Modern Salon - December 2007 - (Page 50)

YOUR BUSINESS Adding up to the future By Victoria Wurdinger From medical spas to hair salons, the big beauty trend is, well, bigger. Add-ons and spin-offs make more of every service; consumer lifestyles guide the newest options. N ew beauty news at the recent Spa & Resort/Medical Spa Expo held in New York: more is more. At each level of the business, the approach is to offer more measurable results, more service, more benefits, all with stronger branding. The science of beauty branding is in itself adapting to changing consumers and their shifting preferences. Today’s consumers are smarter and older—more diverse, greenminded and wellness-conscious—than any generation before. They’re also more in control, which points to time-sensitive approaches like mobile marketing as future must-dos. As always, good business flows from fulfilling needs. Today, the average adult relates to those with a similar lifestyle much more than they do to those in the same demographic group. You don’t have to change everything in your salon to meet the needs of women aged 20 to 60 who are healthconscious and beauty-savvy. Whatever you do, personalization and customization are musts for every client who walks in the door. As for what’s new, here are the trends seen at the show that you’ll want to adapt to your brand and customize for individuals. Expanding the Thought Age management remains the driving force among beauty buyers, and medical spas are moving to the next generation by adding on fitness spas that focus on weight loss, toning and shaping. The new tools are high-tech, not highsweat. For instance, MedSurge Advances, with its 200-plus physician-owned medical spas, is negotiating with doctors to open FuturePerfect spas that use treatments such as a heat-based therapy to encourage fat loss, whole body vibration technology and needlefree mesotherapy for contouring specific areas of the body. Whether or not these fly farther than those toning tables of the past remains to be seen, but a perfection-obsessed society is bound to give them a try. Spas that are moving up to true medical or “medi-stance” are discovering high-tech equipment is more compact than ever and that “gentler” versions of medicalpractice machines are being retooled for spa use. Examples include the Fraxel re:fine laser system (with companion Skin Ecology skin care), Gentlefacial aesthetic lasers and the highly portable Photopneumatic devices for deep pore purification. When it comes to anti-aging, 2008 will be the year of the machines—there are even hand-held devices that use negative ions and ultrasonic vibration for a “natural” facelift. (Thanks in part to non-invasive laser treatments, in 2006 the aesthetics market generated more than $400 million in revenue.) Day spas are also fine-tuning with “perfect” treatment rooms, more comfortable tables and signature services based on what’s indigenous or what’s unique, from vinotherapy to sea water, to “normalize, purify and remineralize.” Selling add-ons and adding value are key: Even flip-flops have evolved into spa slippers. Smart for Salons Hair salons will discover adding on is easier than ever. “Smaller and more sanitary” are bonafide trends that play out in variety of treatments and products. Just about every area of the salon and any service can be tweaked and enhanced, and most additions include a take-home version. The forecast for 2008: There’s not one next big thing, but a thousand little pieces that add up to a perfect whole. Here are just five to think about: 1. Hand and Foot Focus Portable, self-heating, single-use paraffin systems (like Perfectsense) can be moved to massage tables or hood dryers for hand and foot treatments that can be customized to clients’ needs, such as detoxifying. Hive of continued on 52 50 DECEMBER 2007 www.modernsalon.com http://www.modernsalon.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Modern Salon - December 2007

Modern Salon - December 2007 Contents Behind the Cover Notebook @Modernsalon.com Contributors New-Now-Next Modern Portfolio Modern Reports Adding Up to the Future Giving Back: Inner Beauty, Outer Glow Short and Sweet Modern Update The Goods Personal Style

Modern Salon - December 2007

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