HAIR & TECHNOLOGY: Diesel Salon has an iPhone App for Instant Gratification

JUNE 16, 2009 -- Diesel Salon has put an iPhone application in place, apparently a first for a San Diego salon. How does that affect your life, and more importantly for some, your hair? Now, if you espy a hair style or cut you like, you can immediately schedule an appointment to get it through your phone.

True stories: A woman was watching “Bride Wars” and wanted to get her bangs done like Kate Hudson’s in the movie. A dude saw Dr. McDreamy on “Grey’s Anatomy” and wanted his hair to be that dreamy, too. Both picked up their iPhones and immediately scheduled Diesel appointments.

Diesel is a 2,600-square-foot modern salon with 12 stylists and more than 4,500 clients. The Kensington shop has been owned by Kyle and Candice Buckett (she’s the lead stylist) since 2006.

 Kyle Buckett says about 200 people have used the free iPhone app since it was put in place in late April. He says the technology has netted the salon about 25 new clients.

“It’s a pretty basic model—you can schedule appointments, find our services, use email and get directions,” says Buckett. “People are very positive about it. The only negative is some don’t like getting the confirmation email on their computer—they’d rather get it on their phone.”

Buckett says he’ll leave the app as it is through the summer, and see if catches on or needs to be modified. Many believe phone apps are already next wave of information technology.

Perhaps Carrie Fisher was prescient when she wrote in “Postcards from the Edge” that “instant gratification takes too long.” Of course, nobody better be thinking of getting their hair cut to match Fisher’s famous “Star Wars” ’do.