August 15, 2026

Let me tell you about a call I got from a salon owner in Florida. She’d bought a “hairdressing wash basin” from an overseas marketplace — the photos showed a sleek, modern bowl with a chrome faucet. When it arrived, the “porcelain” was actually painted plastic, the faucet didn’t fit standard US plumbing threads, and […]

I walked into a newly opened salon in Denver last week to help them troubleshoot a “water pressure problem.” The owner had bought three “hair salon sinks” from an online auction site — $200 each, brand new, looked great in the listing photos. The problem? The faucets were 4 inches tall. You couldn’t rinse the

Last month, a shop owner in Texas texted me a photo of her new “bargain” shampoo bowl. The basin was mounted on a cheap plastic bracket, the faucet dripped from day one, and the neck rest sat at an angle that made her clients look like they were bracing for a roller coaster. She paid

I remember helping a friend open her second salon in Denver. She bought the cheapest styling stations she could find online—four of them, all laminate, no drawers. Three months in, the laminate started peeling near the edges where clients rested their arms. One drawer broke off its track. And because there was no built-in power

Last month I walked into a two-chair barbershop in Austin that looked great on Instagram. But the stations were a mess—clippers tangled in drawers, no place for the hot towel cabinet, and the barber had to bend sideways every time he reached for his combs. By noon, he told me, his lower back was already

I visited a new barbershop in Austin last month. The owner had spent $30,000 on fit-out, but he placed the barber stations facing the wall. Every barber was working with their back to the other barbers and the customers waiting. The vibe was dead. Nobody talked. It felt like a library. He told me he

A friend of mine opened a barbershop last year. He bought a used salon station from a closing salon. It looked solid, but the drawers were filled with old hair clippings and the laminate top was stained. He spent a whole weekend refinishing it. Then he realized the drawer slides were bent—it cost him $120

I walked into a new salon last week, and the owner proudly showed me her ‘stylish’ styling stations. They were gorgeous—white marble tops, brass legs, Instagram-perfect. But there was one problem. The drawers were only 10cm deep. You couldn’t fit a standard hairdryer in them. The hairdresser was storing her tools in a cardboard box

Last month, a salon owner called me in a panic. She had just bought a ‘cosmetic chair’ from an online auction for $80. It looked like a throne in the photos. When it arrived, the base was too small, the gas lift was stuck at the lowest setting, and the armrests dug into clients’ elbows.

My first lash bed was a hand-me-down from a salon that was closing. It looked fine in the photos, but the first client who lay on it said, ‘This feels like a church pew.’ That stung. Then my second bed was too narrow—clients with broader shoulders kept complaining, and one actually rolled off mid-service. That