“I
am always learning from my daughter,” says a proud Lana Lin
as Sylvia, seated beside
her, basks in the praise. “It’s all thanks to my mother
that I have a salon of my own,” she pitches in immediately.
This mother–daughter duo shares a great chemistry, which is
evident as I chat with them at Sylvia’s beautiful Colaba salon,
Butterfly Pond, fondly known as “the Pond”. Theirs is
a mature relationship, with a lot of understanding, a rare thing
to find in today’s increasingly fast-paced world!
“I am so glad my mom never forced me to do anything!”
exclaims Sylvia. “She has always encouraged us to go our way.
She let me get formally trained instead of asking me to join
her salon right away.” As though reading her daughter’s
mind, Lana says, “It is important that we learn and update
ourselves. I was never formally trained. I learnt it all myself.”
Originally based in Calcutta, Lana came to Mumbai in 1973. She worked
in different salons until her youngest daughter, Nicole, was born,
which was when she opened her own salon at home.
“Mom just
put up mirrors on the wall and started up,” Sylvia says admiringly.
“During my stint with Wella Professionals as a colour technician,
people would ask her why I was working in a company instead of joining
her; mom would never pay heed to it. In fact, every time I got jittery,
she would say, ‘You can always come back to me.’ and
I would be assured and get the courage to get going again.”
Changing
with the times
So do they think the perception of the hair and beauty industry
has changed over the years? “Yes, of course,” says Lana.
“Now, people know exactly what they want—like a style
or colour or both. We also suggest styles to a customer for a reason.
It’s no longer guesswork. We know what to do and how to do
it, because of new technology, and we improvise each time.”
Sylvia agrees with her mother. “People have now become more
aware. They know what cut and colour they want. It’s because
they travel and because international brands like L’Oréal,
Wella and Schwarzkopf have come in. They are not afraid to experiment
either.” She also feels celebrities and the glamour they bring
to a particular ’do make a difference too. “Look at
Audrey Hepburn, Marylin Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy; they’re
still remembered and looked up to for their style. So, yes, glamour
has played an important role in the beauty industry, making it popular.”
“Colouring, straightening and perming were popular back then
too,” says Lana, almost in defence of the profession during
her time. “While mum is really good at perming and straightening,
my forte is cut and colour. I find that very fascinating,”
laughs Sylvia. “I would never say my mother’s approach,
which is very old school, is wrong or look down upon it now, as
she has survived 27 years and has three of her daughters in the
same business,” she adds matter-offactly. For Sylvia, her
inspiration has always been her mother.
Maybe she’s born with it?
What would they say counts for more—creativity or training?
“Training,” says Sylvia immediately, whereas the simultaneous
response from her mother is “creativity”. For Sylvia,
training has honed her skills and broadened her horizons, whereas
for Lana, “creativity has brought me where I am today. I also
take tips from my daughter each time she comes back from a training
session and so have the best of both worlds. I ask her to come by
my salon and demonstrate some new tricks of the trade that she has
picked up,” she says with a smile. “To be an excellent
stylist, one has to be hard-working, adaptive to change and ready
to burn the midnight oil.” Sylvia counters, “Passion
is important. The drive to excel is what takes you there. Equally
important is to be formally trained, as it lays the right foundation.”
For Lana, a moment to cherish was when Sylvia opened her own salon,
Butterfly Pond, more than three years ago. “I am very happy
and proud that she is my daughter,” says the doting mother.
“And it’s all thanks to you,” replies Sylvia immediately.
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