Hair Salon Investigation

By Lindsey Henley
WSLS10 Reporter
Published: May 12, 2008

  When you walk into a salon the last thing you want to do is walk out with something you didn’t pay for, and I’m not talking about a bad haircut.
    Alicia Wade has heard the horror stories.
    “Lots of stories where they did not sanitize their instruments - especially cuticle nippers and pushers and things of that nature,“ Wade said..
    She worked as a nail technician for eight years.  Now she does her own nails on top of selling Mary Kay.
    “We’re so intense about cleaning and washing our children’s’ hands, but we’ll go and get our nails done, there’s dust everywhere, they’re not cleaning their instruments, there’s no license on the wall,“ she said.
    Allison Greeley agrees.
    “Back in the 80’s when I first did hair, I used to see a health department official maybe every six months, and they do a walk-through, check to make sure people are using Barbicide, clean blades and stuff, but not anymore,“ Greeley.
    She’s owned and run Cutting Edge hair salon in Roanoke for 17 years.
    “I called the health department and I invited them in 2 days before our grand opening just to make sure we were up to [regulation],“ she said.
    And she hasn’t seen them since – that’s 17 years.
    “I’ve never seen them again, which is good.  I’ve never had a complaint or anything like that, but they do not do spot checks any more,“ she said.
    That’s because they don’t have to.
    Jeffrey Buckley is an inspector for the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR).
    He says his job is more reactive than proactive.
    “We’re complaint driven.  The process is initiated by a consumer filing a complaint with the board,“ Buckley said.
    Ten On Your Side obtained a list of all the salons in the state that have gotten in trouble with DPOR in the past four years.
    Of the close to 50 salons found guilty of some sort of violation, none are in our area.
    “I will say that may be a compliment to salons in Southwest Virginia,“ he said.
    But Wade thinks there may be salons in our area that aren’t run the right way.
    “In our area, there’s definitely a lot of them,“ she said.
    Greeley says she thinks cosmetology could be regulated more closely.
    “I wouldn’t be opposed to it.  I think it keeps everyone honest,“ Greeley said.  “They inspect for fires here, and they do that very well.  They inspect your car, they inspect your food, and it’s just public safety and it makes sense.“
    DPOR tells Ten On Your Side, if there was a need for more inspections it would be addressed.
    “With the information the board has, the board just doesn’t feel it’s necessary,“ Eric Olson with DPOR said.  “Police have the right to set up a road block every day, but they choose not to.“
    So how do you make sure your salon is up to par?
    The first thing you want to do when you walk into a salon is make sure it’s licensed, and make sure each individual stylist is licensed as well.
    “I think it’s very important to not just look for one, because it could be the one person is licensed, and there are five other people in the salon that aren’t licensed,“ Wade said.
    Also, ask to see the salon’s sanitizing solution, and if you see things like piles of old hair on the floor or nail clippings report it. 
    “If you were going to go into a restaurant and were to find unsanitary conditions, you would let the department of health know.  In a similar situation, if you went to a manicuring salon and you discovered unhealthy, unsanitary conditions, you would want to let DPOR know,“ Buckley said.
    Click here if you would like to report a cosmetology salon to DPOR.
      Click here if you would like to see your salon’s record.