I had been bred with the mindset that salons are useless and complete waste of money, the consequence of this being I never got a good hair cut in my entire life till I was in my high school. And, my regular hair cuts which were once in a year or something, that too when I was very young, used to me done by my mom.
Well, I would not say that my hair was all that bad because it grew well even though I never really liked my hair texture then. But, then, one fine day I go to supposedly-the-best-salon in our area and get a hair cut.
Now, that was not any Lakme or Javed Habib but a small beauty parlor run by a small-time beautician. These were the times when you would find beauty parlors existing in one room apartments or as one of the room in their houses.
In her defense, this lady did really have a shop.
Well, the result of this hair cut was a gradual hair fall which we could never really observe. And, slowly by the end of my first year, my hair had thinned to a considerable extent. And, with that, my belief that parlors were really a big waste of money strengthened. And, I did everything at home to revive my hair length and volume. And, yes, my hair improved.
But, then, the home remedies were messy and we had to save the curd from our dinner or bring a extra bowl of it from the mess (while staying in the hostel). The logistics were the added trouble during those days but I braved them all. And, in the mean time, real professional salons were cropping up all around.
My relationship with my hair went on and off till late into my post graduation when one fine day I discovered how damaged and full of splits my hair was. And, that was the first time when I got a real hair cut. I got all my hair chopped off till shoulder-length in layers and I loved them. My hair felt fantastic.
The next time I went was to get a hair spa and high-frequency treatment which I absolutely loved. And, since then, I have been going to the salons on and off, not regularly but occasionally and I no longer consider it a waste of money; though I did consider it a luxury even when I was earning and still do.
But, I can now justify some of the reasons why salon treatments are actually better than at-home remedies.
#1. They are professionals and they have been trained at the best institutes.
Okay, so we are no longer talking about the one room apartment salons. Though, honestly, some are d*mn good.
I have also found that the company outlets are better than the franchises so make sure you are going to them. There is at least one in every city.
And, these people are professionally trained and they do know what they are doing. Granted that it costs money in these times of inflation, some things are worth it.
#2. At-home Hair Coloring is NOT recommended.
This is specifically for girls who color their hair.
Well, these days almost everyone does get their hair coloured by a stylist but still there are people who dye their hair at home.
I would not get into the debate whether a professional hair color is better than the box colors we get. But, yes, there is a process of applying the hair color and that is best left to people who have been trained in it for best results.
Also, color touchups and follow up treatments can be detailed out by your hair stylist depending on your hair type and hair strength.
#3. Salon Treatments cheaper than visiting Dermatologists and Trichologists.
I come to my favourite point. Let me narrate two incidences, one of them includes an extremely local roadside but quite popular men’s salon.
So, one of my friend had been suffering from dandruff since a long long time. And, she went for a spa package which completely got rid of the dandruff issue for her. I have even written a post about it. Read all about it here.
Have you ever felt jealous that men services are so cheap in any sort of a salon?
Yeah, this roadside salon I talked about! Mr. P went there once for some issue and I guess he was facing this dandruff problem. That guy used some ampoules, took them out and cut them and gave a scalp massage with the serum. No, those are not the hair spa ampoules we get. Mr. P got some of those home but that guy (salon guy) has not yet disclosed the name of the product. But, it is d*mn effective at curbing dandruff is what Mr. P said and you do not need any fancy products to go with it either. I guess I will make a trip there to ask around.
And, I have quite often talked about the high frequency treatment I absolutely love. It is great for combating hair fall and taking good care of the scalp as well. So, you can see not all salon services are complete waste.
It is better than going to a dermatologist and spending loads on the medicines and extremely expensive hair products which you do not know will work which is anyway the last resort available to us unless the case is pretty serious in which case there may be an underlying medical condition which must be diagnosed as soon as possible.
Hair Clinics are a good place for this. The hair clinics are places where hair treatments and medicine come together to give a holistic perspective on your hair condition. But, these are not your regular salons.
#4. Going to Parlor Less Messy and Regular Hair Care.
Well, no doubt, home remedies are always very messy and you have a lot to clean up after. And, some of the remedies are so messy that cleaning your hair becomes difficult and uses a lot of water and takes a lot of time. And, more messy the process, more you try to avoid it or postpone it and the hair care routine gets discontinued.
To avoid all that and to keep up with your hair routine, you can instead opt for a hair spa package or whatever treatment you are interested in and be sure to attend your appointments. This would ensure healthy hair any day 🙂
#5. And, what about all the chemicals?
Ohkay! So, this is one major glitch when we go to the salons.
So, for the starters, these days even the salons are providing organic hair spas and other treatments but they are way expensive.
Further more, the professional ranges used in the salons have been exclusively curated for hair. They have the ingredients which actually help hair like ceramides and keratin. Those products are not the regular over the counter products made of cheap and inexpensive ingredients passed off to do miracles for your hair. So, yes you can take those treatments once in a while.
And, any day, a salon session is very pampering for a girl. So, just go and enjoy 🙂
