11 things to check before you sit in a salon chair
Fungal scalp infections, folliculitis and nail-bed infections in India almost always trace back to a tool, a towel or a basin. A quick, non-paranoid checklist you can run in the thirty seconds before your appointment starts.
You do not need to inspect a salon like a health inspector. But there are eleven things that take thirty seconds to notice, and they separate the places that will give you a nice afternoon from the ones that will give you a dermatology appointment.
The tools
1. Combs and brushes should come out of a drawer or a barbicide jar, not off the counter where they were used on the last client.
2. Scissors and clippers should be visibly wiped down between clients. Clipper blades in particular carry the most.
3. Razors must be single-use. If you see a straight razor without a fresh disposable blade being loaded in front of you, leave.
4. Nail files and buffers are porous and cannot be sterilised. Either they are new out of a packet, or they are yours and kept for you.
5. Metal nail implements should come out of an autoclave pouch. A UV box is a storage cabinet, not a steriliser — this is the single most common misunderstanding in Indian salons.
The linens
6. A fresh towel per client, visibly taken from a stack rather than a pile on a chair.
7. A disposable neck strip or a clean collar between the cape and your skin. Capes get reused all day; that strip is what keeps it acceptable.
The station
8. The basin should be rinsed and the drain clear. Standing hair in a basin is a decent proxy for everything you cannot see.
9. Product bottles should be closed, labelled, and not decanted into unmarked containers. Unlabelled bottles hide relabelled cheap product.
10. Waxing: one spatula, one dip, into the bin. Double-dipping is the single largest cause of folliculitis after waxing, and it is entirely avoidable.
The people
11. Hands washed, in front of you, before they touch your hair or skin. Gloves for colour and for waxing.
If something is off
You do not have to make a scene. "Could I get a fresh towel?" and "Is that a new blade?" are normal questions that any competent salon answers happily. The reaction tells you more than the answer does. And if you have an open cut, a scalp flare or a nail lifting, reschedule — those are the days when a small lapse becomes an infection.