Iz You a Salon Playa?

There are some women who are regular and loyal to their one and only beauty therapist. It’s a deal for life, for better or worse. (But not too much worse, there can’t be too much of a shift in quality. And that is where I would stop at calling it a marriage. HA!)

I for one would not say I am at that level of monogamous loyalty. As long as I know the salon is a good one and the therapists competent, polite and well trained, I don’t mind whether I go to Svetlana at Swedish Zen Palace, or Becky at Daydream Frangipani. This way, it’s still a familiar, trusted face you’re going in to see, but just not all the time.

Yep, I have a few on the go, juggling the ladies, playing them all. Judge me if you will – but read on to discover why, and you might come around.

I will now argue the benefits for this method:

-Being on the books at a few different salons means you will have access to all of their specials and promotions. I receive a newsletter to my email inbox for a few different salons that tell of specials only for their mailing list. Score! If I’m not interested, it doesn’t take more than a second to just click delete.

-This one is a similar premise, but I have noticed that if you haven’t visited a salon for a while, say you’ve been favouring Svetty over Becky, Becky will often send out a ‘15%-off your next treatment’ type voucher to coax you back.

-I like to have different salons for different needs. For example, I don’t really want the person who concentrates on my facial concerns to then also have to move down the other end of the table, and you know, pull out the wax pot. Face and lower half – separate for me.

-Now call me a cold-hearted salon bitch, but while I like a friendly, polite relationship with my therapist – I don’t want to be besties. I believe that by keeping the rapport friendly yet professional you’ll get the best results – a few extras here and there to charm you. Becoming too close with your therapist, in my experience, leads to a lax in standards. As in: relaxing best practice and skipping the little extras to try and impress you as they already know you’re a regular and totes BFF’s. No thanks.

As a price conscious consumer due to my student status, this method definitely has it merits. Salon owners in the industry should take note of playa’s like myself and avoid this annoying practice – it’ll be sure to loose you #1 fave spot in the little black book.

Do you see where I’m coming from? Or should I just grow up and settle down?

To that I say: “No way man! I wanna be free and see who I please!”

Note: I am not totally disregarding the guilt one can feel for neglecting either Svetty or Betty, or even Karen. Ohh no, that guilt is very real, and very strong – and probably deserves a separate post.

Beauty Counter Biatches.

The grumps, sour pout, just downright unhelpful and unfriendly – the beauty counter is not the place for these negative adjectives.

With the exception of an extremely bad day personally (maybe you should take a day off?), I believe beauty counter staff should be beaming little bottles of groomed sunshine. Helpful. Welcoming. More than willing to suggest a lipstick that will make your whites whiter.

I may be alone here, (I have a suspicison that I’m not) but a trip to the beauty department of any major department store is like entering a world where shiny surfaces and bright lights make everything better. Those little pots and potions are full of the mysterious unknown, and there is always something new to discover. It’s safe to say a woman’s self confidence is linked to their appearance, so the beauty counters offer the possibility of a new magical product to inspire a look, alleviate a concern, and add a sparkle to their usual facade. Not to mention beauty products being a well recognised form of retail therapy.

So it really shits me when the bubble of perfection gets popped when one grumpy lady can’t be bothered noticing you, or huffs when you enquire about the benefits of liquid vs. powder. There’s a reason why you man the counters- you’re supposed to be trained in makeup to answer the questions of those who aren’t.

I’m not sure if it’s a case of the ‘can’t be bothereds’ or an immediate perception of your personal wealth divided by current beauty inventory square root to the average likelihood you’ll make a purchase (can you tell I’m not maths person?). However, if the latter is the case, isn’t that one of the main points of designer brands having a spin-off makeup collection; to offer the ‘common’ person a slice of affordable luxury, whether it be a Chanel lipstick or Armani perfume?

Today at David Jones (which is meant to be Australia’s premier department store) I approached the Laura Mercier counter with a voucher for a complexion consultation and a sample of their Mineral Foundation Primer. I had the email on my phone, and waited 5 minutes to even be acknowledged. Then I was nearly thrown a sample, of which I was “lucky to get” as I didn’t have the voucher printed out. The voucher the states I would receive a complexion consultation, application of the primer, foundation, concealer and setting powder to achieve the trademark Laura Mercier ‘flawless face’.

I realise it was only a voucher and I was scabbing around for a trial of the product, but isn’t that the point? I am much more likely to buy a product once I know it suits my skin and the other products that I use. A friendly, advice giving make up artist/beauty counter lady is also an important factor, as their behaviour definitely influences my perception of the brand. Am I right? Is it a case of suck it up and smile? Or has the beauty floor changed and I just need to get over it?

I’ve only ever had friendly, enthusiastic women at Bobbi Brown, more than willing to try a foundation/bronzer on my actual face.

Benefit girls have always been chirpy and knowledgable.

Which counter have your beauty best and worst experiences happened at?