By Medha De Alwis If it is an important function, you want to look your best. Maybe you need your regular facial or it’s time to layer your hair in a new way. Overgrown eyebrows? Need a pedicure to set the dry feet right? If these questions ever come into your mind, there is a quick answer too. Your beautician! Oh, thank goodness! Just one visit to her and you feel better, prettier, and, uh, fairer. But what does she go through to make you feel this way? One-time clients and loyal clients Sarah Brown* is the 38-year-old wife of a European diplomat in Sri Lanka. Now going on two years of living in the island, when asked about the things she likes the most here, “good beauty treatment at a good price” was one among the many she mentioned. Sarah tries many up-market salons and spas and has made it an adventure, to the extent that she has become one of my personal reviewers for salons. Keshini Salgadu* takes a different stance. “I have been to the same beautician for the last 20 years,” said the 49-year-old librarian in a top private campus. “It is always Bhagya* who dresses me. Though she does not visit homes, she visits mine, and that makes a load of a difference. She is simply great,” expressed Keshini, while recommending Bhagya to me. Twenty-three-year-old Tanuja* calls me now and then and asks me for a good recommendation for her hair or for an under-eye treatment. “What about where you went last time?” I ask her in return. “That was good, but why not try another place, akki?” she asked me hopefully. I love her spirit of adventure and her freedom to experiment at that young age. I spoke to Bhagya*, Kanchana*, and Supekshala*, all beauticians who have been in the trade for over a decade. “There are clients who are almost lifetime clients, and there are some we never see again. This is a tricky business. It is easy to make one look beautiful, but making one feel beautiful is always a challenge.” Bhagya’s view on the trade was shared by almost all I spoke to. A tricky business Suranji Perera*, who owns a mid-scale yet luxury salon in Galle Road, expressed concerns that client expectations are high. “When I started a little salon at my home 30 years ago, I offered just simple make-up and facials. Technology has developed so much. Clients are well aware, and they expect miracles.” “Simultaneously, technology can also go wrong. You know, I refer to the past cases. The risk of death at the most, and skin rashes at the least. I train my girls well, but this is stressful,” said Minali Fernando*, who has earlier worked with a leading salon in the island and then ventured forth to run her own lucrative business. Magician or beautician? I have experimented with many beauticians; interest in research being one reason among many. “Let us try this new face pack, you will see a difference when you leave,” 23-year-old Shalini*, who works at a salon in a five-star hotel assured me. I could see that she is making an effort to sound confident, but I could feel the stress and pressure in that young ambitious voice. Having been to her treatments a few times, she confided in me. “Clients expect me to do a complete makeover, just in a couple of hours. The management too insists that there is no point if the client returns with the same look that s/he came in with. But how much can I do in a few hours?” “Some treatments go on for many months. We do the regular treatments here, and give products to use at home. But clients do not follow these routines properly. They forget or neglect. But when the promised result is not visible at the end of the period of treatment, the blame comes on the beautician. This is particularly the case with whitening and acne treatments. Then, we lose the client, even though it is not our fault. And the owners too do not understand, ” lamented Rashmi*, who has worked in four different salons in the past 10 years. “Change of colour or overall appearance is possible, but only to some extent,” said the beauticians who had been pressurised to perform more as magicians than beauticians. Inherited vocation This is the new era, where vocation does not pass from father to son anymore. Children get interested in professions different than that of their parents, mostly. To my pleasant surprise, I found that mothers sometimes pass the salon over to the daughter/s after training them during their early teens. Meanwhile, the daughters get better professional beautician qualifications than the mother, adding more expertise to the salon. Expanded vocation It was interesting to talk to Thilini, who is the niece of such a salon owner. Geetha in Kantale started the first salon in town and trained all her nieces under her. She seems to have a knack for anything to do with beauty, and over the last three decades, has expanded into dressmaking, baking cakes, and making flower arrangements. Currently, she takes care of entire weddings – even including the wedding car in which the bride and groom leave at the end of the ceremony – satisfying every requirement of the wedding. In the little town of Kantale, it is a one-stop destination for someone who wants services on beauty and beyond. “But the competition is severe now,” said Thilini. “Some customers like experienced, mature beauticians and some like the