SINGAPORE — These days it’s not enough to be a straight-up barber. Not with the likes of luxurious hair spas, blow bars serving martinis, and salons with hanging chandeliers, like Next at Holland Village and Cleo at Parco Millenia, or whimsical wall murals painted by illustrators like those seen in Evolve at Liang Court.

And now, two newly opened salons take the idea of looking good to a whole new level — by paying extra attention to their decor and more.

At Prep, Singapore’s first blow bar focusing solely on blowing and styling your mane, owners Jacqueline Chang, Teh Yishi and Jacelyn Soh roped in award-winning design outfit Asylum not only to come up with the look for its Mandarin Gallery outlet, but also to design merchandise.

“We wanted women to start thinking of getting their hair done as an everyday affair rather than just for special occasions,” explained Teh.

As for its merch, Soh pointed out that just like how Starbucks has its own mugs, coming up with products like canvas tote bags will help push the branding for Prep, which is set to have its second outlet at Raffles Place later this year.

The inspiration for the interiors was drawn from the forms found in hair styling such as the straight lines and curls, explained Asylum’s design director Cara Ang.

“For example, the diagonal strips (of the mint green laminate and oak veneer feature wall) are inspired by the combing motion through hair; soft touches such as the arches and circular mirrors also add a playful characteristic to the interior,” she said.

This meticulous attention to design is almost to be expected from We Need A Hero, a male grooming salon under the Spa Esprit group, which is known for the innovative designs in its restaurants and waxing outlets.

“Design is important to us as it adds value to customers, it enhances the whole experience,” said the brand’s creative director Jerry De Souza.

Which is why We Need A Hero looked to the Wild West for inspiration — “Sheriffs, cowboys, badges and rodeos,” he said. Without making it look overly kitschy, De Souza furnished the space with horns, a hand sketched painting of two cows printed on a leather backdrop, metal stars and colours reminiscent of the Texan state flag. Vintage leather barber chairs were also ordered from Japan and specially customised while the usual sink basins were spruced up by pasting tartan print stickers over them.

“We didn’t deliberately up the design stakes for this outlet ... (but) we just don’t want We Need A Hero to look like (another) hair salon,” he explained.

The folks behind Prep and We Need A Hero strongly believe investing in design pays off. While the “cowboys” at their salon might not always be aware of the details, “the guys who do can really tell us what they love or dislike when they gush or critique a place,” said De Souza.

And the best compliment a well-designed place can get, of course, is when people just stay put.

Said Prep’s Teh: “We’ve had many customers tell us that they feel so comfortable in our salon that they almost want to just hang out all day.”