With the UV reaching a high of 5 and prom season on the horizon, girls are searching for alternatives to achieve their desired tan. This brought attention towards Payton Dean’s mobile business, Bronzed Babez.
Dean first started growing her business by working on a business name, logo, making an Instagram account and purchasing necessary products to serve clients. After she had the basics, Dean started to focus on marketing her business on Instagram and TikTok to reach out to a bigger audience for a more diverse clientele. Besides using social media, the Bronzed Babez business spread by word of mouth by family and close friends.
“I was super excited about starting my business; it was all I could talk about for weeks. I was a little nervous about doing it myself or being reliable for mistakes, but I was mostly just excited,” said Dean.
What is unique about Bronzed Babez is the setup and overall process, all occurring in the client’s own home. The day of an appointment, Dean brings all of her supplies to her client’s house, sets up her tent and gets her solution ready. Meanwhile, her client changes into their choice of clothing and ensures all of their makeup, deodorant and jewelry is removed. She then applies barrier cream to dry areas and provides her clients with a hair tie, hair net, pH spray, sticky feet and optional tan line stickers.
“I’ve learned a lot about spray tanning, including what does and doesn’t work for me and certain clients,” Dean said. “The process is kind of complicated and involves a lot of steps, but it is all to ensure that the tan doesn’t look splotchy, faded or weirdly discolored.”
Then she sprays her client, having them stand in a variety of positions to avoid missing areas. She then dries wet areas using the air from the spray tan gun, powders sticky areas and uses a brush to blend harsh lines. To finish, Dean uses wipes to clean the client’s palms of any overspray that may have gotten on their hands and goes over the post tan care.
“Along with the whole process that I provide my clients with, I also post on my social media including any tips and information they might need before or after their tan,” Dean said. “I don’t necessarily recommend products, but I do heavily express to keep the [coat of] tan on for as long as possible.”
Allyssa Tucker, a friend since kindergarten and a client, received a spray tan from Dean to help her kick-start and practice her process.
“It was my very first time receiving an artificial tan, and now I feel like I can’t live without one. The results I got [from Dean] made me want to keep going back, so I will sometimes reach out to her and ask her if she wants to test any other shades on me,” Tucker said.
Support has been a large component in Dean’s journey of operating a small business. She also juggles the role of being a babysitter. The woman she babysits for is a licensed esthetician who has guided her and helped her in developing her business. Her close friend, Gabby Aoun, and her mom have been very supportive and provided her with opportunities to practice.
“Before I got my spray tan from Payton, I would go to California Sun and there was really no difference between the results I got. I feel so proud for what she has done, because even though it was in a short amount of time, [her business] has gained a lot of progress and stability,” Aoun said.
Starting a business involves a lot more adjusting and growth than one may realize, which is something that Dean has learned throughout her process.
Dean said, “I’ve definitely learned about what does and doesn’t work for me and certain clients. This is crucial because I would hate for someone’s tan to not turn out how they imagined. But regardless of the mistakes I have made, I’ve tried to keep a positive, kind of ‘it can only get better from here’ mindset. That has totally helped my outlook and motivation towards the business.”
by ALEXANDRA BOSANO & NATALIE DEEBLE
