Compliance reviews · Salons, barbers and aesthetics clinics
Website compliance reviews for salons, barbers and aesthetics clinics
A one-off check of your salon, barbershop or clinic website, and the booking and social pages around it, against the advertising and consumer rules that apply to treatments and appointments, from prescription-only medicines such as Botox on a price list to no-show fees hidden in a booking app. You get a written report and a fix list in priority order.
Two years stuck. Through in two weeks.
8Music, a Rayleigh music shop, had spent about two years trying to get through Google Merchant Center. Its account passed Google's review two weeks after we started, in October 2026. That review was against Google's rules, not the UK rules on this page. How 8Music got through
Luke Dykes runs every review, after six years in UK frontline public service, with the police, Border Force and HMRC, where records had to be accurate, complete and able to stand up to scrutiny.
Who it is for
This is for aesthetics clinics, and for salons that offer injectables, laser, IPL or skin treatments. Here the advertising rules reach well beyond the treatment page. A price per area for anti-wrinkle injections, a #botox hashtag on a post the site embeds, a 'skinny jab' banner or B12 injections on the treatment menu can each count as advertising a prescription-only medicine to the public, even when a registered prescriber gives every treatment. Add before-and-after galleries, offers that could reach under-18s, and claims such as 'permanent', 'clinically proven' or a 'Dr' with no medical qualification behind it, and one website carries a lot of risk. A review reads all of it, page by page and post by post within the agreed scope, and tells you what to change, in what order and why.
It is also for hair salons, barbers, beauty salons and nail bars, where the problems are quieter and easy to miss. Think of a 'cut and finish from £25' that only one junior stylist offers on one weekday, a consultation or patch-test fee that first appears at checkout, a no-show charge set in the booking app that the website never mentions, a review badge that no longer matches the Google profile, or an influencer's post about a gifted treatment, reposted on your page with no label. You do not need a new website to have one reviewed: it can be one we built, one somebody else built or a booking platform page you set up yourself, and the review can cover the whole site or only the part you are worried about. It can also cover the checks any business can have, from company details to cookie consent, and we can make the fixes too. If a review shows your site cannot be fixed in place, we will say so.
What a review checks
- Prescription-only medicines in your marketing
- Treatments and under-18s
- Before-and-after photos and filters
- Claims about results, titles and qualifications
- Prices, fees and offers
- Deposits, cancellations and no-show fees
- Reviews, ratings and influencer posts
- Health questions on booking and consultation forms
Prescription-only medicines in your marketing
Botulinum toxin (Botox, Azzalure, Bocouture and others), injectable B12, prescription weight-loss injections and prescription hair-loss medicines are prescription-only medicines, which may not be advertised to the public, by name or indirectly, even when a registered prescriber gives the treatment. We read every page, the price list, offers, gift vouchers, competitions, captions, alt text and page titles, and the social accounts agreed in scope, for brand names, 'toxin', 'anti-wrinkle injections' next to a price, #botox hashtags, 'skinny jab' and B12 shots, and check the site promotes your service and a consultation, not a medicine. Where a wording needs a view, the report points to CAP's guidance and free copy advice service rather than calling any phrase safe. Dermal fillers are not prescription-only, but the other advertising rules still apply to them.
Source: Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (MHRA) and the CAP Code (ASA)
Applies to: All of the UK, any size of business.
Treatments and under-18s
Ads for cosmetic interventions, such as fillers, laser and IPL hair removal, micro-needling, chemical peels and teeth whitening, must not be aimed at under-18s, whether through media made for them or media where more than 25% of the audience is under 18. We look for prom and school-leaver offers, check that treatment and booking pages say these treatments are for over-18s, and ask whether paid social is set to 18 and over. In England, giving botulinum toxin or an injected filler to an under-18 for a cosmetic purpose, or arranging or booking it, is a criminal offence, whatever a parent says, apart from a narrow exception where a doctor has approved it for a medical need and a registered health professional gives it. So for clinics in England we also check that the booking form asks for a date of birth or age confirmation and that the terms say proof of age may be asked for. That supports your age-check policy; on its own it is not a defence.
Source: CAP Code cosmetic interventions rules (ASA); Botulinum Toxin and Cosmetic Fillers (Children) Act 2021
Applies to: The CAP Code rules: all of the UK, any size of business, since 25 May 2022. The 2021 Act: England only, since 1 October 2021.
Before-and-after photos and filters
Images must not exaggerate what a treatment or product can do, and since the ASA's 2021 rulings on filtered Instagram stories for tanning products, CAP's advice has been that filters and retouching likely to exaggerate a beauty product's effect should not be used. We check every gallery, hero image and embedded post: that any photo presented as a result is of your own client, not stock, a supplier's brochure or another clinic's Instagram; that nothing is filtered or smoothed on the treated area; that the two shots match in lighting, angle and make-up; and that captions are realistic about timing and typical results. We ask whether you hold the originals and each client's consent. A review can spot visible editing, but it cannot prove a photo is genuine.
Source: CAP Code and CAP advice on before-and-after photos (ASA)
Applies to: All of the UK, any size of business.
