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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

The Asian ladies that work in nail salons

212 replies

Charlieandthechocolatecake · 25/05/2017 01:42

Please forgive my ignorance. Please!

I had a pedicure today (for the first time in 5 years!)

I was thinking whilst i was there that the majority of that staff in salons I have been to are Asian women. Some of them young.

I've also noticed that in my experience, their English is limited.

I'd like to know if anybody knows if these women are here specifically to do that job?

Or are they here for education? A better future?

I ask because I have never had my nails done by an Asian woman that can speak fluent English.

I had my nails done by a lovely young woman today...i know this is a career choice for many that have a passion for it. But is it for these women in particular or do they hope to gain an education here and an alternative career? If like to think so.

OP posts:

BillSykesDog · 25/05/2017 08:02

They're also associated with money laundering:

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk/2006/sep/10/ukcrime.henrymcdonald

Chinese medicine places too.

Tartyflette · 25/05/2017 08:02

my local Vietnamese nail salon seems to be a family operated business, the boss is there most of the time, doing nails himself, and there are lots of regular customers, chit-chat and a generally nice atmosphere.

The people who work there are regulars too, and most have bern there for quite a few years now. One lady was telling me about her young child who is at a local school here and saying his English was perfect, much better than hers. There are as many young men working there as young women and they seem to be all related.
It seems like a reasonably legitimate business, long-established and well run. But they will only take cash, though!
I think they are probably making better lives for themselves here than they could in Vietnam and that's why they came here.
And they all wear masks when they're working with the chemicals etc. .

Gileswithachainsaw · 25/05/2017 08:03

Thank you kitty

IJustLostTheGame · 25/05/2017 08:06

In the salon I used to go to in Dubai they were all from the Philippines.
Once asked they all gave their life stories and after making it my regular place I was included in all the gossip.
They were lovely.

Blaaaaaaaah · 25/05/2017 08:10

BTW - my pedicurist is a second generation Hong Kong national, with a degree in accountancy from a Russell Uni - who knows the beauty industry pays far better than slogging in an office.

Now that is total nonsense. The beauty industry is one of the most notoriously badly paid industries with wages rarely rising above minimum. Even in self employment, it's a badly crowded market so extremely difficult to build a customer base or charge profitable prices.

It's a low skill job with a high number of practitioners. The idea that people in the beauty industry are coining it in apart from an extremely narrow elite is just laughable frankly. Particularly if you're claiming that pedicurists get paid more than qualified accountants.

hellokittymania · 25/05/2017 08:10

This was also going on as well.

tuoitrenews.vn/society/29874/former-staff-at-us-consulate-in-vietnam-gets-five-years-in-visa-scam

Blaaaaaaaah · 25/05/2017 08:15

kitty, why on earth would anybody bother recruiting and transporting a nail technician from Vietnam to work legally and be paid a legal rate when they could just employ someone here easily? There are plenty of UK nail technicians already. No need to go to that bother or expense. If they responded to that advert, even if they made it to the UK, it's likely they would find themselves illegal workers at best and slaves at worst.

HorsesDogsNails · 25/05/2017 08:15

There are more options than just either doing your own nails or going to a nail bar of this type! Just ask the Nail Technician who they trained with and if they have public liability insurance before you book an appointment. As long as they trained with a reputable company and Jane insurance you can be confident that they haven't been trafficked. Use a self employed Technician and you'll be supporting a local business and get a good service and rigorously tested products.

The nail industry is unregulated so the only real option for reporting any suspicion of unqualified staff is Trading Standards.

WhereIsTheLikeButton · 25/05/2017 08:17

Ummm why do you care? As long as she did your nails nice.

What I would like to know is why is it your first time in 5 years of having a pedicure?

Deathraystare · 25/05/2017 08:18

Not answering your question at all but where I am in West London there are just as many black and polish women in these nail places. The one I go to is Polish and my friend says her pedi is better than the Chiropodist she went to. Much more thorough.

RustyBear · 25/05/2017 08:19

Ther was a big police operation against trafficking and illegal immigrants -Operation Rehoboam- about 2 years ago, where several nail bars were raided, including two in my town, and about a dozen people arrested. They said then that six Vietnamese women who were victims of trafficking had been found.

I only ever saw reports of what happened in one case, where the owners received a suspended jail sentence and community service, but at least one of the raided bars reopened under the same name a short while later.

SoupDragon · 25/05/2017 08:20

How Bizarre that the O pdidnt strike upa conversation with the omen making her feet all pretty and actually talk to them and 6ask them what their aspirations are.^

Do you think that might be because they don't speak the same language, given that is what this thread is about?

BelleTheSheepdog · 25/05/2017 08:20

I don't know how widespread this is but in a small town near us, far away from busy bits of the UK, the nail bar women turned out to be trafficked and police and council became involved.

