Taking the Frizz and Frazzle Out of Monsoon Hair Days

NEW DELHI

It's the start of India's monsoon season, and those muggy rains can give a person a really bad hair day.

So on a steamy Wednesday afternoon, in a country where big and long hair is a main symbol of beauty for both sexes, monsoon makeovers are the VIP treatment of the moment. It's the time of year when Indians suffering frizzy locks, sweaty scalps and unruly handlebar mustaches could use a hair mask, along with a massage or two or three.

At 2 p.m., at the Looks salon at Khan Market in South Delhi, the receptionist, otherwise known as "ambassador of scalp and hair," is minding the busy appointment book.

"It's not just about hair oil anymore in India," says Rachana Chadha, 34, whose shiny, red-hued dark hair has been monsoon-proofed with several of the salon's oil and smoothing treatments. "We have so many clients seeking fantastic hair healing."

The salon is painted bright white. If outside feels like a sauna -- in overdrive -- the inside has the kind of frosty air-conditioning that requires a sweater.

In the humidity-free salon, which resembles an ultramodern spaceship, it's easy to sign up for a "frizz-free" treatment. The idea, especially during monsoon season, is to specialize in attention to the scalp. Although it's rarely focused on in the West, scalp treatment is an essential part of the often elaborate Indian beauty regimen of massages and pampering, according to Chadha, who offers a menu of monsoon hair-protecting treatments.

At 2:15 p.m., the first customer is fluffy-haired Nitin Jain, 26. He's a bachelor, a wealthy rice and pulses trader who comes from the outskirts of the capital to do business and, during a break, pamper himself as temperatures outside soar over 100 degrees.

Many monsoon treatments target limp locks, frizzy mushroom hair, split ends and dandruff, which some hair ambassadors here blame on the intense moisture in the air during the muggy monsoons.

Jain was at the salon for the "calming ritual," or 90 minutes of hair masks, head massages and various shampoos and conditioners.

"My head gets much too sweaty in the monsoon season," he said as he stepped into a white hairdressing gown and glossy white leather slippers. "I love feeling that all the bacteria has been wiped away."

Then he's by the "hair pool," a giant white shampoo tub, getting his black hair carefully cleaned, as the stylist slides a wide comb through his mane and massages his temples and neck.