Your Spa Treatments create big beauty salon business every year!
Spending anywhere from Rs.2000 to Rs.5000 per visit, your weekly or monthly salon visits are costing you precious pampering fortune.
No wonder it’s a Six Billion Dollar a Year Industry!
As you can imagine, the money you spend on these little luxuries is very important to the salon industry, meaning they will do whatever it takes to keep you coming back for more.
While sometimes “whatever it takes” is going above and beyond excellent service, cleanliness and technique, it can also mean cutting corners and deceiving the salon layman in order to keep costs down and business booming.
And not to totally scare you, but what’s supposed to be a luxurious treat, can sometimes turn into your worst nightmare — think skin diseases and infections.
While yes, a number of people each year don’t experience any serious or life-threatening side effects, you’d be naive to believe that it could never happen to you. Spa salons that have been insufficiently cleaned or practice poor sanitization, as well as ones with inadequately trained therapists and masseurs, could be a breeding ground for bacteria and physically dangerous place for you to “unwind.”
Which is why we went straight to the pros who are Spa therapists and masseurs, in order to uncover the realities of Spa salons that you might never know.
Here is what we learnt from them. These are the Spa treatments and their 5 harsh realities:
- The Infections You Carry Home
At this time now, when you are reading this, an estimated few hundred unsuspecting clients walk out of their chosen Spa salon with infections — bacterial, viral and fungal. And no matter which salon you go to, be it a regular next door, or a five star facility, there is always a risk of infection. Studies claim that 75 percent of salons in the country are not following their own protocols for disinfections, which includes not mixing their disinfectant solutions properly on a daily basis, not soaking their instruments appropriately, and using counterfeit products to reduce costs. And the problem is that there is no way to really verify, whether an instrument has been properly soaked and sterilized or not, without being a part of the staff yourself.
- They Do Not Turn Down The Customers
Like most businesses, most Spa facilities won’t turn away paying customers. Which means that people who are sick, or already have infections or skin ailments are being worked on, on the same bed, instead of being referred to an appropriate medical professional. The transmission of infection from one client to another is the most common thing to occur. And with millions of people whose immune systems are compromised by diabetes, HIV, cancer, hepatitis and other infective organisms, booking services offered in these salons, along side those, many are dangerously susceptible to infections.
- They Swap And Dilute Bottles
Many salons fill expensive lotion bottles with cheap generic lotions. That way the salons can charge you more for the therapy by claiming to use high-end products, but in reality are just deceiving you. Some salons will dilute water based lotions that have become clumpy from old age or from too much air exposure, with water or other liquids. This action compromises the quality of the lotions. To ensure the life of your skin and to protect any possible germ spreading, you must tote your own product bottles, if you have to visit a Spa.
- Just Because There Is No Rash, Doesn’t Mean You Haven’t Been Scrubed Bad
Breaks in the skin or rashes can be microscopic or highly visible. They may be created in the salon, but become visible much after the treatment is over, sometimes drawing blood and sometimes not. But just because no blood is visible, doesn’t mean these “portals of entry” aren’t susceptible to infective organisms. Small little bruises that happen while getting that tough scrub done can be very dangerous if not treated immediately. And the Spa staff will never tell you about those, in the quest to save the reputation of their so called expert therapists.
- All Costs Are Not Included
Some salons will try to keep certain added costs a secret. They try and up charge you for an additional aroma massage and won’t tell you until it’s time to check out. A quality Spa salon will include all costs in the advertised price of the service, but all do not practice this. So make sure to ask if all costs are included before lying on that massage bed.
So here you go!
After reading the above, you are well aware what to expect from your expensive Spa Treatment Salons, and how to avoid the hazards they may bring to you!
Happy pampering!