young ones. Some want the latest technology put into action on their skin, whereas some prefer traditional age-tested methods. Sometimes, clients do not say exactly what they want. It is tricky and stressful.” Let us ask the questions Of course, we pay for the beauty treatment and we want the best for our face and body. There is no argument on that. But do we see the insecurity and stress of the girl who works on our facial while we keep our eyes closed? Do you know that she fears that you might be her last client for the day, or perhaps for the week? Can you feel that she is under pressure as you check yourself in the mirror soon after receiving your treatment? This too is a lady who is as professionally qualified as you are, although in another field. Her field may not be in the same social level as yours, but she too feels work pressure just as you do, and she is perhaps more vulnerable, in spite of her skills and knowledge. Where does her pressure come from? It comes from her client who expects miracles and from her boss who forces her to satisfy the almost unattainable expectations of her client. Therefore, shall we do our part? Can we regard her for what she is – a beautician; not a magician? Stress at what cost? Commission payment After having spoken to dozens of beauticians, I gathered that their earnings could vary from zero to any amount. There is no ceiling for their earnings. The salons would cost you a bomb, but it is a commission that the beautician gets. The commission could range from 2-25%. There are few instances that this operates the other way around. The beautician gets the treatment money and pays a commission to the salon. Then, the commission is approximately 25% or usually more. Salary plus commission There are beauticians who work for a fixed salary, and some draw a commission in addition to the salary. Most of the beauticians are disappointed that the clients are charged a thumping sum, but only a small percentage of the earnings come to the beautician who pulls most of the weight. Most beauticians at high-end salons felt that the owner earns a fortune while hiding behind their established reputation. Job security Beauticians have zero job security. Only a few places have employment contracts, and most cases of unfair treatment have hardly been disputed in court. “It was X-mas eve, and we usually charge double on that day. My boss wanted me to do her hair, and for a moment I hesitated. I am in debt, and was counting on this day to earn some money. But since then, the clients are not being directed to me anymore. Even the clients who call and ask to book me are told that I am not available. I am looking for another place now. But having worked in a five-star hotel salon, other top salons will have reservations when considering taking me in, because some girls are sent in as spies. I really don’t know what to do with my debt, as my commission is very poor now,” lamented Avanthi*, who has a reputation among her clients who come to her for facials for having “good hands”. Chetana* is in a little salon in Hingurakgoda and did not have a story very different from Avanthi’s in the Colombo five-star hotel salon. Pleasing the boss seemed key. Leave could be at the discretion of the owner, and on days when there are many clients, there was hardly a break given, even to have a sip of water. Training and knowledge Many beauticians, in addition to the training they get from mothers who own salons, or who go in initially as helpers, have followed professional beauty courses. These range from free courses that NAITA (National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority) offers to courses that cost different amounts, locally and abroad. Except for a few, others involve themselves in continuous development by following refresher and new courses. There are frequent training programmes that are conducted by different brands, and these tend to focus knowledge on products of a particular brand, rather than on the actual health aspects. Almost all the beauticians I spoke to displayed interest in learning when offered new information, both about traditional treatment and dermatology. Why not be independent? When looking at the psychological harassment as well as the financial exploitation and insecurity these beauticians go through, the obvious question to be asked was why they hesitate to operate independently. Most of those who had a thorough training in the industry too mostly preferred to be attached with a salon, preferentially one with a big name. “I started a salon, but had to close up,” said Avanthi. “Though my treatments are the same, my clients are used to posh environs. I can’t afford that, and the latest equipment is exorbitantly expensive. And some clients want to say that they go to a star-class salon, rather than to a star-class beautician. Also, there are many well-trained beauticians, so I am not indispensable.” Competition is deadly even in a up-and-coming town like Malabe. There are nine salons within a 1 km radius. The competition in a metropolis or a little village is more severe than one can ever imagine. Photos Jamie Street on Unsplash, Guilherme Petri on Unsplash, Shari Sirotnak on Unsplash, DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash