Troy Goff, Springhill junior, sits hunched over, holding his white and gold bottle of “Purely Divine” tanning lotion.

Goff prefers “Purely Divine,” a product by Swedish Beauty, because it’s a white lotion instead of brown. An employee calls Goff’s name and he crosses the lobby full of young women to be escorted to his tanning bed.

“I’ve never had people tell me it’s weird that I tan,” Goff said. “I like to stay tan all year round. I feel more confident about myself and I stay the same color all year.”

Several tanning salons in Lawrence have seen increases in their male customers this tanning season, which is January through April. Managers consider everything from tanning lotions, prices and types of beds. When, where and how managers place advertisements directed toward men has become important in recent years. Salon managers and customers are discovering that it’s no longer taboo for men to tan.

Adam Faust, Olathe sophomore, said he thinks society has become more accepting of men who tan. “Before, there was kind of a stigma about it, but now people don’t care what other people think,” Faust said.

Mike and Kathy Byrnes own SunKissed Tanning salon, 2540 Iowa St. Along with remodeling the building, the owners are also discovering how to appeal to both female and male customers. One aspect of SunKissed that appeals to male customers is its selection of male tanning lotions. The Byrneses decided to carry three lotions specifically for males and a few other unisex lotions, along with lotions for female customers. “Swinger” costs $28 per bottle, “Mankind,” $24, and “Hammer,” $50. Mike Byrnes, who said he’d never tanned before owning the salon, uses “Hammer,” which is shaped like a men’s cologne bottle and has a similar fragrance.

“Men are more frugal than many women,” Kathy said. “Women are more likely to spend money on themselves than men are any day.”

Kristi Lawrence, manager and owner of Mango Tan, 4000 W. Sixth St., agreed.

“It’s just like how much men will pay for a haircut,” Lawrence said. “Most women will put down $100 for a haircut and not think anything about it. Men aren’t like that.”

Mango Tan has always had a lot of men who tan, Lawrence said. “Not just college students either,” Lawrence said. “Some are 65-year-old men.”

Unlike SunKissed Tanning, however, Lawrence said that she doesn’t stock her salon with tanning lotions for men, simply because the prices are too high and men won’t pay that price for lotion.

“We allow our customers to leave their lotions here,” Lawrence said. “Guys prefer that, especially when the lotion they carry has a corny name like ‘Sex Pot’ or ‘Sex Magnet.’”

According to salon managers in Lawrence, the average percentage of male customers is about 10 percent. Lawrence said Mango Tan’s customers were 15 percent male. Mike Byrnes said in 2006, 15 percent of his customers were also male. This year, though, in January through February, SunKissed male customers rose to 20 percent.

Lisa Spangler, regional manager of Celsius Tannery, 4931 W. Sixth St., said that the percentage of male tanners was 15 percent at all Celsius salons in a typical year. Right before spring break and during the tanning season months, she said, the number jumped to 30 percent.

Spangler said that Celsius carried unisex lotions and that men usually bought the white lotions, which are strictly intensifiers, while brown lotions are bronzers.

“Guys want something they can slap on real quick,” Spangler said. “With a lotion, that’s a bronzer you have to apply it carefully in order to avoid streaking.”

When it comes to beds, the Byrneses take particular care in recommending the right bed for customers.

“It’s not our intention to get them in here, bake ‘em up and send ‘em out,” Kathy said. “It’s more about what’s best for them and their skin care.”

Mike said men liked to use the stand up beds at SunKissed. Base beds are the simplest form of tanning beds, have the lowest wattage of ultra-violet rays and are generally the cheapest.

The managers of SunKissed, Celsius and Mango Tan have the same standards on deciding how to advertise—they leave sex out of it.

Spangler said she tries to use unisex ads, whether they’re in newspapers or on the radio. Mike and Kathy Byrnes said they treated their male customers like everyone else and thought that referrals and word of mouth were the best ways to advertise.

When Goff finishes his tanning session, he grabs a sucker in the lobby and heads out the door. Sometimes, Goff convinces a few friends into coming with him to try tanning. Other times, he won’t, and that’s fine with him because he’ll be the one who has a tan.

— Edited by Matt Hirschfeld