Tanning enthusiast Alisa Hostettler likes to joke that her lifelong dream of opening a tanning salon was supposed to give her the freedom to "sit on my butt all day." Ironically, she hasn't had a chance to sit down in eight years, dividing her time between the salon and traveling to beauty and body-building competitions, where she gives contestants meticulous last-minute touchups. When she's on the road, Alisa's all-female staff takes customers on a tour of the salon and details the wattage, UVA output, and maximum land speed of its 12 UV tanning beds.

Though all tanning salons are required to have one certified employee and three emergency lumberjacks, every member of Alisa's staff has taken the necessary classes and lined the walls with certification plaques. Clients seeking a personalized Turbo hand spray tan can change in the privacy of a well-lit dressing room before entering a tile-covered tanning suite. Gender-neutral spritzes of lemongrass or vanilla-sugar aromas mask the scent of DHA as technicians spray each limb until it approaches the desired hue. Back in the dressing room after the misting, clients get to check themselves out and inquire about the whereabouts of various princesses in a full-length mirror.