⟡ Letter to my beautician

I don’t come here out of habit.
Nor for comfort.
Nor because it’s easier.
I come because here,
I can relax without having to justify myself.

I don’t have anything to prove.
Not about what I confide,
why today rather than yesterday.
Not about the days when I feel confident,
nor even about those when I feel much less so.

Here, I settle in.
I hold out my hands.
I close my eyes and there…

Immediately, something falls into place.

The rhythm.
The precision.
I can feel when a hand is steady.
Not rigid… steady.
Here, nothing is rushed.
Every movement seems to be in its place,
as if it had been rehearsed a thousand times
and yet, done just for me.

Of course, I could go elsewhere.
There’s always cheaper.
Always faster.
Always more convenient.

But elsewhere, I can sense when attention wanes.
When movements become automatic.
When things are done ‘as usual’.

I am not looking for leniency.
I am looking for someone who is skilled in their craft.
Here, I entrust my face, my hands, my body.
And I know that they will be treated with care,
never lightly.

I don’t come back out of blind loyalty.
I come back because I know what I will find:
the same high standards,
the same quality of presence.

And then there is also something that develops,
it’s a detail,
but it’s what makes all the difference.

The bond cannot be forced, it is built
gesture after gesture,
presence after presence.

Here, nothing is mundane.
Nothing is automatic.
Even what seems simple.

Silence has its place,
it is not a void to be filled.
Here, words are not there to fill space,
they accompany.

That’s where it all happens.
Because what I feel here,
I notice immediately when it disappears elsewhere.

And as soon as what matters is no longer there,
I don’t stay.

Because beyond techniques and products,
there is what really happens on a table,
behind a chair,
at the tips of your fingers.

Here, I can settle in without having to justify myself…
And that,
no client forgets.
And neither do I.

It is this silent demand, this attention to detail,
this respect for the trust placed in us,
that Fille au Pluriel, alongside your clients, has always chosen to uphold.