Service Menu and Retail Product Descriptions

Menu text should answer three questions. What is it? How long does it take? What does it cost? Everything else is a bonus.

Start with a fact sheet

An AI tool writes better when you hand it facts. It writes worse when you hand it nothing and ask it to be creative. So make a small list for each service.

For a cut, that list might read: name of service, what's included (wash, cut, blow-dry), length of time, price, and who does it. Write the numbers from your own price list, not from memory.

Then ask:

"Rewrite this as menu text. One sentence of description, then the time and price. Plain words. Don't add anything that's not in my list. Here are my facts: [paste facts]."

The last instruction matters. Chat tools like to fill gaps. Wikipedia says chatbots can add "fabricated citations" and other believable falsehoods.¹ In menu text, that looks like a free scalp massage you don't offer.

Use words clients understand

Trade terms confuse people. "Balayage" (a hand-painted colour technique) may need a short explanation. "Gloss" or "toner" might too. If a term shows up, define it in a few words the first time.

Ask the tool: "Explain each trade term in plain words a first-time client would follow, in under ten words." Then check each definition against what you actually do.

Product blurbs

For retail products, give the tool the facts printed on the pack and in the maker's own description: what it is, who it's for, the size, how to use it. Copy those from the label or the supplier's sheet.

Ask for a blurb that sticks to them. A few lines is plenty.

Watch the claims

This is where a blurb can get you in trouble. Words like "repairs", "cures" or "treats" make a product sound medical. In the United States, the FDA says cosmetic labeling claims must be "truthful and not misleading."² It also says it keeps no list of approved claims for cosmetics.²

Advertising is another regulator's job. The FDA says "the Federal Trade Commission regulates advertising claims."² That's the US picture. Other countries have their own bodies, so look up the official consumer or advertising regulator where you work.

One useful habit: describe what the product is and how it's used, not what it will do to anyone's hair or skin. Ask the tool: "Remove any claim about results." Then read the rest again yourself.

Don't ask the chat tool whether a claim is allowed. It can't tell you.

Don't copy the maker's words

Maker descriptions are usually copyrighted. Use them for facts, then have the blurb written in your own words. Copying a supplier's paragraph also makes your site read like everyone else's.

Final check

Before publishing, check each item against your price list. Look at the name spelling, the length of time and the price. Look for words the tool added, like "luxurious" or "award-winning". Cut any you can't back up.

Keep the approved text in one place. When prices change, you update the fact sheet first and then ask the tool to redo the wording. For a related task, the booking messages page uses the same fact-first habit. Read it here.