mysore the heritage city has quietly opened up to a metro culture that was alien to the city which was known for its tradition and culture sometime ago when nishchala kumar wants to get her hair done she heads straight to a unisex beauty salon uninhibited the 23yearold is one of the growing breed of young guns who are opting for unisex hairdressing salons in the city giving the minimetro a new edge these days stylists are not mere stylists they are experts who know how to handle both men and womens hair says the bank employee it makes me feel beautiful moreover i like the ambience of these salons she said adding that she has no inhibitions visiting a unisex salon im alright with it she added when you are getting such professionalism unisex salons are way better nishchala said as the night culture has sneaked into the city led by youths mysore is witnessing a growing number of youths heading to unisex beauty parlors breaking the usual trend gone are the days when girls preferred beauty parlours unisex salons are the in thing now initially when the city was introduced to the new culture it didnt warm up to it but now that is history people are queuing up for these services now rashmi beauty incharge at the vlcc said in the initial years the response was poor however it has picked up tremendously and is growing every year today we cater to an extensive crowd known for its slimming skin and hair services the clientele base is good rashmi added naveen outlet manager of green trends said the response to unisex salons in mysore is appreciable peoples response is encouraging and we are planning to start our second outlet he added the stakeholders say that there is some 40 growth in the number of clients visiting the salons for both men and women in the recent times the citys own brilliant salon at sharadadevi nagar also has good clientele rani satish who runs the salon said their main intention was to cater to the needs of all members in a family proximity to the it city and heterogeneous culture coupled with disposal incomes has led to a change in lifestyle this is attracting the young vikram devaiah 24 said staff at the unisex parlors are updated about latest fashion and use better styling products they are neatly maintained and hygienic the ambience is cool too raj kumar the incharge of wella group salon outlets said they started operation here some four years ago business for the first two years was poor but today it is a different scenario he added vivek tiwari a stylist attached to jawed habib skin and hair salon said their customers are mainly north indians living in mysore