The cosmetic sector regularly receives attention in the media and the house of representatives. Doctors express their concerns and speak of victims and victims tell their stories. But the inspectorate receives few reports from professionals or citizens about calamities or serious damage caused by treatments in this sector. A series of visits to beauty salons also did not reveal any major abuses. Although improvements are certainly necessary, especially in the preconditions for good care.
To get a better picture of the beauty salons, the inspectorate visited 18 salons. In this publication we summarize the results of these visits. The cosmetic sector is very broad. There is the part that performs complicated invasive treatments, cosmetic surgery. These are procedures that are largely performed in private clinics. At the other end of the spectrum are the beauty salons. Depending on the care offered, these fall under the supervision of the inspectorate. This is usually the case if a salon offers more treatments than just skin cleansing and care.
The inspectorate has a good overview of the private clinics and the risks there. This research therefore focused on beauty salons. It is difficult for the inspection to get and keep a good overview of beauty salons and risks. This is mainly caused by the large number of beauty salons. Not all salons are registered with the chamber of commerce. It is also a very dynamic market: beauty salons sometimes disappear as quickly as they arrived.
The inspection concludes that the treatments offered in the salons visited took place under responsible conditions. Identified shortcomings often relate to the preconditions, such as the recording of procedures. The individual salons were contacted about this. The inspection found no abnormalities as reported in the media. Reserved procedures, such as administering fillers and Botox using a needle, were done by a doctor in all cases. In three cases it was done with the help of a mesogun.
It is not always clear to salon owners when an action is a reserved action. In other words: who is allowed to use which device. This makes it possible for (unconsciously) incompetent persons to perform risky actions. The legislation regarding the use of fillers and Botox using a syringe and needle is clear: these are actions reserved for doctors. This was not completely clear before the use of the mesogun and the hyaluron pen.