General salons attitude and level of satisfactions in Ghana

Women visit salons because they suppose the Cosmetologists are the experts when it comes to their skin and hair care. But most salons have woefully failed to live by this expectation.
As far as my profession is concern, Skin and Hair Care Technologist to be precise, I had the opportunity to have spoken to a lot of salon clientele all over the country. These are what I have been able to capture from them so far. They go to the salons for hair relaxing, shampooing, braiding, fixing weave on, perming (Jelly curls), coloring, cutting, body care, and styling which is more of routine for them.
Unfortunately, most of the consumers I spoke with were bold to say they are not satisfied with the quality of some of the so- called high class salons services at all. They gave several reasons for this feeling of disappointment as follows_

• Most high-class set up salon owners are not professional cosmetologist, but employs substandard and sub professionals who did not train for it but learnt the quasi practical. In such case and situation, instead of getting quality professional services and advice for their skin and hair care, all they received is just the physical act of cleansing, shampooing, styling e.t.c. just as they would have in the small salons. In addition, due to their little or no knowledge about the field, they can not render the level of services required of them, and are therefore found wanting in all they do.

In their incompetence, they grieve the clients in the following areas_

1. They do not understand the reactions of the products they apply
2. They allow scalp to burn by the rough handling of the hair and constantly combing as well as massaging of the scalp during relaxing the hair.
3. Some of the self style facial experts also worsen the face condition by application of the facial mask product any where and any how, without focus and target.
4. They do not use proper neutralizing shampoo after relaxing hair. Therefore they advice the client to return in three (3) days time in order to remove the chemical residues.How on earth is that!

Personally, I strongly agree to the dissatisfaction statement made by these clients. Because the students within the cosmetology industry and trainees of late are not prepared to learn and neither are their madams and instructors qualified update instructors that can impart realistic knowledge in the students. How then do we produce qualified cosmetologist for mother Ghana so that we can meet international standards, because we are naming styles “salt and pepper, gari, and using raw eggs, avocado pear, papaw leaves and other spices with the idea that, these raw materials would penetrate into the hair strand to correct damages, and the funniest part is that, they use these raw materials on relaxed hair for steaming the hair.
Trainees now a day loves weak instructors that they can rule and where they can ignore the discipline and ethics vessel of the business.
Likewise their madams and instructors hate to improve and update themselves to meet the current challenges. These same madams love to send some of their clients and apprentices to other salons as clients for hair do in order to steal techniques and information’s from those salons. Some of them did not even pass out their training completely due to notorious attitudes they showed out and were dismissed or choose to leave willingly. Later they move from salon to salon searching for work “as work and pay” method just to steal skills. Such persons love to work in the salon where the owners are not cosmetologist so that they are unable to identify their inferiors.
Their objectives and aims are to make quick monies through lying and stealing to setup their salon within 1-2 years and only to leave that salon semi-collapse.
Moreover, I have witness where some manufactures spend millions of cedis in order to educate these cosmetologists in the area of how and when to use their products. But it always fails, because only few would demonstrate their listening skill and the rest will be having chat among themselves waiting for T-Shirt, apron, and posters to be shared and to them that is all.