I have been going to this salon for years and deeply appreciate my stylist, so I want to make it…read morevery clear that this review does not pertain to her in any way. However, during my last several visits, I have become increasingly uncomfortable with something I have repeatedly observed involving another stylist with her child.
One of the stylists routinely brings her infant, who is under a year old, to the salon while she works on clients. Clients and other workers have been asked to hold and care for the baby while the stylist performs their hair services. Even more concerning, the baby's diaper is being changed in the front reception area on the salon chairs where customers sit.
I found this inappropriate and unsanitary for a professional salon environment. I am also genuinely concerned about the health and welfare of the baby. Hair salons routinely use chemical products, including hair color, bleach, smoothing products, aerosols, disinfectants, and other substances that can produce fumes and vapors.
Having an infant spend extended periods of time in this environment while chemical services are being performed raises legitimate concerns for me about unnecessary exposure, particularly for a child this young.
Given my legal background, I am also aware that California salons and licensed cosmetology establishments are subject to health and safety requirements, including requirements involving sanitation, chemical handling, and ventilation. The California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology regulates licensed salons and establishes health and safety standards applicable to these establishments, while workplace exposure to certain chemicals also falls within the regulatory authority of Cal/OSHA.
I get it, being a mom of a small child and having a job can be difficult. But there are much better and safer ways to go about this. My concern is with professional boundaries, sanitation, the experience of paying clients, and, most importantly, the health and welfare of this child. Clients should not be placed in the position of holding or caring for an employee's baby while receiving services, diapers should not be changed on reception furniture, and an infant should not be unnecessarily exposed for extended periods to an environment where chemical services are continuously being performed.
I sincerely hope salon management takes these concerns seriously and establishes appropriate policies to protect its clients, employees, and this child. At the very least, I hope the child's health, safety, and welfare are placed first and foremost and this should be stopped immediately. If not for the child's sake alone, then to mitigate risk for the salon and any future potential legal or regulatory ramifications from these acts.