Beauty tips

  Illustration by RODERICK ROXAS/Daily Bruin

By Sharon Kim
Daily Bruin Contributor

Many women, and increasingly more men, accept discomfort and
even pain as the price for beauty.

But due to insufficient sanitation and cleaning in some hair and
beauty salons, this cost of maintenance has also come to include
infectious diseases.

“Owners must pass an exam and know the minimum standards
of health requirements to receive a license to run a salon,”
said Rick Lopes, spokesperson for the California State Bureau of
Barbering and Cosmetology.

The Bureau of Barbering and Cosmetology oversees the licensing
and regulation of the barbering, cosmetology, and electrology
professions in California.

According to a press release from the Bureau, during September
2000, a nail salon in Santa Cruz County was linked to an infection
in a total of 109 related cases of abrasions and boils.

The patrons who reported the cases all received pedicures at the
salon.

In response to the cases, the Bureau reclassified the salon
owner’s license to probationary for four years, giving the
Bureau legal authority to monitor the owner’s activities
during this time.

According to Bureau Chief James Goldstene, the tough actions
resulting from this incident serve to protect consumers.

And all new policies apply to salons in Westwood, which cater to
a college community looking for safe and affordable grooming
care.

But many of the guidelines have not changed.

Some of the regulations the Bureau enforces include specific
codes for health and safety that stress cleanliness not just for
the instruments used, but also for the establishment and the
licensed stylists performing the procedures.

The Bureau also periodically makes unannounced visits to salons
to check that the establishment is upholding the various codes.

One of the emphasized regulations include disinfection of
equipment. Salons are required to completely immerse non-electrical
equipment in an approved solution with demonstrated bactericidal,
fungicidal and virucidal effects, according to the Bureau Web
site.

It is also required that the solutions be changed weekly or
whenever necessary.

According to Mike Luery, deputy director of communications at
the Department of Consumer Affairs, salons are required to post
their licenses in public view, such as in the reception area.

Also, licenses are required for each specialist at their
respective workstations.

Many of the violations committed by salon owners include license
fraud, according to the Bureau Web site, and officials are
especially weary of improper non-display of permits to operate.

Among the many Westwood salons, Lopes said there is no record of
a salon license for Design Haircut in the Bureau database, which
provides consumers information of various beauty-care
establishments. The store owner of Design Haircut could not be
reached for comment.

According to Lopes, some of the salons have no record of a
license with the Bureau at all, while others show a hold on the
license due to outstanding fines. In addition to Design Haircut,
the database showed Oakley’s Barber Shop and Henri Salon de
Beauté as having licenses on hold.

On the other hand, the Bureau offers current information on
salon conditions to the public, but according to some salon owners,
many of the updates aren’t as current as possible.

Clinton Schudy, manager at Oakley’s Barber Shop, said the
shop’s license is currently not on hold and that all fines
were taken care of last year.

“There were some fines in question that were put on hold
and were taken care of, but for some reason were not updated in the
system,” Schudy said.

Henri Soussana, owner of Henri Salon de Beauté, also
questions the current status of Bureau information.

According to the Bureau database, the salon’s license has
been placed on hold due to outstanding fines, but Soussana says
otherwise.

“Everything was taken care of a year ago,” he
said.”We called (the Bureau) and confirmed they got the money
for the license. But they always seem to have problems with their
computers or other things.”

Lopes said the data is constantly updated, and in
Soussana’s case, the license expired in 1999.

“There is no way that the database would take a year and a
half to update,” he said.

Salons are also required to display a poster given by the bureau
with information for the consumer.

If consumers have any questions regarding the salon, the poster
directs them to a toll-free number for such information as license
expiration dates and whether the establishment has had any past
violations or fines.

Most of the hair and nail salons in Westwood, along with Campus
Cuts in Ackerman, appeared to follow the codes set by the bureau
during random visits by the Daily Bruin last week. These codes
include displaying licenses in clear public view and disinfecting
equipment.

But most of the salons did not have the bureau hotline for
consumer information posted.

Salons that did have the poster for consumer information in
clear view were Campus Cuts, Henri Salon de Beauté and
Oakley’s Barber Shop.

“Salons don’t have to respond to public
inquiries,” Luery said. “But people can get that
information from calling the number.”

For more information and a full list of laws and regulations
that salons are required to follow, visit www.dca.ca.gov/barber or call
(800) 952-5210.