The progressing nationwide skills update of beauticians and hairdressers is to give them capacities to provide clients, handiworks comparable to those provided by topnotch beauty parlours anywhere.

Mrs Joyce Lamptey, President of the National Association of Beauticians and Hairdressers (NABH), made the remark at Jasikan while addressing 40 NABH members undergoing a week’s skill update workshop as part of the nationwide skills beef up scheme.

The workshops are under the auspices of NABH with support from Skills Development Fund (SDF) and Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET).

Mrs Lamptey said the job of hairdressing was no longer a one-way chore of only dubbing the hair but a dainty profession of the total physical setup of clients to enhance their appearance.

Mrs Lamptey said it should be possible that hairdressing performance standards were the same at every salon to justify fee uniformity.

She said NABH would soon roll out new skill development initiatives involving product hair producers.

Mrs Lamptey explained hairdressers and beauticians appearing cute, was not meant to be seductive, but only examples of how good they could make their clients look.

She said there would be evaluation visits to salons of beneficiaries to see how the workshops had affected their businesses.

Issaka Nyarko, Administrator of the Accra Girls Vocational Institute at Tesano in Accra, technical partners in the training schemes, said the cosmetology department was experiencing exciting new ways of doing things with new products and gadgets.

He said beauticians and hairdressers needed to keep moving with the times, for example splitting their salons into departments for special focusing.

Stephen Osei-Fokou, Head of Hairdressing Department at the Accra Girls’ Vocational Training Institute, said there were colour codes in the application of hair product to make application easier.

Enam Kpatakpa, Hair Technician and Resource Person, said it was important that hairdressers operated their salons as businesses and technically abreast with the times.

Some of the topics being treated are eye brow waxing, tweezing and tinting, facial firming and massaging, bridal hair styles, wig cap fixing, night makeup and armpit waxing.

Antoinette Sewe, NARB National Assistant Organizer, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that many of their members would transform their businesses into cost-effective ones as a result of the skills beef up.

She said similar workshops would be held at Peki, Nkwanta, Dambai, Hohoe, Kpando and Kete-Krachi in due course.