Claims about results, titles and qualifications
Every claim that can be proved or disproved needs evidence you hold before it goes live: 'permanent', 'guaranteed results', 'painless', 'clinically proven' or 'suitable for all skin types'. Skincare sold as a cosmetic must not claim to treat a medical condition such as acne or eczema, whatever the evidence, so we flag any that does. CAP's advice is that 'permanent' hair removal claims are unlikely to be supported, and that calling IPL laser is likely to mislead. The same goes for who does the work: 'Dr', 'nurse-led', 'medical-grade', 'award-winning', 'CQC registered' or a membership badge. Claiming an approval you do not hold, or showing a trust mark without authorisation, is banned outright. We ask for the evidence behind each claim and check titles and registrations against public registers such as the GMC, NMC, GDC, GPhC and CQC. We do not judge anyone's training or competence.
Source: CAP Code (ASA); Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024
Applies to: All of the UK, any size of business.
Prices, fees and offers
A price must include every fee the client cannot avoid or, where the total cannot be worked out in advance, say how it will be calculated, and a 'from' price must be realistic and genuinely bookable. We check each 'from' price against the booking system, and that the page says what changes it, such as hair length, stylist level or number of areas. We check that any compulsory consultation, booking or patch-test fee is included in the price shown or stated up front, not first revealed at checkout, and flag any fee where it is unclear whether it is compulsory. We also check that prices include VAT where it is charged, that 'was' prices and percentages off are genuine, and that no countdown timer, 'today only' or 'last few slots' banner is untrue. On injectables, laser and peels, we also flag offers that rush the decision or play on how someone feels about their looks, which CAP's guidance on cosmetic interventions warns against.
Source: Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024; CMA price transparency guidance; CAP Code
Applies to: All of the UK, any size of business. The Act's price rules have applied since 6 April 2025.
Deposits, cancellations and no-show fees
Deposit, cancellation and no-show terms must be fair and in plain words, and an unfair term does not bind the client. The law lists a disproportionately high charge on a client who cancels as a term that may be unfair, and CMA guidance says a term letting a business keep a large advance payment whatever the reason for cancelling is likely to be unfair. We check that the deposit, the notice period, any late-cancellation or no-show fee and when a card on file will be charged are stated before the client pays or saves a card, not only in small print or Instagram highlights, and that the site, the terms and the booking app all say the same. Whether a fee is fair, or a cancellation right applies to an appointment, is marked for a legal view.
Source: Consumer Rights Act 2015, Part 2; CMA unfair contract terms guidance; Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013
Applies to: Bookings by consumers, all of the UK, any size of business.
Reviews, ratings and influencer posts
Since 6 April 2025 it has been banned to write or commission fake reviews, to hide that a review was incentivised, or to present reviews in a misleading way, such as showing only the good ones. We trace every review, star rating and count on the site, booking-platform widgets included, to a source we can name and check it matches that source today. We check that reviews given for a discount or free treatment are labelled, that staff and family are not reviewing as clients, and that every client is asked the same way. Influencer posts the site embeds or reposts are checked for an 'Ad' label where you paid or gave a treatment in return and had a say in the post, or a clear 'gifted' where you gave a free treatment and had no say in the post. Google's own policy also bans offering anything for a Google review, and asking only happy clients.
Source: Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024; CMA fake reviews guidance; CAP Code; Google's review policy
Applies to: The law: all of the UK, any size of business. Google's review policy is Google's rule, not law.
Health questions on booking and consultation forms
Medical history, allergies, medication, pregnancy and skin conditions are special category data under UK GDPR, and clients must be told what is collected, why, who receives it and how long it is kept. We check that every form asking health questions links to a privacy notice the client can see before they start typing, that the notice mentions health information and names the booking or form provider that receives it, that the site gives a way to make a data protection complaint to you, which every organisation has had to offer since 19 June 2026, and that the forms are served over HTTPS. Choosing your lawful basis and how long to keep clinical records is data protection advice, which the review does not give.
Source: UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, with the complaints duty added by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025; ICO guidance
Applies to: All of the UK, any size of business.
What it does not cover
A review checks what your website, booking flow and agreed social accounts say. It does not cover clinical matters: whether a treatment is safe or suitable, practitioner training and competence, prescribing, infection control, patch-test protocols, aftercare or complications. Nor does it cover whether you need CQC registration or its equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, beyond checking that any registration your site claims appears on the public register, local authority licences and registrations for treatments such as skin piercing, semi-permanent make-up or electrolysis, the supply, storage and labelling of medicines and products, insurance, in-clinic age and ID checks, ad-account audience data you have not shared, the VAT treatment of your services, employment or health and safety. Whether a wording breaches the CAP Code or the medicines rules is for the ASA and the MHRA to decide, and whether a deposit is fair or a whitening service lawful is a question for a solicitor, so the report marks those points rather than ruling on them. This is not legal advice, and I am not a solicitor. For clinical and registration questions, your insurer, your professional regulator or body and your local authority are the right people to ask.
Work in this sector
We have built for this sector, from Industrial Barbers' one-page site and Projects Salon's booking journey to the holding page for Penny Woods Clinic in South Woodham Ferrers, but those were builds, not compliance reviews.
Fair questions
Can I put Botox on my price list if a prescriber gives the treatment?
Can I still use before-and-after photos?
We also offer sunbeds or teeth whitening. Does the review cover those?
Do you check our Instagram and our booking app too?
Will a review make my clinic compliant or ASA approved?
Have you reviewed a salon or clinic before?
Tell me what you need. You will get a straight answer and a firm price in writing.
Or call 07438 284755 or email luke@owntimestudios.com.