Eyewear Regs Vary by State!

Monday, August 1st, 2016

8.16-IST-CoverDid you know that in Kentucky, salon operators cannot offer their tanners shared goggles – those used by multiple people and sanitized by staff after each use. Kentucky regulations require each tanner to have their own eyewear or the salon to provide disposable, one-time-use protection; it is not required to be provided for free. New Hampshire also does not allow a pair of goggles to be worn by multiple consumers in a tanning salon. Eyewear cannot be altered in any manner that changes it from the manufacturer’s intended use, such as removing any straps that are included in the product packaging. The salon must sell eyewear to the tanner or provide disposable eye protection. Iowa is my favorite: eyewear cannot be reused, it can’t be altered, your staff must ask to see a tanner’s eyewear before they enter a tanning room, and the salon must provide disposable eyewear in the tanning rooms at all times with a sign posted stating that disposable eyewear is available and must be worn (whew!). I consider Iowa’s law to be excellent! It ensures that the tanner shows their own eyewear, but still has access to clean eyewear in the tanning room.

Some states go the opposite route.

Click here to read more or download PDF of entire article.

Eye Pro Offers Online Salon Tips!

Saturday, July 2nd, 2016

EP 2016 Salon Tip web grabJuly 2016 – EYE PRO, Inc., world leader in eyewear and makers of Ultra Gold WINK-EASE, Lash Room WINK-EASE, and WINK-EASE Dark, wants to help salons as much as possible — and has a special online section of their website to do just that!

“Offering salons support is so important to our industry,” said Jackie DeWald, EYE PRO office manager.  “We have dedicated a portion of our website, called Salon Tips, to offer quick and easy ways to help educate and provide ideas to your salon team.   We offer a variety of things: our FREE 20-minute online staff training, downloadable single page PDFs of salon tips, including a 104-point salon cleaning check list, our WINK-EASE one-time use letter to share with tanners that want to re-use their disposable eyewear, articles explaining how to switch to selling eye wear instead of cleaning it, a Tanners’ Quiz, and so much more,” she continued.“Our goal is to provide great resources to help salons increase sales. The Salon Tips section is found on our website (WinkEase.com/support) and we add new tips all the time.”
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How Real Salons Made the Switch … to Only SELLING Eye Protection

Friday, July 1st, 2016

7.16-IST-CoverIn the 13 years I’ve written “Eye to Eye,” the most popular topic has been “Making the Big Switch” – basically, my tips for switching from sharing goggles to only SELLING eye protection – and keeping your guests HAPPY.

It may be easy to write about phasing out shared eyewear; but does it actually work? Here’s what some salon operators who did it successfully have to say:

Sabrina Tan owns Healthy Glow Tanning in Chelan, WA, and used several ideas from my “Making the Big Switch” article. She put a notice on her salon’s front counter informing tanners that due to insurance and sanitation reasons, there would be no more shared goggles.

Click here to read more or download PDF of entire article.

WINK-EASE is now on Twitter!

Thursday, June 2nd, 2016

EP Phone Twitter PR_920June 2016 – EYE PRO, Inc., world leader in eyewear and makers of Ultra Gold WINK-EASE, Lash Room WINK-EASE, and WINK-EASE Dark, is excited to be on Twitter!

“We are excited to be able to showcase our products and promote tanning on Twitter,” said Jackie DeWald, EYE PRO office manager.  “We post tanning tips, fun tanning memes, and promote eye protection.  We love for salons to retweet them to promote their own salon,” she continued. “And best of all, expanding into a variety of social media allows us to educate tanners about tanning responsibly and wearing eye protection!”
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Let’s Talk About Cleaning Sunbeds

Wednesday, June 1st, 2016

6.16 IST CoverIn the April issue of IST Magazine, I wrote about using proper tanning bed disinfectants and not substituting solutions that leave residues that are potentially damaging to acrylic surfaces or a tanner’s skin, and that simply don’t meet disinfection standards. I hope you also remember that the product required to be used after every tanner is properly called a “disinfectant.” A bed “cleaner” is actually more of a polish, meant to buff out scratches on acrylics, shine handles and get into the tiny corners – best used for weekly equipment detailing.

