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Aubriella Naud
Ethnographic Field Study Notes
Anthropology 1010, Spring 2019

An Outsider’s take on the Beauty Spa/Shop Culture in Salt Lake city, Utah

Introduction

This ethnography covers the broad beauty culture but more specifically the beauty spa and shop
subculture as observed at Form Spa, Ulta Beauty, and Sephora in spring 2019. Beauty spas and
shops consist of a generalized group of people that within this community are referred to as:
beauty therapist, esthetician, cosmetologist, and facial plastic surgeon. You should keep in mind
that these merely are the descriptive job titles that apply to individuals who help structure this
community. The personal choices and preferences regarding a customer’s appearance do NOT
fully encompasses who these people are, just as your own clothing and presentation are surely
NOT all encompassing of your personality, hopes and aspirations. This community has more to
do with providing and partaking in beauty related practices support of being able to express
oneself confidently.

Many acquaintances I know have gone to a trade school to get certified as an esthetician as well
as a few starting schooling to become injector. The study of this cultural group appealed to me
because of the growing trend on social media of younger aged women and men getting beauty
enhancements and procedures routinely done. I have wanted to understand and connect with
individuals who are apart of the costly upkeep in maintaining a desired beauty standard/look. I
had hopes of having a more wide and inclusive understanding of the practices and individuals
that make up this cultural group.

I experienced a element of culture shock, I felt alienated and truthfully a bit insecure when
placing myself in these subculture environments so focused on apperernes. Coming from an
upbringing that makeup was for special occasions primarily and to be worn minimally. We never
spent much on excessive money on beauty related items so being in multiple beauty shops where
products such as foundation can range from $30-$50.

For my main initial research I used two books and one journal article to help generate a base
understanding and prepare further questions for my ethnography:

Source 1: ​The Beauty Industry : Gender, Culture, Pleasure

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This book chapter 1 specifically in which I am citing, focuses on the the socio-economics created
and ingrained inside a beauty salon. Emphasises that because each salon creates their own prices
and services for the goal of providing for a specific range of economic status individuals, it
inevitably creates a class system within the subculture. I can agree with what I have observed
that the class system influences the divisions within the culture: gender, ethnicity, and staff to
customer relationships. There is 4 treatment groups discussed and divided into general categories
based upon fitting into one of the types: routine/regular, pampering, health, and corrective
treatments. Then a brief explanation of the customers inclination/initial reason to come to a salon
based upon the treatment type. Outlining that there is more to the reasoning and regularity of
each individuals will visit to a spa.

Source 2: ​The Organic Beauty Industry: A Gendered Economic Review (p69-87 Ch. 3: The
Changing Role of Gender in the Organic Beauty Market)

In this article and within the sections of chapter 3 specifically, the author outlines how the beauty
culture changes and adapts to support the messages/preferences of the social and economical
status at that time period. Traditionally the industry has used magnifying sexuality and most
commonly women’s outer flaws as a marketing tactic. Since women in the early 19th century
were usually financially reliant on a husband/spouse, this was a pushing force for them wanting
to be perceived as up to par with the current beauty standards to attract that sole provider and
mate. That compared to today where women are not solely financially reliant on a spouse and
cultural gender roles have shifted. These influence the beauty industry tremendously alone by
creating the opportunities for higher priced beauty items/procedures from the newly advertised
messages being pushed. These messages created from the society's current values and culture
such as the feminist culture, female gender advocates, and women being the economic provider
of her household all create a demand for a different type of beauty culture to be made. The
context that this book brought to my research was insightful because it illuminated the shift that
can be seen towards more male presence in the culture. Supported by products and
advertisements to more than male and female gender identities.

Source 3: ​Beauty, Effort, and Misrepresentation: How Beauty Work Affects Judgments of Moral
Character and Consumer Preferences.

This research journal article outlines seven studies done, showing how individuals are often
judged as dishonest in how they represent themselves and in their moral character based upon the
type of beauty work done and amount of effort they put into their self appearance routinely. The
two areas of beauty on a high and low effort scale that they studied were cosmetics and exercise.
The overall take away results from these studies were that people would respond to individuals
who put forth high effort in beauty efforts as more attractive relative to low effort, as more
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morally dishonest. Comparatively to those individuals who put forth high effort in exercising
were seen as more attractive and less morally dishonest than the high efforts in beauty by
individuals.

