Beauty and the beast

Beauty is more than skin deep...

Behind exquisite hairdos and elaborate makeovers lies the story of thousand of hardworking Pakistani women who toil away in salons, trying to make others look beautiful. While the customers get to enjoy 15 minutes of fame, thanks to their services, these salon workers walk away with little more than half-hearted expressions of gratitude and Rs 50 in tips.

Granted that customers are not responsible for salon staff, sparing a moment to have a polite conversation or exchanging a smile can go a long way. You may find that the staff at your favourite salon includes young girls who learnt their craft at local welfare institutes and support their family with whatever little they manage to earn. You might meet sole breadwinners like 32-year-old Nancy who are striving for a better life by providing waxing, pedicures and other non-glamorous services.

“I have been working in this salon for the past six years,” says Nancy who works at one of Karachi’s leading salon chains. “I have two children and dreamt of giving them the best education possible so I work here, round the clock, every day of the year, just so that they can study O and A levels.” Unfortunately for Nancy, the pressure of earning fell entirely on her shoulders after her husband was diagnosed with a liver disease due to his alcohol addiction. “Yes, I have to work very hard throughout — sometimes on public holidays too. But I am happy as my children are doing great in school and my clients love my work.”



Nancy is hardly the only salon worker trying to escape domestic problems through her work. “I work just to get out of my house,” says 15-year-old Annie, displaying the bloody gashes on her arms to explain why. “My stepfather steals from and abuses my mother and me physically. One time, the situation got so bad that I tried to commit suicide!  Working made me forget about my depressing home life. I have received more love here than I ever did from my family.”

While Nancy and Annie were lucky enough to find cooperative colleagues, others have to put up with politics, even at the workplace. It is a well-known fact that internal conflicts are rife in the world of glitz and glamour and beauty salons are no exception. It often happens that existing employees are threatened by a newcomer who may be more experienced or better qualified than them. Such was the experience of 28-year-old Rasheeda who was left to fend for herself upon joining the salon she worked at previously. “Before I started, I received training at Gul-e-Rana Academy and thought I would do great but my very first day on the job turned out to be an eye-opener,” she shares. “The other girls were so jealous! They passed rude comments and never included me in their social circle. Some even tried to steal my clients. I was free a lot of the time and our boss concluded that none of the clients wanted my services.” Rasheeda continued to bear the ridicule until one day, the taunting turned into verbal abuse and false accusations which compelled her to resign.



Naturally, an unhappy workforce is likely to create many problems for those who have to manage them. Shaheena, owner of a local beauty salon and spa, sheds light on parlour politics and how they can affect the day-to-day operations. Although Shaheena maintains a strict policy of not interfering in the personal lives of her staff, she admits sometimes it is inevitable. “I have to make sure there is no dispute serious enough to impact the work,” she shares. “It is even harder to conceal any such dispute before the clients lest the reputation of my salon get tarnished. The biggest challenge is to ensure no personal politics get so out of hand that I am forced to fire one of the girls. What a waste of talent and training that would be.”

But beautician Fatima Kamal has more than inter-parlour politics to worry about. “The main problem I face in running my own salon is with the employees. Most important is that many big parlours bribe the workers with a few extra thousand rupees and steal them away,” she claims, resentfully. “So much time and effort is spent on training employees and it is heart breaking to have them jump ship suddenly. Same is the case when an employee starts clandestine home visits to clients’ houses for extra cash. I have let off many employees for this.”

Considering the amount of hard work that is put into their education, it is hardly surprising how Fatima and other salon managers feel. “It takes a long time teaching the girls the basics,” confesses Fatima. “Many of them are complete newbies when they come to us but I try them out nonetheless. I teach them different services and have them test it out on one another to gauge their talent. Usually, there is a trial period of about two to three weeks based upon which, a decision is made.”

Indeed, training is a crucial aspect of life as salon worker, especially considering different types of clients that come, all hoping for impeccable service. “99% of customers at every parlour are very finicky about cleanliness,” explains Fatima. “I keep a strict check on everyone’s appearances and hygiene after one client complained that my employee’s nails were too long and kept poking her during a facial. Now, I check their nails too!”

Horror stories involving unhappy clients are common throughout the industry and almost every salon owner, manager and worker has one to tell.  “Women who come to my salon have their own favourite workers who they prefers,” explains Shaheena. “They aren’t comfortable with new faces and don’t trust their work.”

Some customers think the salon workers to be their personal assistants, cursing and yelling at the slightest mistake. “There was a lady who slapped me in front of everyone once and that too for a trivial reason,” confesses Anita, a salon worker. “The wind from the fan blew some cotton onto her freshly painted toenails and the varnish began to come off as I tried to remove the cotton. Next thing I knew, she suddenly hit me across my face and as if that wasn’t humiliating enough, my boss shouted at me the entire day after that. It was a horrible experience!” she says.

On the contrary, one can argue that it is justifiable if a client is dissatisfied with the service provided since they are the ones paying for it. “I once went for a facial and the worker was constantly on the phone while doing it!” claims housewife Sadaf Alam. “A facial is supposed to be relaxing. Needless to say I couldn’t relax at all and complained to the manager.”

However, perhaps the most pressing issue is the health risks salon workers have to bear due to the nature of their work. The threat is particularly severe around small-scale, neighbourhood salons that operate with little oversight and take no measures to avoid or reduce their usage of detrimental beauty products, such as glues, polishes, dyes, solvents and hair solutions that contain a multitude of unregulated chemicals. According to Dr Jaffrey, a general practitioner in Karachi, “These salons are often compact so the fumes and chemicals aren’t always expelled.” Extended exposure to these chemicals and noxious fumes can cause serious illness such as allergies, respiratory troubles, reproductive harm and even cancer. “But we should remember it isn’t just fumes and chemicals. Constant contact between skin, hot wax and small appliances like cuticle removers, tweezers and nail files being shared with multiple customers — many of whom may carry fungal infections — breeds more infections. Same goes for unsterilised scissors and combs.”

It is no secret that the implementation of labour laws in Pakistan is minimal. However, if everyone plays their respective roles, as owners and customers and accept the salon workers an individuals, things can change for the better.

Published in The Express Tribune, Ms T, May 25^th, 2014.