The idea took shape in 1986 when the first BTF salon was set up at Hong Kong's prestigious Harbour Centre. Over the years, two more branches were set up in that country and another in Sydney, Australia. India was the next choice, and the Mumbai salon opened in October 1999. The trio was determined to revolutionise the concept of beauty management, grooming and hair care. As its name suggests, the services of a beauty parlour form only a part of Beyond The Fringe, which specialises in providing an entire range of wholesome therapies under the brand of a `lifestyle salon'.

BTF's basic services include hair treatment,facials and detoxifying treatments like paraffin baths, mud baths, body wraps and lymphatic drainage treatment. Paramedical treatments provided are skin resurfacing, age management and camouflage therapy among others. Non-surgical face-lifts are also performed at BTF. The salon offers a unique service in `era make-up', which provides the Victorian look, the Mughal look and the Vedic look to interested clients.

The India chapter of the salon chain is looked after by part-owner Hariharan. She says her principles and priorities have converted the beauty business into nothing less than a philosophy, and adds that BTF is recognised worldwide as the only authentic Indo-Chinese salon that caters to the `global citizen conscious of image management'.

The fourteen staff members at BTF have been trained to delve into the mental make-up of a client, assess her lifestyle, her career, her ability and willingness to spend and, of course, her problem. Only after they ascertain these facts and gain access to the medicalhistory of the client, do they suggest the apt treatment she could go in for. Hariharan is present at this first briefing but after that each client is given one personal beautician who monitors her treatment.

BTF is now set to relate to other professionals in the field by launching a range of highly specialised hair care products. An in-house brand in hair-care systems, Jeuness, has been formulated for optimum hair maintenance and styling.

Of course, BTF does use other brands like Wella, L'Oreal, Redken and Schwarzkopf. Special treatment products which are not available in India are sourced from `exotic locations' like Spain, Italy and Africa. The Fresh Flower range of products, mainly used for spa treatments and facials, consists of moisturisers, whitening lotions and anti-ageing masks. BTF claims to be the only salon in India to use phytomer, a French product derived from spa water and ingredients retrieved from the ocean.

Hariharan runs a training centre for aspiring beauticians and upgrades heremployees' existing skills by writing them long letters and conducting personality grooming workshops. ``A very important part of the beautician's job is to relate to his client. He or she should be able to think fast and converse well. Our in-house workshops are designed to enhance this creativity in our workers,'' she says. Well, this is how it's done internationally, and this was how it stood in India for centuries. Back to the basics works well.