More than Skin Deep: Sunless Body Custom Spray Tanning
You may be looking for a little sunshine to warm your skin in High Point as summer kicks off, but Ava Vann, owner of Sunless Body Custom Spray Tanning, spends her time making sure people get all the beauty benefits of the sun without any of the damage.
Sunless Body, the Triad’s first completely UV-free studio is the culmination of 12 years of experience, passion, dreams, and hard work for Ava. The elevated space, inspired by a West Coast aesthetic, provides custom spray tan services, small-batch skin care products, and more – all without the harmful UV rays that the sun and tanning beds bring.
And it’s offered with the heart and soul Ava has been putting into her spray tan services for more than a decade now. A native of Greensboro who now calls High Point home, Ava is the kind of entrepreneur who always knew she’d find a way to turn her business idea into an experience for her clients. But she would also admit, she couldn’t have envisioned the way her studio and her own line of proprietary skincare products would come to fruition.
At 18 years old, Ava started her business as a mobile service, bringing her spray tan equipment to people’s homes. After several years, she opened a small space in High Point Sports Center, where she operated for four years. But for Ava – a woman who understands the power of an immersive and luxurious experience – she knew her clients trek through a gymnasium to their appointment wasn’t completely on-brand with her vision.
“Clients were coming inside of a gym!” Ava laughs now. “I was spray tanning them in their garages!” But she says that even in those less-than-glamorous settings, she still loved the journey that led to opening her brick-and-mortar studio in the winter of 2022.
“The goal was always to have a brick-and-mortar store,” she adds. “Our clients have been so loyal. They have followed us the whole time, and this store was really for them.”
The store is really more than just a store though. It’s an elevated space that immediately gives guests an idea of what’s to come at Sunless Body. From the front door to each personal spray tan room, Sunless Body has been intentionally designed for client comfort, luxurious experiences, and as a showcase for local talents and products. Handcrafted soy candles, made right here in North Carolina, fill the space with a warm, woodsy scent. Soft robes, sparkling water, and a variety of skincare products are offered to clients.
“The whole reason behind the brand was to create an experience that you wouldn’t get at a corporate place; [here] you really feel seen,” Ava says, adding how much time she spends guaranteeing that the level of service should always feel white-glove and the level of quality should always stay consistent. She also makes sure their clients’ comfort always stays front and center.
“We want to make sure the client’s comfort comes first,” Ava says. Before each appointment, guests are greeted by a staff member and walked through a consultation to determine details like the level of tan they want to achieve, the event they are preparing for, their skincare needs, and more. The spray tan solutions – developed carefully for sensitive skin – are custom mixed to meet each clients’ needs. And they are applied by hand, never in a booth or with a one-size-fits-all approach.
“The whole reason behind the brand was to create an experience that you wouldn’t get at a corporate place; [here] you really feel seen."
Ava Vann, Owner of Sunless Body Custom Spray Tanning
The goal is not only to help clients’ achieve the appearance they want, but to be instilled with confidence in their own bodies.
“This is a safe space for women to feel comfortable,” Ava says, noting she and her staff won’t let clients talking down about themselves. Instead, the staff at Sunless Body works to build relationships with each client and provide real encouragement that goes beyond skin deep.
“We’re getting them ready for the most important moments of their life,” Ava says, as clients often come in before weddings, anniversaries, major travel, and other celebrations. “It seems so small, but it’s so big.”
Even after more than a decade, Ava says she never gets tired of seeing someone’s confidence lift instantly in the spray tan process. In fact, it’s that passion for celebrating women and that careful attention to detail that she looks for when hiring her staff.
“You can try to train on [that culture] but it’s something you have to have a true passion for,” Ava says. “It fuels your care for your customer to create that comfort.”
Sunless Body serves clients of all skin tones, ranging in age from seven to 93 – which is why there are “no limitations” when it comes to women who want to get a little sunless color. And for those who would prefer an at-home tan, Ava has developed a line of skincare products that will do just that.
From self-tanners to moisturizers, to body washes – Sunless Body offers a line of eco-certified, vegan, cruelty-free products that work for all skin types.
“After doing the spray tans for so many years, I was selling other companies' products to my clients,” Ava says, “and it didn’t feel like it aligned.”
With a passion for healthy skin, Ava wanted to make sure every product she recommended to her clients wouldn’t just make their skin look good, but actually be good for their skin too.
“You’re getting a really refined, high-quality-ingredient product when you’re shopping local and getting something small batch,” she says. “It’s like insurance for your spray tan.”
That’s why each product has a notably shorter shelf-life than other name brand products. With higher-quality ingredients and no skin-irritating preservatives, Sunless Body products align with Ava’s ultimate goal of skin protection.
Ava, who has seen firsthand the effects of skin cancer on others around her, knew from the start of her tanning business journey that she wanted to do things differently.
“I was going to take a hard stance on skin protection. It’s the largest organ on your body,” she says. “We’re a completely sunless company.
That’s why she advocates for regular dermatology appointments for skin checks against melanoma and donates a portion of Sunless Body’s sales bi-monthly to melanoma research.
But that’s not the only thing Ava is passionate about. From supporting local animal rescues with her annual “Sprays for Strays” event to purchasing locally as much as she can, Ava is a firm believer in small businesses taking an active role in the community where they are located.
For example, the interior of the studio was designed by Triad-based company, Theodore B. Interiors, and another NC-based company, Pixels and Wood, helped with woodworking details. Each element of decor – from the sculptures to the coffee table, to the tile work, was sourced locally. Ava even had the chance to shop High Point showrooms to find final touches to make the studio feel like home.
“That’s how we wanted to give back as we were building this space,” she says. “High Point supports small business like no other… there is a huge sense of community.”
And with that sense of community and the talent from our creative industries in High Point, Ava says “the sky’s the limit” for what High Point can achieve in its future. While she has dreams of expanding Sunless Body across the Carolinas, she doesn’t plan to ever grow so large she loses sight of where it all began.
“We want to keep the culture alive that we’ve created here,” she says, looking around the bright studio that has made her dream a reality. “The store made it all make sense.”
And even with her growing business and revolutionary approach to tanning, Ava and her staff would agree that helping their clients shine brighter than the sun is the real reason for everything they do.
“When you want better for your clients it motivates you,” she says. “When you want to provide them the highest quality experience and environment, you really ensure everything you’re doing as a business owner is going to give them that experience. That’s the motivation. That’s your fire. That’s what keeps you going.”
Making High Point Discovered Possible
High Point Discovered is a 501(c)3 – a non-profit that exists solely for the growth and betterment of our city. Our staff of talented writers, photographers, and creatives works hard to tell the stories of our city so that you can connect to businesses that need you as patrons, non-profits that need you as givers, and – most importantly – neighbors that need you as friends. Our content is always free to our readers (that's you!) and free to the incredible entrepreneurs, artists, educators, and changemakers we feature.
We exist to communicate the stories of our city to connect our citizens and catalyze economic growth. But we need your help to continue. When you give to High Point Discovered, you're giving to support citizens – just like the ones in this story – who are making the city we call home better.
If you enjoy the content brought to you by High Point Discovered, consider giving today.
THIS STORY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
