Beauty Therapist / Salons

There are many, many salons where Dominicans do these things. But these salons do not look fancy, are in the barrios (neighborhoods) where the people live - close to the customer.

From the way you write I assume you are studying this in the US. I doubt you would want to open something like the typical barrio salon and are more thinking about something mall like.

They produce in many barrio salons some astonishing quality at a very low price. There is tough competence.

Rio~San~juan said:

HOLA

hi guys, i was just wondering if anyone could help me out.

just a little question from alittle chick.

ok so heres the deal, im doing beauty therapy at college and soon i will be a fully trained beauty therapist. I am just wondering if there is any salons in the Dominican Republic, other than in hotels.

i mean in rio san juan, cababete, puerto plata all the local towns where locals go too.

i hope so.
anyone who helps will be sure to get a freebee.

Natacha :nervous:

Click to expand...

I hate to burst your bubble but my Girlfriend in DR owns her own salon in Santiago,She makes a decent living more or less but nothing like you are probably used to in your home country and are you familiar with working with Dominican womens hair? Most Dominican women won't go to a stranger to do their hair and not just anyone can deal with their hair. If you were to attempt this endeavor I would suggest working out of a resort and dealing with tourists if you could get a hotel to lease or rent you the space.
Badpiece

Hi Natacha,
I don't think you mean hairsalons, which is what locofoto and Badpiece refer to. These and also nailsalons/manicure are indeed found around every corner in the local neighbourhoods so forget about that.
If you mean beauty spa's/wellness centers with skin/wrinkle treatments and what have you; well I haven't noticed any on the North Coast outside the resorts catering to the locals, but I could be wrong. They surely exist in the main cities Santo Domingo and Santiago.
Bear in mind that these are luxury services which 90% of the dominicans cannot afford. Your best bet would be to look around in the biggest town of the North Coast, Puerto Plata, to find enough clientele both locals, expats and tourists.
Bartolomeo

That you could do in Santiago or the Capital in some of the high end shopping malls. You would have to be there most of the time to ensure that the employees werent stealing from you. As for the pay for a the girls you employ about 900 pesos per week.
Badpiece

In Santo Domingo many salons offer these services so it is nothing new on this side of town, even the cheap salon on the corner have nails, massages and waxing services. Sorry! Maybe on the North Coast

Hi Natacha,
Glad you've started exploring the work prospects. In Puerto Plata there are plenty of hair places as referred to above, also plenty of nail places, some advertising American nails (whatever they are!). I'd be leery of the massage places if I were you, some of them are dual function, particularly in the evening hours! And I don't know about waxing. Setting up your own business without experience of living here first, is not a good idea & anyway you would need capital, quite a bit. Is there any way you could talk yourself into a job at a hotel? This will not be easy, but as you already have contacts in a hotel, get them to start asking.