Tuesday, February 1, 2011
To Dye or Not to Dye
Owning a Salon in today's economy has been that of a challenge for me the past two years. Looking back I remember how eager I was to get going in the industry we call "Beauty''. Times were different in the good old days of fashion and beauty. Women and teens would flock to the salon to get the must have hair or makeup they saw on the red carpet, fresh off the runway or tearing off a clip in a fashion magazine and exclaiming "Make me look like her!" Women were dropping hundreds on hair coloring, highlighting, perms, that edgy new haircut. Something horrible has happened to the industry of beauty. Ladies are asking the question, do I need this? Can I afford it? When they do decide to go with it they will push touch ups out 8 weeks or more. Gone are the days of the every 4-6 weeks. Yes, women still want to be beautiful, we still love the allure of having a fresh new look. Beauty is on a budget these days. Salon's like mine are forced to turn to other sources such as Groupon, Living Social and other online deal marketing campaigns. We are forced to offer discounts at well over 50% to attract and lure in new customers. We cling to the hope that these clients will return to us. The truth of it is these days’ women and men alike have lost the loyalty to their stylist. They instead opt to go to the ones who are offering the biggest discount, jumping from one salon to the next. Beauty is a business I love to be in and I find myself just waiting for things to turn for the better. There are no guarantees in this life, but one thing is for sure. I will not go down without a fight.
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Sadly, I have fallen into this sort of thing. Although I am never EVER happy with my hair. No matter what, I always hate it.
ReplyDeleteI had one incredible stylist for 7 years (Miss Madi) who then went on maternity leave and didn't come back. It wasn't until this last year that I found her again. She's done my hair twice, but no longer has a salon as she works on shoots and films and such.
I am longing to build a rapport with a stylist and yet financially, my hair upkeep has become bottom of my priority list.
Sad I know :(
ahhhh, those 80's . . . $85 haircuts every 4-6 weeks with all the hair products to go with. makeup in the latest colors from the department store counter . . . $26 for a lipstick that lasted a month. now its shampoo from Target, and still using the last of makeup purchased nearly 10 years ago. lucky if I get a new mascara. maybe a trim on the ends if I can scrape up the $ to go to Supercuts. I want my job back, I want my life back--enough of this economy.
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