Darker skin tones trending as more women head for the tanning salon
The waiting area of Shine Tanning's salon in Jing'an District is crowded at noon. Many fashionable young people, mostly women, are waiting for their appointment time for a tanning session.
The trend toward bronze skin is gaining traction after years of people pursuing the traditional Asian aesthetic standard which held that "fair skin is more beautiful."
For the growing number of women who choose to get a darker skin tone, it has a richer meaning: they are using it to defy the "standard aesthetic."
A lounge waiting area in Shine Tanning's Jing'an District store.
Shine Tanning's store manager Zhang Yu is 23 years old and has bronze skin. Before 2019, she had pale skin.
Zhang was a student majoring in sports and became concerned when she started to get a tan.
But gradually she found that a darker skin tone suited her better and she became more confident.
"I really like this skin tone," she said. "I enjoy wearing colorful clothes, and now I even look good in fluorescent colors."
Before tanning, Zhang Yu had fair skin.
Shine Tanning first opened its doors in Jing'an in April 2020, and it now has two more locations in Huangpu and Pudong. Co-founder Zheng Zhihao said that he is optimistic about the market.
After searching for the keyword "tanning" in Yelp-like Dianping, the number of tanning shops in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen was 490, 345, 224, and 227, respectively. The numbers vary in second-tier cities, such as 257 and 117 in Chengdu and Hangzhou, respectively, while Wuhan and Jinan had only three and one.
Zheng admits that tanning is still a niche aesthetic in China, but he sees it growing in popularity. One of the driving factors is public enthusiasm for fitness. Fitness professionals want to show muscle lines through darker skin tones.
Zhang Yu (left) in her store with a customer. She now has a bronze complexion.
A customer, surnamed Zhang, who works close to Jing'an Temple, enjoys exercising. He began tanning last October and does it twice a week to maintain his bronze complexion.
"I was anxious during the lockdown due to the pandemic. Exercise at home could help me maintain my muscles, but my tan would fade, " he said. "I have got hooked on tanning."
According to store co-founder Zheng, China has a completely different tanning market.
The demand for tanning falls during the winter because people wear more clothes and are less interested in sports than during the summer.
"The Chinese may be more concerned about showing their skin color to others, but expats tan primarily to satisfy their own needs, so winter tanning is just as popular," he said.
A tanning machine in the store.
Since tanning is a niche aesthetic, it inevitably leads to criticism when some people make changes.
Cong Cong, who is in her 30s, had a crush on bronze skin a few years ago and believes that dark-skinned girls have a unique charm. She finally decided to start tanning in June this year.
"Even if I go out without makeup, I am still confident now that I can attract people, not because of how good I look, but because I am content on the inside, and I believe that people will like me," she said. "This thought did not previously exist, and it is astonishing."
She did not anticipate that her parents would understand her need for tanning, while her friends would advise her that she would look better if she were fairer.
"I no longer play with them because we are no longer in the same world," she said.
A poster in the tanning salon explains the ranges of skin tone options.
According to Zhang Yu, many of the store's female customers have been greatly influenced by today's Western values, even to the extent of affecting high school students.
She was concerned when young students pointed to photos of US media personality Kim Kardashian and said, "I want to be this skin tone."
"I hope people are tanning because they like dark skin tones, not because some celebrities do it," she said. "The most important thing is to be yourself."
