Electrics: How to Spot Potential Risks or Problems

Posted on: 29 March 2016

Being a successful salon owner is no easy task. You may well have years of experience with cosmetic techniques such as facials, makeup application, and hair tinting, but if you can't create a salon atmosphere that is appealing, you are unlikely to pull in a lot of dollar. Yes, you will have to invest in appropriate salon furniture and beautiful interior design, but something that is too often overlooked is the lighting within a salon. Salon lighting is especially important because it will light up your salon functionally so your staff can perform the treatments, but it will also set a mood within the salon, which is just as important.

Getting these two things to work together is easier said than done, and you'll need to lean on the talents of a skilled lighting designer and electrician to realise your ambitions for your salon. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Warm lighting tone is important. Think about the way you look in a dressing room with stark lighting. You want to run out of the dressing room there and then. Stark lighting that replicates the light of a sunny afternoon simply isn't flattering and it's best to find commercial LED lighting that is warmer in tone. Before you settle on a particular set of bulbs, it's a good idea to educate yourself about the Kelvin scale. To create a warm and cosy atmosphere, opt for bulbs that are below 3000 on this scale.

Lighting should render colour accurately. If you are working with colour at all in your salon, with things like hair tinting and colouring or applying makeup, it's beyond important to have lighting that reflects the true colours of the pigments and dyes you are using, as well as the true colour of a person's hair or skin tone. If you have ever applied makeup at home and then discovered you look like a clown when you leave the house, this is more than likely a reflection of your poor lighting rather than your makeup skills. To know whether your LED lights render colour well, you'll need to consult the Colour Rendering Index (CRI). A high CRI number equals better colour rendering.

Eliminate shadows. With light, there is always shadow, but you don't want the shadows to fall on your client's face, because this is unflattering. The key to eliminating these shadows is to have a range of lighting sources. You may want to mount wall lighting at each side of a mirror, above a mirror, and you may want to introduce some gentle overhead lighting as well. With more lighting fixtures, extra lights can actually light up the shadows produced by other light sources. Just remember to layer the commercial LED lights gently because you don't want the client to feel like they are under a spotlight on the stage.