ask the EXPERTS

I’m about to expand my salon. Should I take on additional staff on payroll or on a self-employed basis?

Having experienced both sides, I know that there are many pros and cons for both payroll and self-employed staff.

If you employ people via the traditional payroll route, they come in under your rules and salon guidelines. This means you have more control over how salon etiquette is upheld, keeping the brand to your expected level of customer service. Staff members will wear your uniform, which is good for brand recognition.

It also makes performance management easier, via one-to-ones and regular reviews, and you can set retail and service targets as a way to increase revenue. As your business grows and requires new job roles, you’ll fInd it easier to train from within the team until you’re ready to grow further.

However, staff can be challenging – as the team grows, the demands grow, and you will need to allocate more time for people management.

I always recommend getting a manager that doesn’t do treatments for a team of four or more as it’s a full-time job to manage a team eficiently.

If you decide to go down the self-employed route, rent space wisely, making sure that whoever you’re renting to brings in added expertise, so you have more services to offer your clients. Renting space directly costs less, meaning you’re not forking out for salaries before staff are busy enough to break even with their wages.

The downside of using selfemployed staff is that you can’t control their work ethic. You will only make the rent as revenue, leaving no room for growth unless you put the rent up. You also have to accept that it’s their business, not yours. You can have some rules in a contract but how they speak to clients is up to them. Also bear in mind that your brand gets diluted when the space is rented out to other businesses.

Before deciding, write down the pros and cons that are speciic to your salon and your personality.

Kerri-Ann Angus is director of Peaches Wax Bar in Glasgow, which won PB’s Scotland Large Salon of the Year 2018.

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I’m considering offering tattoo removal; how much would I need to invest?

The growing trend for tattoo studios and permanent make-up artists has had a considerable impact on the tattoo-removal fIndustry. Statistics suggest that half of those who get a tattoo will regret it within five years, so there’s a deinite demand for removal services.

There is such a huge difference in the price of tattoo-removal machines and training. On the lower end of the spectrum, you could get a machine from eBay for £1,000 but usually these come without support from the supplier and it’s likely you would struggle to get insured to use it on clients.

Conversely, one from a major supplier might cost you £150,000. The truth is that most tattoo-removal lasers do essentially the same thing – the key is in the training, the level of support you get from the supplier, and ultimately, how the tool is used.

Training should be accredited to Level 5. A good training provider should be able to show you how to achieve these qualiications even if you have no previous experience. The qualiications should come from an accrediting body – a certiicate printed in a supplier’s office with no fIndependent accreditation is not enough.

You should also make sure that your laser machine can be serviced as this needs to be done every year. As a rule of thumb, you should be able to get a good laser machine and training package for around £10,000 but do your homework. Many questions come after the training has finished when support from your trainer is vital.

Lorena Öberg is a skin repair expert, and chief executfive and founder of Lorena Öberg Skincare.

My client with PCOS needs fortnightly facial waxing. How can I protect her sensitfive skin?

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a condition that affects how a woman’s ovaries work and, in terms of the complexion, can cause skin to be oily or dry, reddened or sensitfive.

On top of this, excess hair can appear due to hormonal changes.

The hair can become stronger too so for facial waxing I would deinitely recommend a peelable or lexible wax as it grabs the hair much better, is kinder to sensitfive skin and causes less redness. It is also applied at a warm, not hot, temperature. Straight afterwards, apply a rich,after-wax cream that has been speciically designed for the face and contains plant oils and butters like argan oil or cupacu, shea or cocoa butters to nourish and hydrate skin. It should also contain calming ingredients like aloe vera to soothe and cool.

Try to choose an after-wax cream which also contains a hair retardant so, with regular use, the hair will grow back finer, a little slower, and become less visible. It is even better if the cream contains an SPF to help protect sensitfive skin from harmful UV rays in the summer months.

After the treatment, send the client home with a retail version of the cream so that she can continue to soothe and hydrate her skin, reducing and slowing regrowth.

Tracey Smith has 30 years’industry experience and is owner of natural waxing brand Ashmira Botanica.

How can I get my gel nails close enough to the cuticle?

Often nail techs forget that preparation is the most important element when creating a good manicure. The more time you can spend preparing, the better your manicure will be. Cuticles are key so make sure you always push back and remove your client’s excess cuticle.