Methods

My six hours in total of field observations research included Non-Participant Observation which
was my primary method for collecting information, as well as direct observation, site mapping
and informal interviews. Informal interviews with staff such as the head plastic surgeon and filler
administer in the environment, inside the front lobby of the spa and shops itself. I kept a little
notepad and pen in my pocket that I could whip out at a moment’s notice for jot note taking, mini
sketches and questions I wanted to further research. From these notes where directly after
leaving I’d write down any finishing thoughts or information before forgotten. Finally I then
formally transcribed into specific sections from my journal entries as well as the general
information gathered into forming this ethnography.

The fields of study were: Ulta Beauty and Sephora both providing the field notes for the beauty
shop portion of my research and Form Spa providing me with visual and social look into Spas
centered around certified estheticians and facial plastic surgeons work. All helping me to observe
a part of the big picture that the beauty culture is.

Data mapping: images 1-3 are all Ulta Beauty and images 4-7 are all of Form Spa.
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This second picture is the Benefit beauty bar at the Herriman, UT location. I reference this
specifically in my field notes of observing a staff member who was a male but representing his
gender using feminine jewelry and wearing a full face of makeup.
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The waiting lobby at Form Spa the Cottonwoods Heights, UT location.

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Language and Communication

I have noticed in the beauty salon/stores that there is indeed specific jargon spoken between
workers and customers in the know. I went to a new salon and new hair colorist down in Orem,
UT, the hairdresser that was doing my hair was casually trying to ask what the last person who
did my color used on my hair. Realizing quickly that I did not know the lingo and jargon that she
and the only stylist were using when she asked “did she take you from a 4 to a 2, using a 25
volume”. I heard another stylist ask the client about wanting a hair split, she was smiling and
signaling to the length of the hair, not pointing to her ear or even touching it. This use of
paralanguage helped contribute to their communication, without the customer even needing to
know all the specific jargon. Phrases such as “color match”, “beat face”, and “baking” I
commonly heard and saw used within the makeup advertising. The slang word “snatched” I have
heard used on social media regarding good looks and by both adolescents and millennials while
inside studying the sub-culture.

In both Form Spa and Ulta Beauty specifically, words like high quality, name brand, restorative,
and luxury all hold much weight and power with their use. The power of these words being used
can sway a customer to purchase a more expensive beauty product or get a lofter procedure/or
service done. Words like these seem to hold a high sense of power and authority within this
beauty culture, women and men want what they are putting on them and in them to be
restorative, luxury, and high quality. It influences the perceived happiness the individuals
experience with their products and service results.

Gender

Ones identification of their gender and gender roles is helped and impart created by their use and
involvement of makeup products, services, and procedures within the beauty salons/shops. In the
current beauty culture and subculture of beauty salons/spas and shops an individual's
representation of gender is not limited to what they may be biologically born as, male or female.
The is a new feeling of acceptance to being a “trans”, “gay” within the cultural group, it is
openly embraced and celebrated.

What I mean by the gender roles and construction of gender being helped and created in these
cultures is the use of makeup or procedures that allow females or males to be able to physically
identify and symbolically represent themselves as feminine. In this culture it is common to see a
transgendered individual representing a top beauty brand, such as Jeffree Star Cosmetics. Jecca
is a unisex brand whose slogan is #MakeupHasNoGender.
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Sephora has launched makeup classes for non binary gender and transgender individuals to
provide a comfortable and inclusive environment for self expression.

I have observed that their has been 10x the amount of females who present themselves as
females to men who present themselves as men demographically in this culture. I have seen on
multiple occasions now, a man, who is wearing makeup, a dress, and a wig. I have seen women
dressed as a man would in my native culture with hair cut short. The gender hierarchy used to be
represented differently among this cultural group because it used to be the women were in charge
of money, held power due to their sexuality, and their physical looks held a certain amount of
prestige over other women and over men. Now I think the gender hierarchy has shifted a bit in
this culture, I think men are closer to equal in this group instead of their involvement being
thought of as wrong or gay, and their looks allow them just as much power and/or prestige over
others.

Social Stratification

The subculture of beauty spas and shops social stratification is much like the society and culture
we live in today where people earn their place through meritocracy, service, respect, as well as
through social connections within the group.

Observing the social stratification at Form Spa, a relatively new and well known beauty salon
with top ratings on their head plastic surgeon and on their injectors. I had noted while in the
waiting room that most of the individuals looked to be affluent. I say this because of their name
brand bags and shoes, the well manicure nails, and polished looking makeup seemed to all be
symbolic indicators of their wealth. While leaving that most of the parking lot was filled with
expensive and/or cars looking like they cost upwards of $25,000. Cars and expensive items can
been seen and understood as indicators of someone's social status or rather at times how they
want to portray their social status.

