tanning provide a lighter glow and the option to stand up in a booth rather than lie down. The power of light also bolsters other parts of the body, with infrared Formostar body wraps relieving joint stiffness and LED light bleaching stains away from teeth. Mystic Tan booths bypass light entirely, relying instead on a bronzing formula that both colors skin a tawny hue and conceals scars, blemishes, and newly installed USB ports.

With its glossy black tiles and ornate furnishings, the interior of Total Image combines the relaxing atmosphere of a contemporary salon with classic baroque styling. This balance between old-fashioned and modern elegance finds a worthy counterpart in the salon’s UV-free tanning and cosmetic services, which aim to imbue skin with a timeless beauty. The staff of experienced beauticians approaches each 15-minute spray-tan application with an uncommon concern for detail, evenly covering the skin with a DHA-based solution derived from sugar and beets. Across the salon, a dedicated team of makeup artists summons pink lips, tinted lashes, and cherry-red tic-tac-toe boards on forearms.

In its earliest stages, airbrush technology was used solely for magazine cover models, deceased-rapper t-shirts, and makeup for the cast of Cats. But when airpaints shot to $93 a barrel in 2000 following the dot-com bubble burst, airbrush artistry became financially unviable. A drought of airbrush artists resulted in finger-paint-based photo retouching, shirtless Tupac fans, and the renaming of Cats to Humans. At the 2008 International CO2-Based Design Conference, out-of-work airbrush artists finally discovered a profitable solution: airbrush tanning. They immediately went back to work, delighting the millions of Americans patiently waiting for sunless, streak-free tanning options. “It's called Ortanic, and it's nothing short of amazing. We've tried Mystic Tan in the past and ended up looking less-than glowing and more like macaroni and cheese. We've tried self tanners and spent many nights lathering ourselves with different lotions to come to determine which one is the top runner, followed by many days walking around with different colors stained on our skin.

Hollywood Tan in Janesville sprints seasonally affected skin suits to their Olympic third-place finish with customers' choice of tanning bed or sunless spray tan. UV fans can use their month of unlimited tanning (a $36.95 value) to lay supine in a souped-up Dr. Kern CX 323 bed, with 32 lamps, three facial tanners, and multiple body fans for a warm, breezy beach-rivaling experience. If beds aren't your cup of bronzer, opt for spray tanning. You'll take two tint-transforming trips (a $37.90 value) to the Magic Tan booth, which is lined with 36 spray nozzles set to your choice of light, medium, or dark. After 60 seconds in the sunless cocoon, you'll emerge a human hummingbird with a tan that can last up to a week.

Hollywood Tan's 12 locations help Midwesterners stay tan year-round—even under their parkas. They accomplish this using equipment such as standup capsules, tanning beds, and Mystic Tan booths, the latter of which bronzes hides using an aloe vera–based spray solution instead of UV rays or a mysterious candy-factory bubblegum that turns obnoxious children tan. Off to the side, lotions stand at attention on shelves, ready to help clients maintain their tan and keep their skin moisturized.