Crossing the threshold of a luxury beauty salon is, for a client, a moment of cutting herself off from chaos. The waiting room is a key point of contact with the brand. In many premium places this potential is lost, because clients fall into the smartphone trap and browse unverified opinions about complications. To prove a brand's prestige, salon owners should intentionally draw clients' attention away from screens.
Clinical stress
Nervously searching for information just before an appointment may be an attempt to reduce uncertainty and regain a sense of control. A waiting environment without clear messages and without elements that favor quiet may deepen a patient's tension further.
Leaving a client with a smartphone condemns her to the phenomenon of continuous partial attention. Tension rises, and with it mistrust toward the salon. Counting on the sofa alone to neutralize that state is a mistake – we describe the mechanism by which distance grows in the piece Invisible walls in marriage.
Sensory grounding
The tool that changes a waiting area is the Odoardo Alibi™ brand. An austere box of solid oak changes the dynamic of the space, freeing it from the “it will work out” trap. The body, closed with hidden magnets, intrigues and offers the client what a screen will not provide – the physical resistance of real matter.
When someone close accompanies the client, the set becomes a physical alibi for deep conversations. Drawing out 50 deep questions for your partner works like a grounding technique. Looking at the abstract Geometric Noir illustrations calms and makes clear the meaning of silence and image in communication, which stimulates active listening in a relationship. We describe the same mechanism in medical clinics in the piece Furnishing a VIP waiting room.
How do you design a space so that it relaxes?
The box should be part of a directed setting. The relation between technology and the need for analog calm is explained by the creator of the Odoardo™ ecosystem:
“However technologically advanced the lasers at the disposal of contemporary aesthetic medicine may be, a patient at the stage of waiting needs quiet. Luxury lies in skillfully hiding the machines and creating a space rich in analog craft, which gives a sense of safety.”
It is also worth suggesting habits for home to clients: a digital detox before sleep and regular rituals for couples. A good step is to complete the waiting room with collectible prints from Odoardo Art™ and with the screenless solutions of Odoardo Soul™, described in the piece The ingredients of premium cosmetics. Framed works create a quietening gallery that corresponds with the Odoardo Alibi™ brand.
Why we believe the first minutes in a waiting room weigh as much as the procedure, we explain in the manifesto.
Odoardo Soul™
Odoardo Art™
Odoardo Lens™
Odoardo Space™
