Face lift
Hygiene and quality of products used should be a parlour?s priority as customers come purely on faith, reports Rewati Rau.
If you have been dreaming of becoming an Aishwarya Rai with the swoosh of some magic wand which numerous beauty centres claim to possess, then you can probably put your dreams on hold for a while. Because these centres are suddenly under the scanner with MLA Mukesh Sharma initiating a bill in the Delhi Assembly recently, urging the government to monitor beauty clinics, slimming centres and massage parlours in the city.
Magic wand
Sharma is charged up, obviously. He says, “I’m not against the small, neighbourhood beauty clinic where a girl goes to get her wedding sari tied but the big slimming centres that claim to make a person lose 10 kgs in a month. Do they have a magic wand or are they doctors? Do people know about the side effects of things used on them for weight loss?”
Sharma’s bill requests the government to lay down guidelines for slimming centres/ beauty parlours and wants to have them recognised and verified by the police. The recent verdict in Kumkum’s case reinforces his point. Kumkum, 43, had visited Sindoor beauty parlour in Rishi Nagar to get her hair dyed. She ended up with the skin on her head peeling off. After eight years, the State Consumer Court on Wednesday ordered a compensation of Rs 50,000 to Kumkum.
Selling faith
Hygiene and quality of products used should obviously be a top priority of a parlour/ slimming centre as customers buy treatments on pure faith. Says Ritu Dhawan of VLCC, “We do meticulous research on every patient before initiating any programme. We’ve written a letter to Sharma fully supporting his view.” Adds Supreme Court lawyer SK Sharma, “Beauty treatment is a service, which has to be provided very carefully. The judgment in Kumkum’s case will have a far reaching impact.”
However, the bill is more likely to affect the small fish than the big ones as they operate with limited resources. And that’s where the danger lies. Geeta, who works in a parlour in Patparganj says, “Product-related small mishaps keep happening in local parlours. Even though I work in a parlour, I’m scared of going to any parlour other than mine.” Seems it’s safer to be happy with what nature made you.
