TANNING GURU JAN TANA CHOOSES ONLY IWATA EQUIPMENT FOR BODYBUILDING SHOWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 9, 2005

Iwata Airbrushes and Compressors Repeatedly Prove Themselves on the Championship Stage

PORTLAND, Ore. - When movie actors and bodybuilding contestants must look their best under the lights, they rely on legendary tanning specialist Jan Tana. With 22 years of tanning experience, she now exclusively uses airbrushes to apply the perfect tan on sets or at competitions.

"The last three years I´ve been using only Iwata airbrushes. When you´re tanning an athlete who´s 6-foot-6 and weighs 320 pounds, it´s like tanning a tree,"; Tana said. "Airbrushing makes it much easier than doing it by hand and makes for a flawless application. Their career hinges on having the proper color."

Instead of athletes and actors having to spend painful hours absorbing harmful rays or wearing a smelly, skin-staining paint job for a week that precluded showering, getting them ready now only takes a 20-minute session. She runs her own Jan Tana-branded products through Iwata airbrushes to produce luminous color, ensuring her clients get the perfect tan.

For the last 18 years, she´s been the official tanning consultant for the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic, where the number of vendors has grown from 40 to over 900.

"Arnold has been very good to me," said Tana, who first worked with the California Governor on the "Conan the Barbarian" movie set. Her tanning products are now the number one choice for the film industry.

Last year she tanned the winner of the Mr. Olympia contest.

"At a show, we may tan 350 people over two days, eight people at a time, so we have to have equipment that works and can be depended on," Tana explained. "The gun and compressor can´t go down. We run them 22 hours in a row."

"The performance of Iwata airbrushes is superb. I love them - I wouldn´t use anything else. We´ve pushed them to the limit and they perform better than what they say they will perform. I don´t have to waste time servicing equipment."

Originally from Draper, Virginia, and now based in Texas, Tana was introduced to airbrush tanning by renowned Hollywood makeup artist Jeff Dawn, who asked her why she wasn´t airbrushing athletes and then showed her how easy it was. Word spread and Wayne DeMila, head of the International Federation of Bodybuilders, contacted Tana to come to shows because judges couldn´t see the definition of the contestants without the right coloring.

Earlier this year at the Arnold Expo in Columbus, Ohio, which attracted 110,000 people, airbrush tanning proved to be the hottest thing going. Tana´s four sponsor booths completely sold out of her tanning products.

Tana uses her Triple X Dark Tanning Mist through a variety of Iwata spray guns with their fine atomization for major color, then an Eclipse airbrush for detailed work on body areas like abs that need the most definition. The lightweight Smart Jet compressors are perfect for toting around, Jana said, while the Power Jet Lite allows her to plug in six guns at a time.

"For me, it´s critical to have the proper equipment to tan these world-class athletes," Tana said. "I´ve got the reputation as being at the top and Iwata is the best equipment out there. I wouldn´t want to be associated with anyone else."

For over 25 years, Iwata-Medea has been crafting the finest airbrush products for the world´s top professional artists. The devotion to quality and craftsmanship is reflected in the work of artists worldwide. By staying at the forefront of technology and innovation, Iwata-Medea has gained the reputation as the brand leader in airbrush products.

For more information about Iwata-Medea, please contact Gary Glass at 503-253-7308 ext. 19 or by email at gary@medea-artool.com.