For many salons, this is a typically slower time of year – a good time to do some deep cleaning. So, now that I’ve convinced you to use proper hospital-grade disinfectants made specifically for cleaning sunbeds, I’d like to cover how to do it properly.

May is UV Awareness Month!

Monday, May 2nd, 2016

4.2016 May UV Aware insta BF fin EPCMat 2014 FIN.indd

May 2016 – EYE PRO, Inc., world leader in eyewear and makers of Ultra Gold WINK-EASE, Lash Room WINK-EASE,  and WINK-EASE Dark, is always working hard to keep salon owners/staff and clients educated and informed about the importance of eye health, preventing eye disease and reducing vision loss.

“We love helping salon owners educate their tanners through our educational counter mat, ” said Jackie DeWald, EYE PRO office manager.  “With the month of May being UV Awareness Month, it’s a perfect time to remind everyone about the importance of using the proper UV blocking eyewear to protect eyes — whether tanning indoors or out.” (To get a FREE Counter Mat for your salon, go to WinkEase.com/promos and use the code word: IST Counter Mat)
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FDA Proposes Changes To Eyewear Regs

Sunday, May 1st, 2016

5.16 IST CoverIn all the hubbub about the FDA’s Proposed Rule concerning UV exposure times and the under-18 ban, you may have missed their suggestion that current eye protection regulations be dramatically changed. In fact, 25% of the proposed changes involve adjusting current eye protection regs in an effort to “harmonize” with a European standard.

So, why would the FDA attempt to change a rule that has been in place since 1979?

Click here to read more or download PDF of entire article.

WINK-EASE Dark is the perfect eye protection for Lunchtime Tanners!

Saturday, April 2nd, 2016

WEDarkPouchApril 2016 – EYE PRO, Inc., world leader in disposable eye protection for indoor tanning and makers of Ultra Gold WINK-EASE, Lash Room WINK-EASE and WINK-EASE Dark, wants lunchtime tanners to try WINK-EASE Dark for a relaxing tan during the day.

“Tanners love our traditional 250-pair box Ultra Gold WINK-EASE disposable eye protection, however, when a tanner is hoping to catch a quick power nap, the eye protection of choice is WINK-EASE Dark,” says Brenda Fishbaugh, president. “WINK-EASE Dark disposable eye protection provides FDA compliant eye protection, but is considerably darker than our Ultra Gold WINK-EASE. Tanners can nap easily after a too-much-fun weekend, a tough work day or if they just prefer a darker tanning environment to avoid light-sensitive headaches,” Fishbaugh continued.
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Eye Opener: Salon Operators Substituting Disinfectant?

Friday, April 1st, 2016

4.2016 IST coverI recently asked salon operators if they have a substitute product they use for cleaning sun beds and goggles if they run out of their everyday cleaning solution (a misnomer; you really need to call it bed disinfectant, since it kills pathogens).

Robert Ashe, owner of Sun Seekers in Stratham, NH, says that he always re-orders bed disinfectant when his is about halfway gone. “I would not consider being out of tanning bed disinfectant!” he exclaims, citing three main reasons:

Click here to read more or download PDF of entire article.

Ultra Gold WINK-EASE Now Available in 30-pair packs!

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016

UGWinkEase30pk_346March, 2016 – Eye Pro, Inc., world leader in disposable eye protection for indoor tanning and makers of Ultra Gold WINK-EASE, Lash Room WINK-EASE and WINK-EASE Dark, wants it to be known that Ultra Gold WINK-EASE are available in 30-pair packs in addition to their best-selling 250- pair rolls.

“Salon owners love our traditional 250-pair box of Ultra Gold WINK-EASE disposable eye protection,” says Brenda Fishbaugh, President. “This has been the No. 1 choice of salons all over the world and with the smaller, 30-pair packs, salons that have never offered disposable eye protection may now give it a try!” Fishbaugh adds that this is also a perfect size for salons that offer split services such as hair/nails/tanning. Continue Reading »