Fake It Til You Make It

If you ever wanted to inadvertently appear on a reality show, your opportunity just arrived. LA Sunset Tan, that sultry locale that showed up on E!, found a home in a city where just about anything can happen and at a casino where celebrities seem to grow on trees, the Palms. Well, Palms Place, the new 47-story condominium expansion. What happens in Vegas no longer stays in Vegas.

Not if Janelle Perry has her way. The lanky blonde won her way to managing the new location, the salon's first foray outside of Los Angeles, and has spent her time blanketing the clubs of Las Vegas to encourage everyone to come in for tanning, in a bed or faked.

Beware, flamboyant customer, 30 percent of the next season of the show will be filmed in Vegas. Well, if you don't get left on the editing room floor. You'll have to compete with the likes of Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Nicky and Paris Hilton, Shannon Elizabeth and Carmen Electra for face time.

And, of course, the characters such as Perry who work at LA Sunset Tan. Perry is no stranger to television. She appeared on Playboy Television's "Weekend Flash" and "Totally Busted," as a contestant on "Fear Factor" and hosted "Ride America" for Spike TV. And she had no qualms with elbowing her way into the management job at the Palms location. "Almost every episode was a huge competition," Perry said, describing her rivals as catty and cut-throat. "I was pretty confident that I had it in the bag the whole time.

"You need to be tough in Vegas. You have to have a tough soul."

"Janelle legitimately beat them all out," said Jeff Bozz, one of the owners of Sunset Tan who was seen on the show telling the Olly Girls, two ditzy blondes named Holly and Molly, that they couldn't check in celebrities at the spa. "She fits the lifestyle."

Perry says that she anticipates 60 percent of her clients to be tourists, but hopes to attract more locals than anticipated.

The sun spa has eight treatment rooms with five filled with Ergoline Multivision beds. The lower intensity beds require three to five sessions in the low UVB beds to achieve a tan, while the higher intensity beds only need two sessions. "You only need a small amount of time to achieve your goal," Perry said.

VersaSpa by MagicTan sunless tanning offers automated spray tanning that can include a pre-sunless hydrating treatment and an anti-aging treatment at the end. For a special night, the VersaSpa can also do a bling-bling treatment with a customized body shimmer.

But the real art happens in the Infinity Sun Theater, where the airless sun tanning can include customized spray bronzing to define muscles.

LA Sunset Tan also features mobile airbrushing. "We'll come to you, even outside the hotel," Perry said.

And Perry insisted that the color of the faked tan looks more cocoa than orange, a problem with first-generation spray tans.

A kiosk in the Palms sports swimsuits, clothing and tanning products from Sunset Tan.

"A good tan makes you look good and feel your best," Perry said. "And this is the entertainment capital of the world."

Contact Image Editor Susan Stapleton at sstapleton@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2909.