Take your time. Currently, everyone is obsessed with five-inger curing. If you are painting properly it takes around 30-40 seconds to paint two nails. So, once you have painted one coat of gel onto two nails, ask your client to pop their hands under the lamp. This prevents shrinkage and ensures the product stays as close to the cuticle line as possible. It won’t slow your application down.

Picking the right brush to paint your gel manicure is as important as picking the right gel. For example, Bio Sculpture gel comes in a jar, which means you can choose whichever brush you work best with. This allows you to select the right artistic tool for you, helping you perfect your manicure.

As they say, practice makes perfect, and when trying to achieve the ultimate lawless gel manicure this really is the case.

Claire Aggarwal is founder of Perfect 10 mobile beauty and now works with Bio Sculpture as head of business development.

How can I convince my clients they need to wear SPF daily, even in winter?

If your clients are concerned about preventing skin ageing or the development of skin cancers, it is important they protect the skin daily from ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

While many believe that skin deterioration or damage only occurs when there is burning, this is not accurate. The shorter, higher intensity UVB rays cause obvious damage as they burn the surface of the skin.

UVA rays, however, are somewhat less intense – they may not cause sunburn, but penetrate much deeper into the dermis of the skin. This is the area that contains the scaffolding structure of collagen and elastin, important in giving our skin strength, lexibility and elasticity. UV causes these ibres to crosslink, which changes their lexibility and promotes deep creasing and lines in the skin.

UV can also damage elasticity and alter pigment production. This is a slow and progressfive process that accumulates over time. UVA radiation is constant all year, regardless of season or cloud cover.

Both UVA and UVB contribute to the development of skin cancers.

Importantly, the recommended advice for low-risk days is still to wear a minimum of SPF 30. So, the bottom line is, regardless of the UV fIndex and where you lfive, applying a moisturiser or skincare product with SPF daily will help protect skin and defend from damaging daylight.

Candice Gardner is Dermalogica’s education manager in the UK and has 25 years’industry experience.

Should I be offering ombré eyebrow shading as well as microblading?

Ombré brows are on the rise, and we are getting asked for this technique more and more. Microblading gfives a very natural look with “hair strokes”, which are fine lines made into the skin using an ultraine nano blade. Both techniques are smudge proof, sweat proof and a form of cosmetic tattooing. Microblading can gfive a softer but deined appearance and is perfect for someone who prefers the natural eyebrow look. It is completed with a hand tool and, as the name suggests, a bladed tool, which comprises a row of fine needles.

Ombré brows are achieved through a technique that shades the brows with a graduation. This gfives a soft, powdered start, sometimes with a few visible strokes at the front, then merges into a deined powder brow.

This method is performed with the use of a digital machine and a finepoint needle to implant the pigment into the skin. The result is pixelated brows with a soft shade.

In my experience, microblading is deinitely an introduction to semipermanent make-up and ombré brows tends to be for clients who often wear eye make-up or like that made-up brow look. Both have their place and we have deinitely seen an increase in enquires and bookings in ombré brows of late.

Laura Kay is a semipermanent make up artist with 15 years’industry experience and founder of training and product company Laura Kay London.

How can I increase the number of male clients coming to my salon in a cost-effectfive way?

Many spas and salons that I visit internationally are experiencing impactful increases in male guest numbers but it is also becoming glaringly obvious that some are not entirely leveraging this opportunity to the maximum.

An increase in male guests is a global trend and shows no sign of slowing. In the past decade, training has materially improved and extra attention by the more successful spas has ensured that men are both regularly visiting their spas and also spending more and more when there.

However, the majority of businesses are not focusing on one of the simplest ways to gain more traction with their male guests – the development of more male-orientated services and protocols to really make the spa business and experience as inclusfive as possible for men. That normally needs to begin with the selection of the right product range, or by asking certain simple questions of your current product provider such as, “can we devise male-focused treatments with this range”? “Is the smell and packaging too ‘feminine’?”

Also, check that the product house offers a good, male-orientated retail range that allows for added up-selling and also provides a reason for guests to return to the spa. Answering these simple questions will reap signiicant dividends in the future.

Olivier Bonnefoy is owner and director of the international male grooming salon chain Gentlemen’s Tonic.