Meritocracy can be seen in the beauty culture and within the subcultures of it by the value placed
on legitimate talent and achievement. Being professionally certified, having a high number of
great reviews, and being extremely talented at your service or craft. All of these things cannot be
ignored in order for success within the global beauty community and the local communities of it.

The beauty culture can be often be lumped or assumed, that it is primarily make up of high
economic status individuals. I would say that is a huge oversimplification. There is a common
theme of beauty culture and more specifically the spas and shops subculture being stratified by
predominantly middle class and upper class, with exceptions.
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This culture and subculture is also heavily stratified by gender. Pulling from my field notes, I
have documented the number of both male and females within and outside the physical building
for the entire time period I was there. The number of women compared to the number of males in
this subculture was overwhelming stratified by the majority being females. Observing that there
were in fact more men present with the condition that they were accompanying a women. The
males I observed seemed less interested in the culture’s practices and rather more interested and
attentive to being a person of support for the women. However, the overall beauty culture online
and from a social media standpoint, while it is stratified similarly, there is a increase of male
presence and involvement in the cultural group. The difference in stratification within the
technology involvement and a physical in person engagement has been influenced by the drop in
stigmas against men and trans individuals.

Creative Art/Expression

Personal Expression is a key component in the structure that makes up the beauty culture. This
can seen more generally through the use of makeup, tattoos, jewelry, clothing, speech inflection,
body language, name changes. More specifically seen in the beauty spa and shop subculture as
semi-permanent makeup and hair dye, body modifications such injections and implants.

Much of the popularized art and creative expression that comes from those apart of this beauty
culture generally depicts the personal struggles, society standards, and construction of beauty.
The common themes emphases self love/self acceptance, evolution of beauty, and as inspiration
to embrace one's appearance.
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Dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein, 81, dubbed "the King of Lips," injects "the Pink Lady" Jackie Goldberg,
72, with collagen, Beverly Hills,​ 2005. (Fully Cited in References page below)

Lauren Greenfield is an American artist, documentary photographer and filmmaker. She is most
widely recognized for her chroniclers of youth culture. She has made documentary style books
such as Girl Culture, Generation Wealth, Fast Forward, Beauty CULTure and Thin. As well as
directed the #likeagirl Super Bowl commercial piece of 2014. Her work has helped to open up
conversations around beauty ideals and gender constructions through depicting real life common
struggles of individuals.

Making a Living

Within the beauty culture there are many ways to make a living. You can generate a form of
income through being a service provider such as being a professional makeup artist, Esthetician,
Facial Plastic surgeon, certified injector, Hair colorist/Hairdresser, an adviser for skin care and
makeup, a receptionist, and cashier. Making a living inside this culture now extends to the
technology realm as a brand ambassador/influencer on social media, blogger, and beauty
guru/product reviewer via youtube videos and other media platforms. It is fascinating just how
wide the range of niche type income opportunities that are being offered and created for
members of this community today. This wave of new opportunities for making a living, has been
hugely due to the heavy involvement in social media and technology over the last decade. This
community is not only strengthened by the transparency shared with one another on practices,
services, and beliefs electronically but inreturn has created more jobs that cultivate the same
transparency.

Economics

The beauty industry has been economically booming for the last two decades and historically has
been able to maintain a form of steady economic success. The basic economics of the subculture
beauty spa and shop community is based around the products and services in which members
either consume and/or produce. With the influenced trends and beliefs about beauty on
technology and social media it has not only spike the employment opportunities within this
group but the overall revenue created from these goods and services.

Due to the transparency of shared values and appreciation of quality products and services within
both the beauty culture as a whole and in the subcultures, it has allowed for prices to rise. “In
2015 the industry generated $56.2 billion in the United States”(Sena, 2018). The categories
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included in this industry statistic are skin and hair care, cosmetics, perfume/cologne,
deodorants/antiperspirant, feminine cleaning, Oral hygiene, and Other.

There are also many forms of trade among the culture. It is common for service providers to
initiate trades with other beauty service providers for a exchange of equal value. A hair dresser
might do another individuals hair for them to then in return provide a eyelash extension service
or share their experience on social media as form of reciprocity.

Spirituality and Religion

There is a not one single nor a specific religion I see within the beauty culture and subculture of
beauty salons and shops. Instead what I have observed is individuals with varying religious and
spiritual backgrounds apart of this cultural group.

I have observed people walking around Sephora wearing hijabs and full body coverings as well
as individuals who were wearing little gold cross necklaces. There was not jargon spoken about
things of religious/spirituality nature while I was observing and documenting in field notes. This
does not mean that there's never any talk between people of these topics, rather I was not present
when it had taken place.

