Cottage Industry
I do airbrush tanning out of my house. It started a couple years ago when Jakey was doing pageants and specifically Little Mr/Miss Hawaiian Tropic. A lot of the pageant kids airbrush tan and it's a good way to make cash at the hotel if you go to State or Nationals. I really think airbrush is the future of tanning, as more and more people get worried about skin cancer.
Like a year ago, I had a tanning client who asked me if I could wax. Now, waxing is regulated by the state board of cosmetology...you have to be an aesthetician. But he didn't care, so I bought a waxing setup and now I wax him regularly to the tune of $80-120. I'm really good at it now too. Fast. Deducting the cost of the waxing setup and supplies, my waxing business has made $509 since I started keeping records (which was not immediate).
On the other hand, airbrush tanning has not really caught on yet in Ohio. I have a couple pageant girls who come right before HT state, and one other client who has been here twice. Otherwise, it's mostly people who come once, or enquire a whole lot by email and never come at all. Meh, I will bide my time. I think it is the future of tanning.
The thing you could never have told me when I got into either of these businesses was that 95% of my clients would be men. It is so weird! I started getting emails asking about shaving body hair. Now THAT is a high profit area. Takes 5 minutes, pays $20, and sometimes they tip.
Needless to say, a fair amount of these guys want their bikini area shaved. (I refuse to wax balls-- the one time I tried, the skin came off. Blood everywhere.) What I don't get is why they can't do it themselves. I shave my own bikini line with no trouble. Even when I was nine months pregnant I could. So I think they just enjoy showing off their genitals. As Samatha would say, "Like a monkey!"
Lately I have a new guy John, who I think will become a regular. For some reason he takes off ALL of his clothes before he gets on the table. NBD to me, but how weird! Today he said he's going to have to come more often as the regrowth is itchy. I wear nitrile gloves while I do it... it is not sexy AT ALL. Whatever, easiest $20 I ever made.
A couple times, I had a tanning client named Dave, who would sometimes get erect while I sprayed him. He apologized and said I looked like his girlfriend... who knows if that was meant to be suggestive. But one time, I was spraying his back, and when he turned around, he had a runner of pre-cum dangling from his penis that was THREE FEET LONG. I have to say, I have never seem anything like that in my life. Which is good, because pre-cum grosses me out! Whatever, I'm a professional, I just handed him a towel. And I do think he was embarassed, as he has not been back.
Then again, I had one guy come for a couple tans and then email to ask if I could do prostate massage. I just ignored his email. Even if I were willing to take money for something like that, let's just say, I have been looking for my bf's prostate for years and have not found it ;0)
In mildly related news, I am a judge for Miss Teen Akron on the 25th! So I will get to promote my business there. Hopefully I will pick up a couple more clients that way.
In conclusion I would like to say that men mystify me utterly. Probably that is because I give them too much credit =0)