For young men who aren't really used to getting pampered at a salon, a visit to one might come across as a slightly daunting and unsure proposition. For regular spa habitues, rich housewives and social mavens, going to a salon is as regular as taking your evening cup of tea and sandwiches.
The questions arise - does one give in totally to the situation and trust the professionals getting your hair to look right, your facial hair perfectly groomed and your face blemish-free? Or does one keep an eye open on what is going on and insist that your diktats be followed as you know best what looks good on you? On visiting the renowned Taj salon at the Taj Mahal Hotel with a watchful eye on their services, I decided on the middle ground approach - that of trusting these experienced professionals as well as gently reminding them that I knew what kind of look I had in mind.
Before I started, I asked salon manager Reena Sheth about whether the urban male has become more discerning about his maintenance and looks. "Most definitely. Men form almost half of our client mix. There has been a definite increase in the ratio of men to women clientele in the recent past. This has urged us to launching unique services, such as our recently launched 'Signature Homme Wax', which offers a unique depilatory experience to our discerning Male guests. We are in the process of launching premium hair care products for men such as the SP (Wella) Homme range of products. We will also be elaborating on our existing retail line of luxury grooming products from Truefitt & Hill," she said.
The salon itself has undergone some changes in recent times. With a fresh lick of paint and an overall new vibe, Sheth maintains that it is the experience as well as the recruitment process of the staff that goes a long way towards customer satisfaction. As someone who is very particular about personal space, this reporter felt neither uncomfortable nor dissatisfied with the attendants' attention towards me; clearly these guys knew what they were doing.
Sheth elaborated, "The staff goes through an average of 500 to 600 man-hours of training per quarter. The training ranges from refresher training for available services organized by respective training partners at their training institutes/ academies, as well as in-house training. We train our staff on new product launches, demos and also product knowledge sessions for retailing. We emphasize on international training, and also send chosen operators overseas for advance training. Our staff has been sent for advance training to international schools of hairdressing such as Tony & Guy, Vidal Sasson and the like.
With a constant focus on training and upgradation of skills, we are going for an exclusive tie-up with our skin care partner, Janssen, which has recently acquired a 'CIBTAC' affiliation, to get our first batch of beauticians (from our Mumbai salons) 'CIBTAC certified' for the use of Janssen skin care products. This is the first of its kind of affiliation and the CIBTAC affiliated program is being launched by the Taj Salons in October 2014."
By this time, the long but pleasurable series of treatments (pre-shave oil, shave, facial cleanse, pedicure and so on) had been complete and it was apparent that, going by the other clientele at the Taj salon, that the demographic was the well-heeled. Apparently that's not because of the competitive prices but rather because of the experience levels of the staff. Apparently some have been around for 20 to 30 years.
