Spray Tanning's Golden Moment

When Jimmy Coco shows up for work, "somebody's getting naked," he says, "and it's not going to be me." That's because Coco is a pioneer of the spray tanning movement. In 2003 he created the world's first mobile spray tanning kit, known as The Bomb, which has helped him amass clients such as Heidi Klum, Victoria Beckham, and Katy Perry. For up to $350, Coco visits his customers' homes and gives them a full-body service in their shower or his tanning tent. His main skill, he says, is the ability "to connect with somebody who's about to take off their clothes."

As the world's first celebrity spray tanner, Coco is living in the golden age of bronzing. It's an industry that has come a long way since burnt-orange legend George Hamilton patented the George Hamilton Sun Care System in 1989. In the intervening years, faux tanning has transcended class boundaries and developed into its own flourishing business. 's Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi recently leveraged her ochre tint into a deal as the face of Sunlove self-tanning accessories. This spring, Kate Middleton's fake tan at the royal wedding prompted the sale of tanning products at U.K. department store Debenhams to spike by 219 percent. Kelly Osbourne, who straddles the line between British royalty and déclassé reality star, admits spray tanning is a "confidence booster" that's helped her "look and feel beautiful from the outside in." She's now the "self-esteem ambassador" for self-tanning line St. Tropez. Meanwhile, respectable politicians (John Boehner), regular politicians (Silvio Berlusconi), and celebrity politicians (Arnold Schwarzenegger) are proudly sporting suspiciously orange glows. Market research firm Mintel International values the sun protection and sunless tanning market at $701 million, nearly double its 2005 size.