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FuzzyHare's car-shaped seats are a hit with kids
A for army cut, B for blow dry, C for cuticles - this might just be the new way for tots to learn their alphabets. For, a bunch of beauty salons have now popped up that are sprucing up kids - from the cradle (as it were) to their pre-teens. The salons are offering facilities exclusively meant for children - specialised haircuts, hair braiding, nail-varnishing, tan and dandruff removal and more.
You would be forgiven for mistaking the salons for children's play areas given their vibrancy and bright interiors. The walls are brightly coloured (some with cartoon characters painted on them), toys are strewn around and televisions are tuned to popular cartoon networks. Children can hop on to colourful seats for haircuts as they watch Shrek or Lion King .
FuzzyHare, in Delhi's Ambience Mall, goes a step further and offers colouring books and an X-Box console to keep children occupied as stylists snip away their overgrown locks. Very often, the staff needs to be supremely patient while dealing with the kids. Says Mohammed Sajid, stylist, FuzzyHare: 'A 15-minute procedure can stretch for two hours sometimes when children - usually boys - runs between the cutting station, the colouring area and the X-Box.'
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A boy has a haircut while watching cartoons at Watermelon
Rohit Pillai started FuzzyHare, for a reason. He says: 'Children have to be counselled for several days before they are taken for haircuts and sometimes salon visits can be nightmarish for them.' The idea of creating a world, which kids are familiar with and which does not intimidate them, appealed to him and FuzzyHare opened its doors late-2011. The damages are between Rs 300 and Rs 500, depending on the cut and styling.
Perhaps the earliest bird in the game is Watermelon in Mumbai, which opened its doors to kids back in 2002 with a mini theatre and a games area. Having shifted into a smaller place in 2012, Watermelon now has only two cutting stations, with television sets playing cartoons. But it offers special haircuts by which cartoons or symbols can be etched on the head by a combination of cutting-hair and hair-shaving in appropriate places. Says Monalisa D'Souza, advertising and publicity manager, Watermelon: 'These are more expensive and costs vary according to the intricacy of the cut.'
For Manjiree Anil Dudakar, launching Krazzy Kidz in Pune in 2008 was an uphill task initially as she had to face angry parents. She says: 'Back then people said that my children's salon would pamper kids and force parents to succumb to their whims. But the idea was to offer a place that children could call their own and where they would go willingly for a haircut.' Today, she has about 300 children trooping in every month.
Krazzy Kidz also offers dandruff treatments and tan removal using natural products. The haircuts are priced reasonably at Rs 100 for boys and Rs 150 for girls.
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A grooming session at FuzzyHare
The products at children's salons are natural and mild and include brands like Johnsons & Johnsons, and the children's range of Garnier or L'Oreal.
Additionally, these salons go all out to celebrate special days. Children are handed out balloons on Children's Day and friendship bands on Friendship Day to keep them hooked. Krazzy Kidz and FuzzyHare go a step further to organise birthday parties.
So, getting a haircut just became a lot more fun - so no more tears!
