Regulations are just cosmetic

For many years, beauty salons were just small, low-key places located in cheap neighborhoods that very few women would enter.

Time flies, and now appearance is so important that almost everyone is trying to make her or himself look better. Meanwhile, people are making more money, but are also under greater pressure. A well-decorated beauty salon, or spa center, offering massage, delicate tea, food and soft music makes an ideal place to relax and forget about work. People are willing to pay big money for this.

I interviewed several facial and body therapists for this story. Almost every one was very optimistic about the future of the industry. From my conversations, I drew two conclusions.

First, people are increasingly prepared to spend on spas or massage services. Just three or five years ago, women accounted for the bulk of the clientele. Today, men are embracing the concept and younger women in the middle-income group are happy to spend on their appearance.

Second, compared with "beauty", the concept of "healthcare" is increasingly popular among consumers. Industry insiders said body massage packages are the most popular products, because white-collar workers and executives suffer shoulder and neck pains and other problems caused by the office environment.

But I was also surprised by the lack of industry regulation. The Shanghai Hair and Beauty Association admitted that it has fewer than 10 members and has no reliable figures on how many outfits operate in the city. The hygiene and manpower authorities were also unable to provide statistics.

Beauty salons and spas are sensitive about interviews. All the interviews I conducted with industry insiders were made through private contacts, and almost all of the interviewees only spoke on condition of anonymity.

That's it. No one actually knows how many therapists are working in Shanghai, nor how many different cosmetics and drugs they use in their working lives.

"The hygiene authority and the administration for industry and commerce visit occasionally, but we are not sure which department is in charge of supervising us," said one therapist.