Is virtual reality changing the beauty salon experience for the better?
Technology is being integrated into the salon environment with the option of an add-on virtual reality (VR) experience to treatments.
US nail salon chain Bellacures has recently begun incorporating VR into its treatments, allowing customers to explore relaxing locations while receiving a manicure or pedicure.
Through the use of headsets, customers are able to experience landmarks such as Kauai’s Hanalei Point, New York’s Allegheny State Park or Southern Iceland’s Skogafoss Waterfall at the salon’s Beverly Hills location. Treatments, scents and music are customised for each individual location to ensure they are unique from one another.
Products used in these treatments include paraffin soaks, mud masks and coffee scrubs, as well as scented lotions that range from coconut to forest trees.
“Virtual reality is an incredible and futuristic way to transform the salon experience,” said Gerard Quiroga, owner of Bellacures Nail Salon brand. “It is almost like a mini vacation.”
This news follows the recent launch of massage brand Esqapes’s Immersive Relaxation Center in Los Angeles’s SAG-Aftra Building earlier this year, which uses VR to enhance the client experience.
With Esqape, 10 different virtual locations, including an ocean-side koi pond and fireside ski resort, can be experienced alongside an automated massage chair, tailored scents and an artificial, cool breeze. A full-body heat treatment can be added to the half-an-hour massage experience also.