Beauty salons for little girls (as young as two!)

I just read a news article titled, Salons boom as girls yearn to grow up fast about a new trend that I find very disturbing. The article is about "Tantrum, a luxurious child-only salon" in London (and similar ones appearing outside London) but mentions that these beauty salons that cater to very young girls are already popular in the USA: Tantrum, which opened as a hairdressers six months ago, has just started offering manicures and pedicures in response to demand. 'We're getting customers who come in and ask more and more whether we offer these other services,' said co-owner Latasha Malik. 'Manicures are very popular. [Parents] ask about pedicures, they ask whether we can style and blow-dry hair for young girls, have a bit of make-up put on.' Malik said British parents were still 'conservative' compared to Americans. So far his youngest customer for a manicure or pedicure has been six, whereas salons in Los Angeles and New York regularly treat children as young as two. (link via guardian.co.uk) This kind of trend makes me feel extremely sad for all those innocent little girls. I can't believe anyone would condone this, apart from very greedy salon owners (and apparently without any moral conscience) who came up with the idea to cater to children. The fact that there is "a demand" for this kind of service doesn't mean that it should be happening. I think parents should have been told there is a minimum age and that would be that. I would really like to know how on earth parents can believe that taking their little girls to be transformed to look much older and womanly is acceptable. These parents are deluding themselves if they think it's just a bit of fun. Their little girls are being encouraged to look much older than they are, and behave that way too. I'm not an expert but I am certain that this is a very unhealthy trend. Shame on the parents and (especially) shame on the salon owners. Would you consider taking your (very young) daughter to a salon? I sincerely hope not. Please don't give in to pressure from your children. You are the parent. Just say NO!