Golden Tan

I am going to do a review comparison for those who may be looking around for the best. The two that I’m going to compare is Celsius Tannery in Westwood and Golden Tan in Mission.
For price I like Golden Tan. They just seem to have better specials. Cleanliness I like Celsius. The rooms are white sheet-​rock with light carpet and a bright cheerful atmosphere. Golden tan has unfinished particle board walls that don’t go all the way to the floor. That’s good for air circulation but I don’t feel the privacy that I do at Celsius. And the bldg is dark and older. Not a big deal but it’s just an older atmosphere. Also, there is something about the ceiling at Golden Tan that makes me feel exposed. For air-​conditioning, I give it to Celsius. The bldg temperature is always comfortable and cool and I’ve never gotten hot while in the beds or after getting out. For operating hours, I prefer Golden Tan because I like that they have later hours. As for the product (the tan) I feel like I get more color from Celsius and in less time. Golden Tan has 20 min beds; Celsius has 10 min for about same price. I’m cheap so I just always do the cheapest beds available. Honestly I don’t notice much difference in the amount of color I get. I just get the same but in less time if I go to Celsius. The beds appear to be newer and nicer at Celsius. As for the staff, I prefer Celsius because they are friendly and clean-​cut if you will. Golden Tan staff has for the most part has been polite and friendly but I’ve experienced some that were less attentive. Once the front desk gal propped the door open and smoked outside the door while her cigarette smoke sucked right into the bldg. It was hard to breathe while stuck in a bed with no place to get relief. Another time the young girl and her boy friend were sitting up on the counter s with a TV on as if they weren’t interested in their customers. Also you might find a few more tattoos and cigarette smells on the Golden Tan staff. I’ve never experienced a wait at either of these. Celsius maybe a few minutes but I almost always get right in. I’ve never had to make reservations at either of these salons.
Bottom line: I would have to give Celsius my preference overall. I’ll still go to Golden Tan when I want cheap and convenient.

I used the UV free spray tan here. The place is definitely a little bit dated. Circa 1994 is a great description! The room where the UV free spray tan machine is made of ply wood. The front desk girl was friendly. I would say average place to go. Very affordable, but far from luxurious!

For the last two Februaries, I’ve been doing a month of unlimited tanning to get ready for vacation. It’s around $ 40 if you bring in a coupon from their website. It’s the closest place to my house and pretty inexpensive, so it just kind of ends up being the place I go. But there are a few quirky attributes I must mention. Not deal breakers for me, but just good to pass along.
Décor consists of several Hawaiian Tropic type posters circa 1994-​jury is still out on whether this is awesome or not. If you’re lucky enough to get room #5, get ready for some beefcakes in white swimwear!
The owner insists on calling me various forms of honey, sweetie, babe numerous times each visit. Normally it wouldn’t bother me too much, but dude, I don’t want to hear that stuff when I’m about to take my clothes off to tan. Just kind of makes me think he’s creepier that he probably is.
There are paper towels only-​no real, big girl towels which usually I like to wrap my hair in to protect the color-​I mean natural blonde from UV rays. And the music selection is usually classic rock which really, just fits.
All in all, I kind of like the kitsch of the place and it probably helps keep prices low. But I could do without the terms of «en-​creep-​ment».

So here I am, writing a review for behavior that I don’t necessarily advocate. Some may call me a hypocrite, but I feel as though I am justified. Here’s the deal, I am white. Like, really white. When I was in high school I frequented tanning salons and in the summer you couldn’t drizzle enough tanning oil over my body. Fast forward to now, and I have gracefully accepted that I will never naturally be a bronzed beauty, nor do I strive for that goal. I can sit in the sun, burn, and eventually that will turn into a mild tan, but I have been on this «prevent wrinkles, cancer, etc» kick, and tanning doesn’t even interest me. I have embraced my pasty whiteness.
I would consider my current behavior precautionary. I’m heading to Mexico in a month, and I know that even while donning spf 50, I will burn to a ruby red crisp if I don’t have somewhat of a base tan built up. So there I was, calling tanning salons asking about monthly specials… The best deal I found was at Natural Tan, which is near my home, bonus. The online special was better than the one he was currently advertising, and it was about 20 dollars cheaper than the other places I called, so I decided to check it out.
When I arrived around 7, there were several beds open, so no wait. Tim explained the differences between the beds and described the quality of bulbs in the bed. We both agreed that due to my extreme paleness, I wouldn’t need to spend money to upgrade to the higher bed at this point. I signed the paperwork and presented my coupon. After tax, a month of unlimited tanning was about $ 43.
The beds were clean, and they provide goggles. I watched Tim disinfect some goggles, so I know that they actually clean these too. The island music playing on the speakers was a nice touch, and my 8 minutes in the bed passed quickly.
Now I’m wondering, should I also be working up my resistance to tequila? ??