It may feel great to get a new look and be pampered in the process, but what you take away from the salon may be some unwanted skin conditions and germs. You've seen the hairstylist reach into a drawer and grab a hairbrush, but do you know where that hairbrush has been? Stylists should be trained to analyze whether or not their clients have broken scalp skin, lice or other skin conditions that could jeopardize the health of subsequent clients. But when instruments aren't cleaned chemically or in an autoclave, which uses light to sterilize instruments, then they're simply passing along those germs. The first thing to do when you enter a salon is notice the smell and the temperature. If there is an overly chemical smell - caused by dyes and permanent chemicals - then that means the salon is poorly ventilated.