Beauty in the times of recession

The wise would say that beauty knows no religion, but my feeble argument is that beauty knows no recession. And the beauty industry is booming, irrespective of the economic downturn. We,the women,are keeping it alive and pumping!!

The streamlined eyebrows,the hairless upper-lip,the bleached sideburns,the smooth and waxed arms and legs,the glowing massaged and creamed faces,the styled hair are as essential to women as roti-kapda-makaan. And since there’s much ado about the bread-and-butter, we all do not care about the butter anymore as it is lethal for the waistline. Plain bread will suffice for us and the butter-kitty goes towards our essential beauty needs.

Since I’m home these days, I just thought of doing something to pamper myself. So I decided to go for a facial ;the thought of somebody slathering my face with cream and massaging it in ,was heavenly and appealing. And I had Kiran’s number who is well within my drivable radius.She is the neighborhood beautician,an Indian lady who has converted the smaller room of her apartment into a beauty parlor.

So,I called her up to practically tell her that I would drop in around 11 or 12 for a facial. It sounded easy and extremely doable.I mean, it was a Thursday morning, not a weekend and considering here only clientele is the bhartiya naaris in the vicinity, how busy could she be!

She doesn’t even run an organized business. There’s no sign outside her place which announces her business. She is not listed in the yellow pages. She has no pamphlets or fliers circulating in the JB Dollar stretcher envelope or the weekend Columbus Dispatch. All her business is only through word-of-mouth,the sisterly Chinese whisper which results in telephone number exchanges.

Still, this lady tells me with profuse apology that she is all booked till the evening.This was one woman who knew how to keep her business afloat in times of recession and that too when her customers are the penny-pinching Indian women.She must be doing something right to become a much yapped-about darling of the fastidious ,the particular and the unforgiving ladies!And all the more I want to experience it myself.

And once again, it is proved that the only means of communication that works with us women,is the word-of-mouth.Its range is widespread and results guaranteed.The viewership of any movie,the success of any grocery store or an on-going deal,the attendance at an event,depends on whether the girlfriends approved it or shunned it.