For A Happy Child, Try A Spray Tan!

Despite the tremendous pressure to be thin, beautiful and have tanned skin, parents usually assure their kids, “it’s what’s on the inside that counts.”

But I guess it’s different if you own two beauty salons. Jools Willis doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with treating her children to spray tans, although she wouldn’t spray tan just any four-year-old customer.

In fact, she says that it’s a confidence boost. I didn’t realize children that young already had self-esteem issues. Even if they do, should they really be getting chemicals sprayed all over their bodies, no matter how safe you believe it to be? When kids are developing they’re going through all sorts of changes, so how can she be sure that it will be innocuous?

And then there’s the psychological side of it. By personally giving her kids spray tans, she’s not exactly promoting self-acceptance. Rather than feeling comfortable in their own skin, they’re getting enhancements. One of her daughters may not “really mind being pale,” but a spray tan makes her feel better.

The controversy doesn’t end here. “The little ones come in here with their mums. Mum has done it and they want it too,” she says. I guess if adults can do it, kids can too. Maybe she just does it because she has access to these “beauty” treatments and her kids are exposed to them, but I can’t help feeling that she’s sending the wrong message.

You can argue that it’s not a big deal. She says the treatments are safe and she’s not letting them go in a “real” tanning bed, but it’s bound to be a slippery slope. The next thing she knows, her little girl will want breast implants because her friend’s mom has them.

Kids should be going outside to play when they’re so young, not thinking about how a spray tan gives them more confidence.

There has never been a better time to remember that beauty is more than skin deep.

Contact the author here: tinybart@morningquickie.com