Ohb0llocks · 25/05/2017 08:23

Be wary of these types of salons. Often they are NSS salons, using unsuitable products such as dental acrylic.

There is a reason you don't pay card, do a client consultation card etc. And that is so if you do end up with some sort of nasty infection it can't be proven that you've been there.

Any reputable salon, tech will have insurance, be happy to discuss products and brands used, and will fill out a consultation sheet.

babybarrister · 25/05/2017 08:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PencilsInSpace · 25/05/2017 08:26

If you suspect trafficking you can report it here or call the salvation army 24/7 hotline: 0300 3038151, or call the police.

BillSykesDog · 25/05/2017 08:33

Ummm why do you care? As long as she did your nails nice.

Yeah, who gives a shit if someone is an exploited slave and you're paying their gangmasters and participating in their slavery as long as you have pretty nails?

hellokittymania · 25/05/2017 08:35

Blah, there are some wrong minded people out there. There are agencies for a lot of things, mail order brides, work etc.

People want to break rules, have cheaper labor, get married to a girl and then kill her the same week, and some people in developing countries want to leave for a better life. They think it will be a better life anyway

People ask me, why don't I just go to the hospital and get fixed in England. I tell them that my mother had rubella, just like many people still have in Vietnam. Medicine has come along way, but fixing congenital rubella syndrome hasn't been done yet. People will also ask me how many thousands of dollars of benefits does my government give me. I have to explain how it really works and that you have enough to live on, but you're not going to be living in a palace. It's hard for people to understand that the reality of living in a place like the UK is much different from what they may see on TV.

Fabellini · 25/05/2017 08:47

The one nail bar in our town - which is pretty far North - has been raided by Police and Immigration officials on at least two occasions that I know of.
Both times, more than one member of staff was found to be working illegally and deported. The local newspaper also reported that the two registered owners homes had been searched, and large quantities of cash seized.
The staff who still work there don't seem to be able to speak much English, but it's difficult to tell, because they all wear disposable face masks, and don't speak, or make eye contact with clients.

The girls in the salon that I go to have told me that the nail bar use very harsh products and that they really struggle to remove the stuff on people who then come to them, and nails underneath are often quite damaged.
Incredibly, the place is still open and trading - but then, you can get your nails done very quickly, and cheaply, without having to make an appointment. I have tried very hard, but haven't been able to dissuade dsds from going there...even though dsd2 is doing beauty therapy course at college and should be well aware that this nail bar isn't a good idea!
They (and their friends) just want cheap nails that look good in the short term, and seem incapable of seeing the bigger picture. The place is queued out the door at weekends....mostly by teenagers.

Liiinoo · 25/05/2017 08:48

I live in South London where there are more nail bars than newsagents and I avoid the ones where most of the technicians don't have at least some English because of a vague unease about the legitamacy of the set up. i have sometimes thought I was being a bit melodramatic about it but this thread has reassured me I am probably doing the right thing. Luckily there are several that are run and staffed by 2nd generation London-Vietnamese where the chat and the craic are as good as the manicures.

Has anyone else noticed a rise in the number of brow/lash bars where the staff seem to be Middle Eastern women with poor English? They seem to providing very good services at rock bottom rates and also make me wonder if they are all getting a fair wage.

hellokittymania · 25/05/2017 08:48

I don't know if anybody on here is living in Korea or Korean, but I would really like to know if these regulations were actually put into place or not.

It's a hard article to read, so if you are sensitive, please ignore the link.

www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/pinoyabroad/356324/south-korea-regulates-marriage-with-foreigners/story/

LaLegue · 25/05/2017 08:50

Ummm why do you care? As long as she did your nails nice.

Lovely.

MuncheysMummy · 25/05/2017 08:51

There's a salon local to me in a pretty seaside town (wonder if you live in the North OP? 🤔) with what sounds like an identical set up! Even down to the older British man running the place and the actual nail techs all being Vietnamese and he seems a very oppressing presence. They work LONG hours...like 10am to 8pm almost every single day only being closed on a Sunday. Definately has the feel of something dodgy and or being taken advantage of or that they are beholden to him in some way I don't go there anymore as it makes me very uncomfortable. One of the ladies has a baby by the older man (he's late 50's she's probably 30 if that) and was working in the salon again with the baby there when it was 2 weeks old

HeadDreamer · 25/05/2017 08:59

I would doubt it too, given what I've seen undercovered by jounalists. About modern slavery in plain sight. I think you did the right thing go to go to other salons.

hellokittymania · 25/05/2017 09:01

Is there such a thing in the UK as an internship visa? A bit like a J one visa in the US? Other than tourist or student visas, I'm trying to think how an agency would even get them the visa. I would understand if it was a visa for Vietnam , but unless there are some shady people like the person at the US Embassy in Vietnam who was taking money in exchange for visas, I don't know how they would do it.

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