Red Room Where the Writers Are

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“Though
all women want to look good, they should see that the Parlours they
visit are clean and having qualified beauticians. They should check
whether combs, scissors, manicure sets and gowns have been properly
sterilized or not. The client has the right to know the quality of the
products being applied on her. Promises that dandruff, wrinkles and
dark circles under the eyes will vanish overnight are all false. No
beautician can turn you into a Cinderella in one sitting”.

The
skin infections, facial paralysis and scalp burns are the price of
dangerous and unhygienic treatments carried out by poorly trained and
non professional salon beauticians. But, is there any agency, body or
department in the state of Jammu and Kashmir to check the standard of
material used, skills and professional know-how of Beauty Parlours
staff?
If, not a scandal in Jammu and Kashmir state yet but the
threat has been revealed yesterday when in a bizarre incident of its
kind, beatifying her face proved a costly affair for a would-be bride.
The
victim suffered severe burns due to chemical reaction at a beauty
parlour in Rajouri district of Jammu on Saturday. Unfortunately the
victim girl was scheduled to enter into nuptial knot.
The victim
Samiya daughter of Akmat Hussein of Budwan Rajouri suffered severe
chemical burn injuries after she had a facial in ‘Rosy’s Beauty
Parlour’ in Budwan area. 
The chemical reactions were so adverse that entire face of the Samiya suffered burn injuries and was hospitalized.
According
to doctors Beauty Parlour professionals had ignored procedures
including the chemical tests about reaction on particular face. But the
incident indicates that they were not professionals otherwise they
would have carried the required tests before.
In the worst example
in Jammu and Kashmir, badly trained staff is exposing clients to the
risk of infection and reactions because waxings, anti-ageing treatments
and body piercing are not carried out properly. 
The warning that
came from yesterday’s incident occurred in Rajouri district which has
uncovered a range of dubious practices beauty salons.
Though the
number of people who complain after having a bad experience is small,
but true figure may be much higher because many incidents go unreported.
As
the use of poor quality material and lack of professional skills go
unchecked in the Beauty Parlours, the clients are more porn to risk and
side effects.
Increasingly popular waxing procedures run the risk of
spreading infections such as herpes and the contagious skin complaint
impetigo. Bacteria can start to live in the wax if a spatula is used to
apply it to two or more clients. A spatula should be single use, but
sometimes it's not. Sometimes some clients have ended up in hospital
with an infection, including septicaemia, after having a tattoo or
piercing. Some henna tattoos that use the wrong type of henna can burn
the skin.' 
Burgeoning demand for laser treatments to remove
unwanted hair and blemishes and injections of anti-wrinkle substances
such as Botox is also a problem, because clients could be burnt or
infected.
Hairdressing staff may also suffer from dermatitis because
their hands are often wet and handling chemicals in dyes, bleaches and
shampoos. May people do not know the side-effects of chemical and poor
quality salon products but it could do harm to your short-term or
long-term health. Clients are taking a gamble with their lives and
health.
The root cause of infection is a lack of hygiene in beauty Parlours, use of substandard products and incompetent beauticians.
It
has been observed that these days, girls do short-term causes and set
up their own Parlours to make a quick buck. Quality is sacrificed at
the altar of greed, the results of which are disastrous. On the other
hand all processes in a Beauty Parlour could turn out to be hazardous
wherever substandard products were used. Even waxing of arms and legs,
if not done properly, can cause pustules that are not only painful but
also make a person sick. Sometimes, the hairs are not pulled in the
right direction, which causes infection.
The application of ‘Henna’ can also be dangerous because some beauticians use strong chemicals to give a dark shade. 
Some
beautician mix Hibiscus with Henna while about 90 per cent people are
allergic to Hibiscus, but beauticians don’t bother to find out if their
clients are allergic to anything.
The colour carton carries an instruction that an allergy test should be done before application, but how many do it.
Hair
colours are manufactured commercially and beauticians have to take a
full course to learn new techniques. Colours have to be mixed in a
right proportion and a substance which is good for one client may be
harmful for the others. Skin type, season and age have to be kept in
mind before a facial.
Many clients end up losing the hair after they
have had their hair permed or straightened. Sometimes, it takes longer
for the hair to grow again. Even the nose and the ear are pierced in a
primitive way in some Parlours, which causes infection. In many cases,
the infection trickles down to glands under the ears. I put such
patients on antibiotics to save them from going deaf. The face bleach
can cause skin burns and one has to monitor such delicate operations. 
Though all women want to look good, they should see that the Parlours they visit are clean and having qualified beauticians. 
They
should check whether combs, scissors, manicure sets and gowns have been
properly sterilized or not. The client has the right to know the
quality of the products being applied on her. Promises that dandruff,
wrinkles and dark circles under the eyes will vanish overnight are all
false. No beautician can turn you into a Cinderella in one sitting.