
Pro Beauty Pulse: A Monthly View of Industry Confidence
The Professional Beauty Association and Pivot Point team up to develop an ongoing study that measures the confidence of salon owners, stylists, school owners, and students.
A mobile app developed by three students at Baylor University helps clients bridge the communication gap with stylists, ensuring a more consistent result at each visit.
Most salon management software programs include a field for service providers to include personal notes on their guests, which helps enhance the experience. Now, a new consumer mobile app help clients record their own personal notes in order to help them communicate their style desires to their stylist.
Developed by three students at Baylor University—Alex Asbill, Alex Le Roux and Javier Vargas--SmartSnips is a free app that helps clients record and document each haircut they receive.
“Our haircuts weren’t turning out how we wanted them to,” Le Roux says.
“We all care about what our hair looks like after we get it but, but sometimes when we got to get a haircut, we don’t know what we’re supposed to say to get what we want,” Asbill adds. “We care so much about our hair and appearance, why not take the amount of time needed to make sure it’s consistent?”
With Smartsnips, users create an account, and the app keeps detailed specifics about their past haircuts, such as desired length and shape. The app then lets users take photos of their hair after a cut, and event prompts users to critique the haircut they just received.
“A salon can get on board with SmartSnips and see everything a client has recorded in the app,” says Asbill. Software compatible with SmartSnips can be used by salons to keep digital records of the app’s users.
SmartSnips also has an option for clients to view the haircut records of other users, inspiring clients to try other styles at future visits.
Within a month of the app being launched, SmartSnips reported that a number of local salons had expressed an interest in using it. To date, the app only is available on iTunes.
“We’re just trying to bridge the communication gap, and SmartSnips is a great way to do that,” says Vargas.
For more information on the app, visit SmartSnips.com.

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