Cellphones have become a fundamental part of our daily lives, offering convenience, connectivity, ideas and endless amounts of entertainment. However, cellphones have single-handedly changed the salon experience in a way that creates severance and unrealistic expectations. The mobile phone certainly serves its purpose and may help reach the ultimate hair goal, but the ubiquity of use has sourced urgency and a lack of creative liberty.

Before cellphones became popular, a visit to the salon meant relaxation, friendship, womanhood, community and maybe a little gossip. Times were simpler and getting your hair done included sitting and reading magazines while chatting it up with your stylist, who you’ve probably been seeing for many years. 

Women presented themselves gracefully and maintained a tailored appearance for themselves. Now, men and women are likely trying to keep up with the latest hair trends they find online due to popularity. Balayage, cowboy copper, curtain bangs, the butterfly cut, claw clips, extensions and young boys getting perms have taken the beauty industry by storm.

Without phone apps like Instagram and TikTok, trends would not be disseminated so rapidly, further affecting consumer demands. People depend on these trends to feel accepted and beautiful, though many hair photos on the internet are wigs, filters or variations of lighting that are unrealistic to maintain or accomplish. Cellphones have made beauty standards exceedingly difficult to achieve.

Should we be achieving these standards anyway? 

Along with standards, the sense of urgency and entitlement to get beauty services done — especially in adolescence — has fostered a generation of privileged teenagers and young adults who do not understand the salon to be an indulgence.

The opportunity to receive a luxury service is taken for granted and the splendor can be lost. 

One of the most significant ways cellphones are eroding the salon experience is by diminishing client engagement. Not only are salon appointments about haircuts, manicures or facials, but they are about building personal relationships between client and stylist. There is a great amount of trust involved in a stylist touching and altering your hair, and the potential for connection and relaxation is virtually lost when absorbed by our phones.

The ambiance of the salon is an essential element to a great day at the salon that phone use can disrupt. Of course, the customer is free to use their time however they please, as the appointment is time for them. The rejuvenating atmosphere in the salon is created with soft or upbeat music, lighting, scents and the hum of conversation that is completely disrupted by the noise of buzzing, ringing and beeping of cellphones. The noise from phone conversations takes away from clients wanting to unwind and the experience with your stylist. The cacophony of phone sounds can fracture the serenity that clients expect when visiting the salon. 

Surely cellphones have brought convenience and enjoyment to people’s lives, but they are equally creating inconvenience and detrimental impact on the salon experience. 

I think it is time we put down our phones, engage with our stylists, flip the pages of a magazine, drink tea and enjoy the restoring time spent at the salon.

Carlina Krajnik is an opinion writer. Contact her at [email protected].