Forms of taboos can be seen about beliefs that if they don’t do or use certain products it will
make them decrease in beauty, acceptance, or create a loss of opportunities. I heard a young
teenage girl talking about how this specific shade of blue nail polish was her lucky color,
whenever she wore it, things were sure to be alright but when she wore any other color she
would fail tests in school and her boyfriend was sure to break up with her.

It is very common that individuals will have involvement with these cultures groups before a rite
of passage. Many women and men come to get procedures done, makeovers, or come simply to
buy products in preparation for a marriage or important ceremony.

Conclusion

The culture I studied and observed is unique just like any other culture because of the individuals
whom are apart of it, their practices, the stratification of the group, their creative and self
expression forms, and how they make their income. Although my ethnography was more
specifically narrowed in on the subculture of beauty spas and shops, I feel that I have been able
to see and learn more about the beauty culture as a whole. I have learned through research and
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observation that this cultural is more focused on the feelings created from expressing their values
and partaking in practices with other members in the beauty spa and shop community, than the
physical outcome of the practices/rituals. The practices in this demographically female dominant
cultural group not only contribute but help to reinforce a more confident and comfortable version
of themselves.

Ethnocentrism often comes from individuals who are who are not apart of the culture. It saddens
me to think that individuals within this subculture and cultural group are often categorized and
assumed as being vain or narcissistic when their values and practices are being judged and
compared to others. Cultural Relativity is important to practice and is something I myself have
had to keep in mind. The beauty spa and shops at times made me feel out of place and often I did
not fully understand and would try to justify why they valued certain things in relation to my
own cultural values. I was practicing a level of ethnocentrism. I was trying to make sense of the
cultural group apon what I have assumed and thought of as the values, practice, and beliefs for
most subcultures in the same geographic area as my own.

Next time, I would put forth more of my effort and focus on the interactions between the
individuals in the group. I would do this in combination with conducting more formal interviews.
I struggled finding the confidence to do many formal interviews this time around, in fear I would
not be accepted/allowed as well as that I might come across in a invasive or judgmental way. I
would also pay more attention in documenting via field notes, what I felt, heard, and smelt. I
would also maybe try to take some videos of the practices if allowed or video interviews.
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References/Literature Reviews

Samper, Adriana, Yang, Linyun, Daniels, Michelle.​“Beauty, Effort, and Misrepresentation: How

Beauty Work Affects Judgments of Moral Character and Consumer Preferences.”​ Journal

of Consumer Research, vol. 45, no. 1.( 2017), pp. 126–147.

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libprox1.slcc.edu:2048/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&sid=
34a95fde-d72f-4f76-bde4-f73e80035f83%40sessionmgr104

Black, Paula. ​The Beauty Industry : Gender, Culture, Pleasure.​ Chapter 1, pg1-19. Vol. 1st ed,

Routledge, 2004. EBSCOhost.

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.libprox1.slcc.edu:2048/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzE
xNTIwNF9fQU41?sid=f2cb4897-58b4-4afd-b18b-25e72870aa70@sessionmgr4006&vid
=1&format=EB&rid=1

Connelly, Brianna D., ​"The Organic Beauty Industry: A Gendered Economic Review"​ (2013).

Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 138.

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1137&context=etd

Haviland, William A., et al. Cultural Anthropology: the Human Challenge. 15th ed., Cengage

Learning, 2017.

https://ng.cengage.com/static/nb/ui/evo/index.html?snapshotId=1088853&id=441915428
&eISBN=9781305860599

Kestenbaum, R. (2017, June 21). How The Beauty Industry Is Adapting To Change. Retrieved

April 16, 2019.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardkestenbaum/2017/06/19/how-the-beauty-industry-is-

adapting-to-change/#12e55a1b3681
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Lauren Greenfield | Dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein, 81, dubbed "the King of Lips," injects "the

Pink Lady" Jackie Goldberg, 72, with collagen, Beverly Hills (2005) | Available for Sale.

(n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2019.

https://www.artsy.net/artwork/lauren-greenfield-dermatologist-dr-arnold-klein-81-dubbed

-the-king-of-lips-injects-the-pink-lady-jackie-goldberg-72-with-collagen-beverly-hills

Sena, M. (n.d.). Beauty Industry Analysis 2018 - Cost & Trends. Retrieved April 22,2019.

https://www.franchisehelp.com/industry-reports/beauty-industry-analysis-2018-cost-trend

s/