Tailoring the Trends and Knowing What’s In Vogue: A Guide for Salon ProfessionalsNovember 9, 2019We’ve all heard how technological innovations are hitting the market every second. The newest invention becomes obsolete the moment a substitute for it arrives. Fashion trends also keep changing in the same fashion. New makeup techniques, dramatic looks, and hair and skin trends are pouring into the industry. Enough is not a word in the vocabulary of the fashion world. With every new trend, we come closer to the saturation point—at which point trends are remixed. With makeup artists and stylists creating unique looks and turning them into stunning runway spectacles, the cosmetic industry is facing an immense challenge! Meeting expectations and recreating looks reserved for fashion shows and runway designs in a salon is no easy feat. Of course, what you see in magazines and on television is not entirely true either. A heavy dose of photo editing and fancy lighting contributes to making the runway models appear the way they do. A layman might not be able to rationalize how physical features of models are studied to see which look would suit each model best. Just as not any face can pull off a dramatic look, not every client can end up looking exactly like the model they saw on the ramp. The standard that salons are expected to meet are nearing the shores of the fashion industry inch by inch every day. Salons not only have to manage their regular clients with their daily demand of services, but they also have to make room for new services in their brochures! Salons that fail to meet the standards set by ever-evolving beauty trends tend to fall behind in the race to success. Those which do widen the scope of their services tend to attract a wider base of clients and end up monopolizing the market. It is one thing to be able to compete with experts working behind the scenes of mega fashion events, and another to keep yourself up to date with all the raging looks and styles while balancing routine services alongside. Here are a few tips to help salons meet this challenge in style. Subscribe To Trade Journals Trade journals contain all the literature you need to survive in the fashion industry. It can be an online fashion magazine or a journal that a salon subscribes to. What this will do is educate the staff and stylists about the latest innovations in the industry and how to incorporate them into their salon services. These could include the most trendy hair colors in fashion, a new eye makeup creation that bedazzled crowds in a fashion event, or exciting nail art designs that people are eagerly rushing to salons for. Clients also prefer slight customization of these trends that suits them better. Salons willing to tweak these designs and come up with a different look are a hit among circles of clients. Directory of Websites Just like you have the option of calling emergency contacts on your phone in case of an emergency or accident, there should be a list of relevant websites on a salon’s speed dial. These websites should link back to pages which are brimming with information about the newest Hollywood trends that are taking followers by storm. These web pages could be run by high-ranked fashion bloggers, celebrities, and models who are in on all the upcoming news and can fill you in on the newest updates. Dedicate a team of workers to the task of looking up online forums or groups where makeup bloggers and fashion followers are discussing these trends and become a part of those conversations. This is an investment in the growth of the salon. It is through a network of like-minded people that salon businesses can stay at the top of their game. Alternatives to DIY Tricks More and more clients that were previously paying regular visits to the salon are deciding to stay at home and resort to DIY methods for the look they want. These stock tricks are widely circulating on all social media channels and are posing a threat to salon culture. In order to meet this challenge, salons can come up with unique innovations to remodel these DIY looks. For instance, they can introduce a theme-based hairdo to go with holographic hair or elaborate dramatic makeup to complement feather or soap eyebrows. This way, not only will clients see greater value addition in the services, but also find spending on such services desirable. Follow the Herd When it comes to staying up to date with trends that are evolving and being invented by the second, it is impossible to have exhaustive knowledge of all there is to know. In order to minimize the loopholes in their know-how of trends, salons must keep an eye out for what their competitors are doing. This shields salons from the problem of losing loyal customers because the services they want are offered nowhere else but at your competitor’s salon. Market surveys must be regularly conducted to keep you informed about what is going on in the industry and trends that have seeped into the market and are becoming popular. While the first one to introduce an idea usually pioneers the trend, it is not impossible to win back your lost clients with the right tact. Instead of offering glamorous fashion-inspired makeup or trendy hair transformations for exorbitant prices, salons could cash in on the demand by offering similar services for a dollar less or coupling them with other complementary services to make the cost seem worth the value. This will earn your salon popularity for offering more for less; there is nothing that appeals to customers more. Starter Pack In order to kick-start a program of incorporating the newest fashion creations in your salon routine, here are a few trends that are going viral in the industry. Ombre Eyelashes Who said eyelashes had to be a monotone black? Get quirky with the colors you douse your lashes in and make them stand out! Ombre lashes are dual-colored lashes that highlight the luscious length of the lash with different colored tips to give them a dip-dyed effect. Floral Eye Makeup Give your eyelids a springtime bloom with this floral eye makeup look created with natural tones. Giving your eyes a flowery freshness, this is the perfect look to adorn your eyes with for a spring occasion. Punk-Inspired Hair Play peek-a-boo with strands of red speckled with little hints of blue! This funky punk look is the perfect head-turner. Brightly dyed locks dispersed in a maze set as a uniquely colored crown makes a youthful, chirpy frame for your face. Sexy Stilettos Nails today mirror the sexy stiletto heels that you adorn yourself in during your red-carpet moment. Long and finely-shaped, stiletto nails taper towards the ends to give your decorated nails a truly lasting shine and extended length to flash around. Salon Income Booster is an online rulebook offering salon businesses all the knowledge they need to keep up with fashion trends and market their services accordingly. We are here to provide expert plans for salon income generation and marketing solutions to boost revenues. We also help businesses grow to face management challenges, and make suggestions for optimizing retail displays, merchandising, and sales. If you want to be a trend-setter in the salon industry, we are your golden ticket to success!