Californians will soon be able to (legally) drink at a salon or barbershop

Photo: Michael Hitoshi/Getty Treating yourself to a blowout before that big event? A new...

The practice of offering salon and barbershop customers a complimentary glass of wine or beer has long been an under-the-table deal, but is now legal thanks to a new California law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday.

As of Jan. 1, customers will be allowed to legally indulge in a complimentary 12 ounces of beer or 6 ounces of wine during a visit, and before 10 p.m., according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.

AB1322, known as the "Drybar bill," will allow salons to circumvent the requirement for businesses that serve alcohol to hold a liquor license. Currently, the only unlicensed places that are allowed to serve alcohol are (oddly) on hot-air balloons or during limousine rides, as long as they are offered without charge, Allure reported in early September.

Not everyone is on board with the imbibing, however, with groups such as the California Alcohol Policy Alliance issuing statements encouraging Brown not to approve the bill with the catchy phrase, "Alcohol belongs in saloons, not salons!"

And yet, the bill managed to pass the state Senate — the bill also passed unanimously in the Assembly — before being approved by Brown.

The bill was backed by salon chain Drybar (of course) and state assemblyman Tom Daly (D-Anaheim), who introduced the bill, acknowledging that some of the state's salons and barbershops were already offering customers something alcoholic to drink.

The issue is "one of those areas of law which needs to be updated to reflect modern realities," said Daly's spokesman, David Miller, to the LA Times last year.

As Eater.com points out, however, serving alcohol will most likely do little to add to a salon's bottom line, especially since it is outlined in the law itself that the booze must be complimentary.