How do I Choose the Best Salon?

Choosing the best salon is an individual decision, dependent upon the services desired and their quality. Other factors come into play, including cleanliness, customer service, location, convenience, and prices. Individuals consider some of these factors to be more important than others and such considerations mean that the best salon won’t be the same for different people.

One thing most people want to know when they look for the best salon are the services each salon offers. Some people only want a place to get the occasional haircut, while others desire a much greater range of beauty care. The basic haircutting establishment sometimes houses nail and pedicure services, which may be enough or too much — a few people have a hard time with the smells of nail polish and might look for facilities that only cut hair.

People who want more might choose the best salon by looking for extras. These could be services like tanning, waxing, makeup application, up-do specialization, or hair services such as perms and coloring. Occasionally, other specialties such as massage, facials, or body-wraps are offered.

Determining the best salon based only on services isn’t always a good choice. Sometimes employees aren’t very friendly or they aren’t particularly skilled at their work. Either one of these can make the salon far less attractive. People often go to full-service salons or spas for the experience of being cared for and made to feel special. Any experience at a salon that doesn’t evoke these feelings probably means shopping for a salon should continue.

Similarly, if results of a trip aren’t satisfying and outcome such as a bad haircut, color, or waxing occurs, people should plan to try another salon. There is one proviso: a salon may be very good with a couple of employees who aren’t. By avoiding them, people could still patronize the establishment, hand-picking the employees they’ll work with in the future.

Other things people can search for in the best salon include cleanliness. Avoid salons where there are obvious signs of neglect, for instance, sinks are clogged, shelves are dusty and it doesn’t look like brushes have been cleaned in a while. People may also want a salon that is close by so that they can get to it easily. Alternately, they may prefer one located near other attractive places, such as shopping centers.

Those who aren’t good at planning ahead may want to find a salon that offers same day or walk-in appointments, but this isn’t always the best way to determine a best salon. Prices may really matter, and best is sometimes defined as cheapest. Highest-priced doesn’t necessarily mean it's the best, though salons that charge top dollar for services would like customers to think so. Many people find that there are plenty of mid-priced salons that fully satisfy them, and they advise avoiding extreme high and low prices in favor of those places with in-between or average costs.