Jessica Lee
Jessica Lee is bringing her spray tan guns to the suburbs.
The local entrepreneur recently opened the third salon location of her spray tanning business NudeFX in Midlothian.
Located at 13224 Midlothian Turnpike, the new tanning salon spans 850 square feet and has three spray tanning rooms offering custom airbrush spray tans.
It’s the third NudeFX location for Lee, who founded the business in 2020.
A VCU grad, Lee spent her early career in New York City as a travel publicist. After getting laid off amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she began a spray tan business out of her hometown of Fredericksburg.
She started by spray tanning people in their homes, and later established NudeFX in some shared salon suites in Fredericksburg and Richmond, before opening her first independent brick-and-mortar storefront in Fredericksburg in early 2024. That was followed by a storefront in Richmond at 1417 W. Main St. that same year.
As her Richmond location continued to maintain steady traffic, Lee said she began considering a second location in the area outside of the city limits. Having previously operated out of a shared salon suite at 1104 Winterlake Court in Midlothian, she said the interest from customers in that part of the region led her to searching for an independent space there.
“I thought some of our suburban girls maybe don’t want to cross the river and come to our city location,” she said. “We want to make it a little bit easier for clients to come see us.… I would love to have smaller locations spread out so if you want a spray tan, you don’t have to travel too far.”
Lee said that with more tanning rooms and a lobby space, the new Midlothian location will be able to accommodate large groups like wedding parties, one of the brand’s main types of clientele.
NudeFX offers custom, naturally derived spray tans.
NudeFX offers spray tans made from naturally derived ingredients, Lee said. The salon does color consultations with customers before their first tans to understand their undertones, skin type and desired amount of color for the tan.
The brand offers bridal tanning packages as well as monthly memberships, including a one-, two- and unlimited tan-per-month membership, for $60, $109 and $149, respectively. One spray tan is $69.
Appointments are typically 30 minutes long. Tans typically last five to seven days.
As for future growth, Lee said she may look toward opening a location in the Short Pump area in the future, based on customer feedback. She added that ideas for other future plans include locations in other markets or potentially creating her own spray tan solution.
“But for now, I think we’re really focused on owning the Richmond market,” she said.
Lee has around 20 people on staff total across her NudeFX locations. The Midlothian location currently has around five employees and will have seven at full capacity, she said.
