October 2, 2003

Looking picture perfect is the norm that rules today and people, including men, are spending fortunes to keep up with the norm, writes Shanaz Ramzi

The social scene in Karachi has always been a hectic one, with those who can afford to partying through the week, regardless of how early they have to attack work the following day. But, over the years, there is a noticeable difference in the get-up of the party-goers.

Gone are the days when women would concentrate only on their attires and at the most their make-up when getting dressed for a formal affair. These days, a lot of stress is laid on one’s appearance and people are conscious of how they look from head to foot, so much so that a visit to a beauty parlour is a must prior to setting out for an occasion. In fact, although more and more women are now going out of their way to get professional treatments done before stepping out socially, it appears that those are not the only times when women frequent beauty parlours.

Working women are just as conscious of their appearance and spend a good fraction of their pay cheques at beauty salons. And one can’t overlook the large number of housewives who visit parlours every alternate day, regardless of whether they have a social appointment for the day or not.

What one finds even more surprising is the new trend for young girls — ages 12 to 16 — getting beauty treatments prior to social engagements. Obviously, using beauty parlours on a regular basis is not an inexpensive proposition. Even when one patronizes salons that are regarded as relatively less steep, visiting them on a recurring basis means spending a substantial amount of money in a month on one’s personal grooming. Although there are many treatments that women seek at parlours, let’s take a look at just one.

The most frequently sought service among all ages and types of women — whether working or housewives — seems to be blow-dry. The middling salons normally charge Rs 400 for blow-dry, while the higher-end parlours charge as much as Rs 1,500. There are women who get their hair done as frequently as every day, while many get blow dries done every alternate day. Still others admit to getting it done only when they “are invited out” and confess that that could be as frequent as four to five times a week.

Hence, a person taking the Rs 400 blow-dry say thrice a week, is spending a minimum of Rs 4,800 a month on her hair alone, while those going for the Rs 1,500 service are spending a minimum of Rs 18,000 a month on themselves. Of course, there are a host of other treatments that women get in a month that inflate their monthly expenses further.

While one understands women spending time, energy and money on services that are generally regarded as absolutely necessary for a well groomed appearance — such as threading, waxing, hair cut/trim and hair dye — one does wonder at the fact that it’s not just money but precious time that is being devoted with religious regularity for ‘feel good’ services — such as facials, oil massages, herbal treatments, streaking, low-lights, blow-dries, manicures and pedicures — that are not really imperative for one to appear socially presentable. The necessary treatments, surprisingly, don’t draw too much on one’s time. Although admittedly many get threading done as frequently as every other day, on an average women get it done once in 10 days, while waxing is usually done once a month, hair cut or trim and hair dye generally every four months — though touch-ups are as frequent as every other week.

On the other hand, some of the feel good treatments, all of which require a minimum of an hour-and-a-half from the beginning of the process to its completion, are taken as often as twice or thrice a week, particularly oil massages and herbal treatments. Many go for manicures and pedicures every weekend while facials are taken once a month. It doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out that for those regularly seeking such services, it works out to quite a few hours spent at the salon, forget the expenses. To what then, one wonders, can one attribute this relatively new craze to spend so much time and money on one’s looks?

According to stylist Tariq Amin who has been in the profession for the last 20 years, “Society now demands that a woman should look as if she is ready to go to a wedding even at 10 am. It’s very sad, but a fact nonetheless that people now do things for others and not so much to please themselves.”

Not that any client is ready to admit that. Most diehard parlour-goers that this writer spoke to claim that the reason for getting any kind of beauty treatment is self-satisfaction. Anisa, a housewife, who never steps out of the house without her hair professionally blow-dried, claims that she does not feel complete without it. She even admits to getting her hair done when travelling, regardless of how expensive the hotel parlours may be.

Samrah and Talat, also housewives, confess that they never wash their hair at home. One washes her hair every alternate day and one twice a week, and both get their hair blow-dried after every wash. They too, admit that they visit parlours regularly when abroad, even though it proves a lot more expensive and the chances of meeting someone they know is remote. The reason cited for this self-admitted extravagance is more-or-less the same — “habit”.

Advocating the view that women have begun to go regularly to parlours because they are more aware, want to maintain themselves and always appear presentable is Daulat Rahimtoolah, one of the pioneers in the beauty business. She opines that it is, “Never the same when you try to groom yourself at home — salons always give a professional finishing touch. And when you get used to going to beauty parlours for treatments, there is no getting out of it. It becomes part of the routine and you don’t feel comfortable with yourself if you have to miss out on a treatment.”

