Marica Gauci has often come across clients with missing patches of hair as a result of botched straightening treatments.
The experienced hairdresser has dealt with people who have suffered blistering and scalp burns because of a bad bleach job.
One client even asked for help after a barber posing as a hairdresser caused irreversible damage to her hair.
But there was little Gauci could do because there is no regulation of hairdressers and beauty therapists handling potentially dangerous chemicals and machinery.
“At the moment anyone can open a salon or work as a therapist or hairdresser – with or without qualifications. But if you don’t know what you’re doing you can do serious harm to someone,” she said.
Gauci is president of the Hair and Beauty Federation, which is now campaigning for the authorities to regulate the trade.
Registration of adequately qualified aestheticians, hairdressers, nail technicians and others involved in beauty, would ensure clientele are in safe hands, she explained.
According to Maltese law, hairdressers, and therapists in the beauty industry are still considered a ‘craft’ even though their work has evolved and can impact their client’s physical health and mental wellbeing, explained Gauci.
While lack of regulation in this industry is an EU-wide problem, Gauci said that Malta could take the first step at remedying this.
Registration of professionals within the beauty industry would also ensure that qualifications are issued by accredited bodies and not just anyone, said Gauci.
“I hate to say it, but at the moment there are a lot of institutions that are just out there to make money and that don’t offer courses that are up to standard,” Gauci pointed out.
Alongside a proper licensing system, Gauci, who has been in the trade for 20 years, has also proposed the creation of a council with representatives from each profession to oversee registration requirements.
Apart from qualifications by recognised bodies, a professional would need several years of experience under their belt to get registered, and this would differ according to profession.
“The idea behind these proposals is to reward professionals and salons that have invested in training and their development as professionals,” Gauci said.
“The system, as it is now, isn’t fair, as some people pay a lot of money to get qualified, and to continue updating their knowledge and skills, and aren’t recognised for it,” she said.
The HBF reached out to the authorities with these proposals three months ago but is yet to hear back from them.
The federation will also be raising the issue this month with Coiffure.EU, a European, association of employers’ organizations in the hairdressing profession.