Ruchira observes that in a cosmetic haven, the modern beauty parlour is a vibrant hub of transformation and essential social connection, for Different Truths.
That’s a familiar line from a famous, quoted English poem by Mary Howitt. Written way back in 1828, it is apparently a cautionary tale for little children to steer clear of flattery and deception.
In the truest sense of the term, the word denotes a shop or salon that provides specific goods and services to people. Now, as is too well known, “parlour” has emerged as a commonplace word intertwined with our daily lives. Look around you and you’ll find ice cream parlours galore that dish up dollops of the frozen dessert in its boundless varieties and flavours.
However, outshining them are the cosmetic or “beauty ” parlours that have mushroomed everywhere – in legally allotted “commercial” shops, garages and basements in private houses, upper floors of multi-storey buildings (read apartments). Any good standard parlour is a veritable wonderland. The moment you step inside the door… a medley of odours enters your nostrils, awakening your olfactory nerves – Shampoos, conditioners, molten wax simmering in wax warmers, fruits, herbs, et al.
Beauty parlours are an ideal spot for socialisation; local (read neighbourhood) gossip, news, rumours are exchanged, occasionally updated in most parlours: boy-meets-girl, elopement, board exam results brilliant or poor, who landed a job, who didn’t, some old neighbourhood aunty who passed away. Anecdotes of saas-bahu squabbles, real estate updates, any new kid (read family) on the block, and blah blah.
In the facial-cum-body massage rooms —cool, dimly lit and noiseless—one finds rows of recliners with towel and gown-clad females lying supine on them, cucumber slices on their eyes, faces plastered with beauty-inducing ingredients (which I mentioned earlier). Having undergone similar treatments myself, let me confess they are refreshing and rejuvenating. Many a time, I would enjoy forty winks during the interval before the attendant resumed her work upon me.
The waxing, threading, tweezing, and hair styling jobs get done much faster compared to other activities. However, I have often observed PYTs (pretty young things) engaged in long conversations, fussing over haircuts of their choice. In fact, demand for hair couture is largely determined by Bollywood trends and the choices of the fashion industry. The iconic cuts of yore, Sadhana, Dimple, Madhuri, etc., have yielded place to Preity Zinta, Adity, Alia, or Deepika, to name a few.
During the shaadi (wedding), which spans the cooler months of the year, beauty parlours are a sight to behold. You’ll find troops of the bride’s female kin darting in and out of the designated beauty shops, dressed in all their finery, tripping, stumbling over or hollering at each other to get their tasks done.
Meanwhile, the nervous bride-to-be is seated comfortably as several pairs of hands decorate and pamper her from head to toe, with glittery particles adorning her hair and her face radiating a myriad of colours. Layers of foundation, lipstick, rouge, eye shadows and liners, dollops of fragrant, expensive creams achieve the desired effect!
In a candid vein, the growth of beauty parlours and salons at a phenomenal speed embodies the fact that women are increasingly becoming beauty-conscious, nurturing an innate (read basic instinct) desire to look attractive, pretty, and charming. Indirectly, it also serves as a powerful indicator of the country’s economic stability and prosperity.
After all, it appears quite logical that an exponentially increasing number of women are enthusiastically blowing up thousands of rupees in beauty parlours, as the nation evolves into the third most powerful global economy!
Picture design by Anumita Roy
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