Home Salons Doing Pretty Well

FF Fashion

Mon, Mar 16, 2009
The Straits Times
By Elizabeth Soh & Gwendolyn Ng



TO KEEP up appearances in tough times, many women are cancelling the costly beautician or hairdresser in town and opting for cut-price pampering at home salons.

Backyard beauty parlours have bloomed in recent months, with many reporting a 30 per cent rise in the number of clients as budget-conscious customers beat a path to their doors. Some have even seen customer numbers double since the economic crunch hit.

From about 40 home salons here last October, mostly run out of living rooms in HDB flats and specially refurbished rooms in landed homes, there are now estimated to be more than 100 such chic-on-the-cheap home salons. They tend to offer a bit of everything - haircuts for $5 to $12, aromatherapy massages for $65 to $85, and manicures and pedicures for $34 to $50.

Unlike their predecessors, which were often synonymous with housewives looking to make some pocket money, this new breed of home salons is run by trained professionals with at least two years of experience in the industry.

One of them is Ms Winnie Lai, 32, who worked for 18 years in various hair salons before striking out on her own in her three-room HDB flat in Tampines two years ago so that she could look after her son at home.

Her Winn's Home Salon offers haircuts at just $7, well under the $40 an Orchard Road stylist with similar experience would charge. Colouring costs upwards of $35 and digital perms or rebonding are priced at around $100, about a third cheaper than rates outside. To guarantee customer satisfaction, she even offers a seven-day warranty for perms and rebonding, which allows those unsatisfied with the results to come back for a free fix.

'With no overheads like rent, as well as no salaries to pay besides my own, I can afford to charge customers less,' she says. Since last November, her clientele has increased from two to five a day, which means a full day of snipping, curling and blow-drying for the one-woman show.

It's not just home hairdressing that is enjoying a boom. Nail services are also thriving. They involve virtually no start-up costs so many younger nail technicians, discouraged by sky-high rents, have set up shop at home, where they can start making profits almost immediately.

Miss Rebecca Chuang, 26, a medical technologist who runs Secret Chamber Nails Home Salon from a four-room HDB flat in Tampines with her twin, Patricia, says: 'Starting up is very simple, just a range of good polishes, tools and basins for pedicures.'

They have been providing this home service part-time since 2006, after taking a part-time diploma course in nail technology. Since the recession started, takings have doubled from $200 to $400 a month.

'It's mainly because we charge very competitive prices and offer many other little perks like hand and foot massages and serve floral tea,' says Miss Chuang. The sisters charge $34 for a classic manicure and pedicure, which costs up to $70 in commercial salons. They even do housecalls for an extra $10 to $25, depending on location.

A regular customer, administration executive Karen Ong, 26, says: 'Previously, before I found out about the twins, I would pay about $25 for just a manicure outside. Now I can do both a manicure and a pedicure with a $10 top-up. The price is really attractive.'

Five out of the six home nail salons The Straits Times contacted have seen a similar 30 per cent spike in business since the recession hit.

Beyond the prices, many customers are also attracted by the convenience.

Masseuse Josephine Tan, 37, who runs homemassagesingapore.com from a five-room flat in Marine Parade and does house calls for $83 an hour, says: 'Although we charge about the same as the market rate, this price is net, including the cost of transportation for house calls. It allows the customer to save travelling time and money. In this sense, we offer more value for money.'

To attract new customers, home salons are even diversifying into exotic beauty treatments such as the Brazilian wax, once available only in upscale salons downtown.

Ms Kerry Wong, 30, who operates waxing salon The Golddust from her terrace house in Eunos, charges $45 for each waxing treatment, slightly below the market rate of $50.

'Not only are my prices competitive, I also offer very personalised services; it's always me doing the procedure,' says Ms Wong, who honed her skills for three years working part-time in a waxing salon in the United States. She even picks up her customers from nearby bus stops and MRT stations and offers a lift home to those who live nearby.

According to retail expert Lynda Wee, who holds a PhD in retail marketing, this trend is here to stay with such competitive pricing.

'The recession has given people the push to try alternatives they might have been previously cautious of, like home beauty parlours, to stretch their dollar,' she says.

But the Consumers Association of Singapore advises first-time customers of home beauty salons to exercise caution if asked to buy stored-value packages as these businesses can 'close down' as and when they wish.