Rahimtoolah claims that some of her clients come as often as every alternate day. According to Farhat, a professional, who generally gets her hair done (read blow-dry) when she has to go to a formal dinner — which is at least twice a week — getting a blow-dry is a form of relaxation for her and makes her feel good and confident about herself. She may even roll up her hair in a knot after the set, it doesn’t matter as long as her spirits have been bolstered. In fact, quite a few women claim that whenever they feel depressed they land up at the parlour, and the collective therapy of listening to soft music, being pampered and socializing with people helps to calm their nerves.

One deduces then, that many treatments are sought at beauty parlours more for their therapeutic effect than for any radical improvement in one’s overall appearance. Neelo of Neelo’s beauty parlour, catering to the middle to higher income groups, while stating that women are “conscious of their pockets” and normally only get their beautification done when going out socially, concedes that many of her clients “come for no other reason but to relax.”

Be that as it may, it does seem that many women — particularly working women who constitute 50 per cent of the clientele in some parlours, such as Tariq Amin’s and Ruth Paul’s — frequent salons not so much for relaxation and self-satisfaction as to maintain a certain image. Sadaf, a young girl in her twenties, confesses that from her monthly salary of Rs 30,000, she spends Rs 16,000 on her personal grooming. She feels that the corporate world demands that a working woman should look efficient and immaculate at all times.

Then, there are housewives who frequent parlours more to please their husbands than themselves or anyone else. One parlour wishing to remain anonymous claims that it opens early every morning for a particular client, who gets her-blow dry done before her husband wakes up, as she has to look her best for him at all times. Another case in point is Hameeda who confesses that her husband takes keen interest in her overall appearance and is often responsible for her frequent trips to the salon.

But, what of the recent trend that shows young girls are also frequenting parlours like never before? Since they require neither maintenance, nor mental relaxation, and have no husbands or the corporate world pushing them to maintain a certain image, to what can one attribute this indulgence?

Amin feels that peer pressure is largely responsible for the younger lot patronizing parlours. Says he, “If one girl gets her hair streaked, it becomes a must for the others in the group to get it done also. Such social pressures are more in Karachi than anywhere else in Pakistan. Regardless of age, everyone wants to look like Karisma Kapoor — there is no individuality left. The fallout is that whether mothers or daughters, these days they all look the same, with straight shoulder-length hair and not an ounce of creativity reflected in their appearance. You can even recognize who goes to which salon simply by looking at them.”

Amin claims that he turns away the under 16-year olds if they come for services like manicure and pedicure as he feels it is ridiculous for such young girls to be getting these treatments done. However, Neelo opines that the only time when young girls come to her for feel-good services is when they are dressing up for special occasions, such as school proms. She is also of the opinion that the peak time when young and old come for various treatments is during the wedding season. The beautician feels that mothers are particularly keen to indulge their daughters at this time as weddings provide an ideal opportunity to ‘show-off’ their daughters to the world at large.

While there is no disputing the fact that for any number of reasons women have begun to frequent parlours with an unprecedented vengeance, one can’t overlook the fact that men are fast catching up. There was a time when men were happy going fortnightly to barbers where they would contend themselves with cuts, beard trims and/or oil massages. They would take their pick from a vast variety ranging from way-side barber shops to the slightly more expensive stylists. Nowadays, though, even young boys from the middle-income groups want to have nothing to do with these obscure facilities and instead tend to visit salons for men — boasting a host of services, in fact practically all that is offered at women’s salons — that have largely replaced the erstwhile barber shop.

And no longer are men content with getting just the basics done. Not only is the so-called darker sex also flocking to parlours, if not in droves, then definitely in impressive numbers — the proliferation of such facilities bearing testimony to their popularity — it is no longer unusual for men to be getting themselves waxed, threaded, streaked, etc. However, there is one noticeable difference. While women go to beauticians openly, men are still hiding the fact even from their wives!

In fact, quite unwittingly, I almost triggered off warfare during the course of an informal interview conducted at a party. One lady announced that a certain gentleman sitting in the group should be interviewed as he visits parlours just as frequently as any woman among them, and detecting the amazement on the face of his wife scorned her for not being more aware of his whereabouts! Whether the gentleman ever goes to a salon again remains to be seen, but at that point in time he did admit to getting facials, manicures and pedicures on a regular basis.

So, if it is narcissism that draws people to beauticians, it would be fair to say that vanity is no longer a name for women alone. Men are becoming just as conscious of their looks and while ego is not the only reason why women flock to parlours, it does seem to be the primary motive behind the trend for men patronizing salons. But, be that as it may and although admittedly some people are going overboard in their attempt to look perfect at all times, one must grant that the new wave has its advantages — at least we have more well-groomed people surrounding us now than ever before.