Beauty Industry Grows As Tanning Issues Also Grows

The year 2011 has been quite a better year for the salon industry and this 2012 could become an add up positive year for them – despite the fact of the arousing issue against tanning that experts says it is dangerous to one’s health.

Despite improving economic conditions, 2011 still proved to be a hairy escape from the red for a number of industries, including housing and construction. The year, however, turned out to be a good one for the hair-skin-and-nails sector—as well as certainly for all the salon professionals with a cosmetology license.

According to the Professional Salon Industry Haircare Study from Professional Consultants & Resources (PCR), as reported, salon industry services (hair, skin and nails) plus salon retail posted a total revenue growth of $72.41 billion in 2011, a healthy bump of 4.2% over 2010. The total U.S. salon hair-care market segment (services and retail), making up 280,000 salons and barbershops, reported $61.32 billion, growing nearly 3.5%.

“The state of our industry is strong,” declared Cyrus Bulsara, president of PCR, in a said statement. “Economic recovery, looser credit and higher disposable incomes all combined to increase salon visits and frequencies for services, which resulted in better product sales to salons and clients. Hair color, straightening/smoothing and basic cutting and styling services were all major growth drivers, primarily at booth rentals, family/economy chains and men's barbershop chains. Nail care rose a phenomenal 24.5%, the highest on record.”

Other major findings of the study all point to a strong salon industry growth in the coming years:

•    Mega salon stores, such as Ulta and Beauty Brands, recorded steady sales growth all through 2011. Ulta’s 2011 holiday sales took off.
•   Home hairstyling grew, following the trend in past years. New genres and types of styling tools experienced 8-percent growth.
•    Cutting and styling, hair color and straightening/smoothing services were all up: between 3 % to 4.5%.
•    Manufacturer/brand sales of styling products rose by 6%. Specialty products climbed 5 percent.
•    High-end, artistic, independent salons and better booth rentals saw higher salon visits and frequencies in 2011.

Meanwhile, there are more growing pains for the beauty industry.
Hot on the heels of well-publicized studies on the dangers of indoor tanning to health and safety, news says that the hitherto hot alternative to getting that bronzed look, spray-on tan, is simply bad.

Medical experts in dermatology, toxicology, and pulmonary medicine have come to the conclusion after reviewing the literature on dihydroxyacetone (DHA), the principal ingredient in "spray-on" tan, that it can potentially cause genetic changes and DNA damage.

The medical experts, constituted a review panel put together by ABC News to review 10 the most-current publicly available scientific studies on DHA.

"The reason I'm concerned is the deposition of the tanning agents into the lungs could really facilitate or aid systemic absorption—that is, getting into the bloodstream," Dr. Rey Panettieri said. He is a toxicologist and lung specialist at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. "These compounds in some cells could actually promote the development of cancers or malignancies."

However, like all the experts ABC News consulted, Panettieri noted that the available scientific literature is limited and more studies should be conducted to arrive at a more substantive understanding of the health-and-safety threat.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for its part, warns consumers on its website: "The use of DHA in 'tanning' booths as an all-over spray has not been approved by the FDA, since safety data to support this use has not been submitted to the agency for review and evaluation."