How salon customers went from ignorant to informed

By Kaveeta Pol

6 years ago when I started my salon and spa that solely housed certified organic and vegan brands for all services, nobody understood it. "What is organic?" "What is vegan?" "I've never read a label before!" "I don't know how to check what's good for my skin." I remember spending 10-15 minutes per customer explaining the difference between the next door salon's shampoo or the shampoo they used at home vs the shampoos that I had curated from international brands with global certifications, ethical manufacturing processes and solid labelling standards. I knew what was in these products, I knew where they were made, I knew why they worked. After having washed 1000's of Indian women's hair, I could witness the difference and I wasn't alone. My customers started to see it too. Instead of selling our services, we sold knowledge, expertise, advise, and the switch followed.

Fast forward to today, I have customers walk in asking me, "Do you have a shampoo without sulphates and parabens?", "Does your hair smoothening product have animal based keratin or plant based keratin?", "I'd like nailpaints without any Cochineal Carmine", "I'd like to use a face mask without any artificial fragrances, it doesn't suit my skin."

The wave of contentment I experience as I answer their questions now is beyond.