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By Winkie Tang

Mr. Raymond Li, like many people, goes to beauty salons to have facial treatments to improve his skin.

But the one he visits is a men’s beauty salon.

“I’ve been to traditional ones before, and there’s not much difference between men’s beauty salons and women’s,?observed Mr. Li.

Nevertheless, it is uncommon for men to go to beauty salons to have facial treatments in Hong Kong.

Said Mr. Joi Lau, director of Jiff Skin Care for men: “Most men would feel embarrassed to visit traditional beauty salons because all the customers there, very often, are women.

“The concept of men’s beauty salons comes from Japan. There were men’s beauty salons 10 years ago,?added he.

Mr. Lau said men in Hong Kong need a relaxing environment for facials, so he opened a men’s beauty salon last summer.

Some male customers feel uneasy if surrounded by many people when being treated, so Mr. Lau tries to maintain a loose booking arrangement.

The services provided in Mr. Lau’s salon do not differ much from those of conventional salons for women.

He provides basic treatments like deep cleansing skin care treatment, hydrating skin care treatment, and acne skin care treatment.

“Unlike women, our customers usually request only basic treatments because they just want to keep their skin from deteriorating.

“For example, the younger ones always have acne skin treatment, while the older ones usually have skin firming treatment,?said he.

Mr. Lau’s beauty salon also provides laser treatments like laser firming active face treatment and rejuvenating hair treatment, which he said are innovative technologies.

Besides facial treatments, indoor tanning is also popular.

“Most of our customers who use tanning services are busy, sportive people who don’t have time to sunbathe. This service really saves them time,?said he.

Apart from laser treatment and indoor tanning, Mr. Lau was planning to introduce other advanced facial treatment technologies like “G5?

This is a vibration treatment that reduces body fat and mades muscles firmer.

Mr. Lau said beauty treatments make men look trim and confident.

“Like one of my customers, he was a golf coach. One day he came to trim his eyebrows, and the next day he won in a tournament.

“He told us afterwards that he was more confident after having his eyebrows trimmed, and it helped him win,?said he.

Mr. Lau said men should bear a positive attitude towards facial treatments. They should relax during treatment.

All of the beauticians at Mr. Lau’s beauty salon are women because he thought it would be odd for male beauticians to serve male customers.

However, not all female beauticians in the industry were willing to provide services for men.

Ms. Michelle Fong is the owner and beautician at a conventional women's beauty salon.

“Some men have requested me to provide facial treatments for them, but I refused because I don’t want to embarrass them or myself,?said she.

“I have heard that the charges for male customers are higher than for females because men care less about prices,?added she.

Ms. Fong's customers range in age from 20 to 70. They are mostly students, housewives and office workers.

Ms. Fong said her customers usually spend about $1,000 each month on facial treatments, and they usually have facial treatments once a week.

Younger customers at her beauty salon usually have acne skin treatments, while older ones usually have skin whitening and removal of lines and freckles.

“Soft laser facial treatments have started to gain in popularity recently,?said she.

“More and more customers are willing to spend their money on laser treatments.?/font>

She said that the skin quality of Hong Kong people has been deteriorating in the past 10 years.

“This is because many people nowadays have adopted unhealthy lifestyles. Smoking, drinking, lack of sleep ?all these play havoc with the skin.

“The poor air quality in Hong Kong makes it even worse,?said she.

Due to the aggravated skin problems, more and more people are going to beauty salons.

People’s attitudes towards beauty salons has changed.

“In the past, people viewed facials as a luxury. However, going to beauty salons now is just as common as going to hair salons.

“Because of the higher education level of the population, people are more open to new technologies.

“The success of skin care advertisements also helps because they make going to beauty salons appear to be trendy,?said she.

One of Miss Fong’s customers, aged 48, said, “I had never thought of having facial treatments in beauty salons before.

“However, my friends told me that it was very important to maintain good skin quality, so I went and tried it,?she explained.

She said that she encouraged her husband to go to beauty salons too.

He refused because he said he would be embarrassed.

“I hope that one day it will become very popular for both men and women to have facial treatments in beauty salons.

“One day I will have my face done with my husband, hand-in-hand,?she said, smiling.