NSS (Non-Standard Salons), Discount Salons, Chop Shops, Oh My!

At the Premiere Trade Show in August, 2000, a 55 nail professionals got together and agreed to come up with a new name to call the shops/workers that are less than "up to standards" in the nail profession. The thought was to re-name this issue so the energy goes into the issue and not the vaguely racist sounding name (there was a lot of arguing over the name but not the issue!). The term chosen was "Non-Standard Salons".

They had decided that they had "seen enough... heard enough... and enough races.. religions and ethnic slurs had been made...we decided to put an end to it." (Diana Bonn, Beautytech Forum) At that time, the standard term for these shops was "Chop Shop". In America, a Chop Shop is a place where stolen vehicles are dismantled so that the parts can be sold or used to repair other stolen vehicles. As related to nails, it basically meant a place where people would go to get their nails ruined (much ike the aforementioned stolen car).  Some people took the term "chop shop" to relate to Asians because is was similar to "chop suey", which is a Chinese American food dish.  Long story short, there was a lot of effort put into changing the terminology related to salons that messed up nails and generally were not sanitary and most likely not licensed - hence, "non-standard salon" came to be.
Fast forward 15 years later to today and NSS has become a catch all phrase to generalize - and is one again usually aimed at the Asian Discount Salon.  Geeg on the salongeek forum has said "Is it time for all of us to stop generalizing and perhaps face the truth.  We should drop the NSS term altogether as it is meaningless the way it is used. There are nail bars, hobby techs, salons, Mobile technicians and cowbows/girls; there are good and bad technicians in every one of these groups."

Interestingly, by substituting NSS for Chop Shop, we may have made the term slightly less racist sounding, but in essence we have not done anything to help the underlying issue - and dare I say the issue is actually WORSE than 15+ years ago, with so many brilliant, talented techs charging so little that there is almost no "discount" salon in some areas of the country (US, probably other countries as well?).

"As we all agree..... its not just one ethnic group that is at fault. I can go into a city any where and find faults with nail techs, stylist, skin care etc etc.. (doesn't matter their ethnic, race, hair color or education....!) At times it seems that it may be more prominent in certain areas/groups.. but.... I tell ya what we are all under the "spy glass"." (Beautytech forum)

The Issues

So, what are the issues that the term NSS is supposed to encompass, really?

• Unlicensed/Untrained Technicians (because lets face it, some techs are licensed but not well trained or are working in a place that doesn't require licensure)
• Poor communication
• Unsanitary Practices
• MMA Use
• Damaged Nails/Allergic reactions due to sloppy work practices
• Human Trafficking

From the beautytech forum, August, 2000: "I believe the problem lies with our legislators-if we don't all push them to take the issue seriously,and public health issues are at stake,here,how can they be expected to know what the REAL issues are-not just welfare reform,violence in the home and school,etc (which are very REAL threats to the well-being of all of us) but issues of public health that theses shops pose a threat to... yes,in the hands of unlicensed,untrained,unscrupulous persons,these products which we take for granted as being available to us, pose a very real danger."

Being Mindful - Thinking Points
Throwing around the term NSS to mean anything from a discount salon (one who is cheaper then average, but not "non-standard" or illegal) to a Vietnamese salon (no mater what they charge or how legal they are) to a full blown "Chop shop" (which would pretty much meet all the criteria listed above) is putting the nail industry back where we started.

Some points to think about:

• A discount salon is one that charges less than the average for your area.  In my area that is less than about $40 for a full set. A discount salon is NOT "non standard", they're just cheap :)
• No salon should ever be called by their ethnicity or defined by it.  Just because a Vietnamese family runs a local discount salon does not make them an NSS.  It makes them a discount salon, period.  
• Just because one person in a salon is non-standard doesn't meant the whole salon is and NSS.  This is why I don't really like the term NSS - non standard salon - because it generalizes that the whole salon is not standard when its really one person.
• Non-Standard crosses ethnicities and price ranges - do not assume because someone is Caucasian and charges $75 for a full set that the are not a Non Standard Tech.  Most techs where I live are either Caucasian or Vietnamese - and I know of  Caucasian techs that charge a lot of money and work in relatively expensive salons that are extremely unsanitary and therefore should be considered a non-standard technician.
• These terns are very subjective.  I know of a very popular woman on Instagram who people take classes from that I would consider Non-standard because she is so sloppy about her work!  She is always posting videos where she is slopping liquid all over client's skin and using her brush to clean up the skin.  Putting clients in danger of dermatitis is sloppy and unprofessional in my book - and therefore non-standard (to me).  Other people may disagree.

What are your thoughts on the subject of NSS?