In ancient times, precisely when some of the first civilizations of the world were evolving, being a barber was matter of great pride and honor as they firmly believe that one who has skill to groom other is considerably the most learned person of the tribe.

Today, the world of barbers and beauticians have amended to such an extent that it opens another new world which is too broad and extended to count its length, breadth and height.

Normally no one has time to peep in someone’s life and business but I am professionally forced to do so and I have no regrets till now. I was made to introduce with a complete different world of hairdressing and beauty, people behind it and in front of it.

I feel exceedingly amazed and astounded to share with you my experience of visiting the 5 Best Salons of Udaipur.

This article is no way declaring or mentioning words like ‘top-5’ or ‘only best salons’  The salons listed here are randomly placed in 1 to 5 order and does not really mean to rank any salon.

The purpose of this article is to feature a few most popular, hygiene concern, dealing in quality products and qualified staff salons of Udaipur to help our readers to know about the services available in Udaipur.

Prabhat is a name which perfectly defines the word ‘modern’ as it has a glorious past and flourishing present. Prabhat Spa is an edition of famous Prabhat Hairdressers at Chetak Circle which has its own significance as the first modern salon of Udaipur which started in 1960 by Bhanwarlal Barber who completely revolutionized the concept of Hairdressing in Udaipur.

Today, Ashok Paliwal is walking on the footsteps of his father and he has initiated several new concepts. It is the first salon which added the word ‘institute’ with it, it is the first who excluded shaving from their salon, it is the first salon to introduce shampooing before hair cut, it is the first salon which introduced spa concept in Udaipur. It is also the first salon to use sterilize machine for their scissors.

Bhanwarlal Barber is the one who assembled the group of barbers and founded Sen Kshor Kalakar Mandal and following the father his son Ashok Paliwal founded Lakecity Beauty Club that invited Jawed Habib for his first workshop in Udaipur.

Both father and son are diehard Communists and friendliest men you have ever met. This salon has served many renowned personalities of Udaipur including Late Mohanlal Sukhadia and still it is a favorite of many industrialists, politicians and artists.

Ashok has traveled more than 10 countries to participate in various workshops, beauty contests and seminars.

The ultra modern Prabhat salon, spa & institute have all modern facilities one can imagine of. It serves both men and women.

“I wish to make a salon similar to Taj Mahal, where people come from faraway places just to have a glance of it,” says Ashok Paliwal.

Services: Skin, Hair, Nail, Make-up, Tattoo and Spa.

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The art of hairdressing and hair coloring comes from perfection, which is led by experience and hard work. The name Amrit’s is derived from Amrit Sen, the Proprietor of once famous Kanhaiya Hair Dressers in Dhanmandi who transformed the hair dressing by introducing ‘hair dryer’ in mid 70’s in the Lake City.

Rakesh Sen, son of the legendary Amrit Sen is an IT guy-turned-hairdresser who composed the actual idea of Amrit’s in Jan 2010 and soon became popular between the strong clientele which includes some of the most prominent families of Udaipur.

Rakesh with his wife Anu has a great team; Anu is an aroma therapist, a professional make-up artist and hair color expert while Rakesh takes care of Men’s department, especially hair cut. This unisex beauty salon is stretched in 1200 sq ft area with ultra modern interiors and gentle ambiance.

“Working in IT was an essential experience for my career but what I am doing today satisfies me the most because of exposure, creativity, opportunity, growth and most important is passion I have in this business,” says Rakesh.

Services: Hair, Skin and Aroma etc. Advisable to visit after pre-appointment, fee ranges between Rs.300-700.

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Mayur definitely don’t need any introduction for most of the Udaipurites, those who remember the friendliness and innovations of late.Dinesh Chandra Kamoya who introduced the first air conditioned salon of Udaipur in 1970, was managed by his wife Asharani Kamoya, after his untimely death, who single handedly run Mayur to prosperity till her youngest son Vijay opted the managerial position after skipping his insurance job.

Mayur was reincarnated in April 2011 from traditional hairdressers to a contemporary state-of-art salon stretched to a multi storey building with many more new services added like candle hair-cut, pedicure and manicure.

Vijay left his job as Regional Manager at Kotak Mahindra to assist her mother, the proprietor of Mayur, Asharani Kamoya, who is a qualified beautician trained by Shehnaz Hussain, Nalini & Yasmin and Javed Habib.

Mayur’s 1300 sq ft area has several sections dedicated to particular services; the glassed floor will make you cautious while the final tune-up will relax you to the last.

Mayur has a unique blend of new and old staff; both get timely training to stand with fast changing market. This unisex salon keeps its tradition living while following the footsteps of its creator.

Services: Hair, Skin, Spa, Massage, Pedicure and Manicure, bridal make-up. Fee ranges from Rs.70 to 250 for men’s haircut.

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Expect the unexpected if you are going to Champion Salon for the first time. There is a whole new world of hairdressing behind its small doorway. It is considered as one of the most ideal places of all rock stars of the town. Hair Styling is the one for which Champion is recognized the most, however the salon also offers variety of other services in their 1600 sq.ft interior with 23 seats which also makes it one of the largest salon in Rajasthan.

“In the year 2000 we started with 400 sq ft area with 3 staff, today Champion is far better and bigger than what it was,” says Kamlesh Sen who revived the Champion from a mere barber shop to a brand after attending Javed Habib’s seminar in 2009. No looking back after that for this 32 year old who also received training under well-known, Hakims Alims in Mumbai.

Champion’s popularity has grown many times more since last 2 years, now the star studded saloon is adding another edition especially for Girl’s under direction of Jamnesh Sen, hair color expert and cousin of Kamlesh.

Services: Salon, Spa, Tattoo Studio and Home Care Products. They accept credit/debit cards. Standard fee is around Rs.75-200.

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Experience the royal treatment and be a Queen. The 1^st Impression is an ultimate place for women who prefer quality over anything else. This specialized beauty parlor started from a vacant garage space in 2003-04 and in 2008 it moved to a palace like villa with beautiful Rajputana interior and architecture.

The parlor which is only for women has various services for hair and skin which includes beauty and spa treatment.

“Many people don’t know the importance of spa, so we include it in bridal make-up package just to raise awareness,” says Purnima Jhala, Founder of 1^st Impression. A beautiful Buddha statute gives a soothing vibes which replicate an indefinite energy flowing over the salon embedded with glass painting work on its walls.

1^st Impression has gained popularity mostly through word of mouth and mainly through Purnima’s perfection over the art of beautification. When asked, who her inspiration is and what she wishes to do in next 5 years? Purnima replies “Shehnaz Hussain is my ideal and I wish to start more branches in the city.”

Please forgive me if I did not add your favorite salon(s) in the list, just put the name in comment box and I will keep it in another list of five more.