NATCHEZ — You can spell “relax” without the letters “UV,” but two local businesswomen are offering you the chance to do so.

Stephanie Butler and Ashley Everhart recently partnered to open Southern Glow, a tanning and hairstyling salon at 4008 Carter St., in Vidalia, and the word they consistently use to describe their ideal customer experience is “relaxing.”

“What I’ve consistently heard from people coming in is that when they come in to tan, it is their get-away time,” Butler said.

“More people come in to tan for the relaxation than for the tan — to have their 12 minutes or 20 minutes just to themselves.”

The salon is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.

Those hours are specifically to accommodate customers who live full, active lives, Everhart said.

“A lot of people want to try to tan on their lunch break, and there is just not enough time for that,” she said. “And you don’t want to go back to work smelling like a tanning bed.”

The salon offers three types of tanning beds —a 12-minute laydown session, a 20-minute laydown session and a standup tanning stall.

“With the standup, you get a good, even tan because you are surrounded by bulbs, and you don’t have to keep rolling over like in the lay-down,” Butler said. “You don’t have to flip and flop.”

The 12-minute bed delivers the same amount of tanning experience as the 20-minute bed, just in a shorter time, Everhart said.

“It’s the souped-up tanning bed,” she said.

Each bed is behind a wall with a solid door to give customers privacy, Everhart said.

If looking tan quickly without laying down in front of the UV bulbs is a priority, the salon also offers spray-on tans, applied by  someone who has worked in the business for almost 10 years. Spray tans can be booked by appointment.

“The spray-on tan is great for people like me, who are fair-complected, who might be afraid of the UV light,” Butler said.

“Folks who have a wedding or a special event, and who need a quick tan, can come in and have it done, and (the tans) last for two weeks.”

Even when it comes to the spray tan, Butler said Southern Glow wants customers to be able to relax as much as possible.

“In some places, you go and it is a different person every time, but every time you come in, the same person is going to see you, so you can be comfortable,” she said. “I know they have machines that can apply the spray tan now, but we can’t guarantee an even tan from a machine, but we can guarantee that with a person with experience.”

In the styling side of the salon, stylist Misty Thomas offers hairstyling sessions — including cuts, coloring and even men’s cuts — by appointment.

The salon offers a selection of jewelry, lotions and other products, and will soon expand into other boutique items, Everhart said.

Tanning sessions are $11, and Southern Glow also offers memberships.

The business can be reached by phone at 318-414-3092 or online at facebook.com/southernglowtanning.