The Covid-19 shutdown period for businesses around the world has been devastating, but beauty services have been particularly hard hit. There’s no home delivery or curbside pickup for those who cut your hair, do your nails or style your brows, and most salons tend to be small ones owned by women. Business owners breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced in May that they’d be able to reopen—but there was no small amount of trepidation, as the new beauty landscape would be very different to the old one.
“I’m wearing a face shield,which is pressing against my forehead, and it’s curved, there’s glare, there’s blind spots. It’s challenging to be relearning so much”
Guidance was provided by the B.C. government to help businesses develop policies, guidelines and procedures. Beauty pros have different ways of communicating these to clients—online, through social media and by email—and it’s essential to read them before a visit, as all salons will have a different policy based on their unique businesses. Brands reached out with additional training and guidance, such as skin-care specialist Dermalogica, which developed Clean Touch Certification, covering PPE and enhanced sanitation. Beauty providers are happy to do whatever it takes to safeguard people. “I think if people want to maintain relationships with their clients they will do everything they can to ensure they’ve covered all their bases,” says Kathryn Sawers, owner of Collective Skin Care.
Some sanitation practices are things one would expect all the
time: hand-washing between clients, cleaning and disinfection of tools. But there has been a need to step things up. “I don’t want people just to think I moved the furniture around,” says Shai, owner of Pome Studio. “I’ve always been a one-chair salon with a hand sink by the door, but I’ve put a lot of thought into how I’ve adapted my space to meet the … requirements. I replaced surfaces that wouldn’t be able to withstand frequent sanitation and con rmed that the vent coming into the salon is delivering fresh air, not re-circulated, for example. Some of this is invisible work. I posted details on my website because I don’t personally find it helpful when businesses just say they’re being more sanitary. I wonder what that means.”
Shaughnessy Otsuji, microblader/ nipple tattooist and co-founder of Langley’s Studio Sashiko, agrees: “We’re mopping the floors and wiping the walls between every client—that’s not something we were doing before.” There was an initial loss of income due to closure, and this has been compounded by unexpected outlay. There’s new equipment—PPE, barriers, disposable bedding for services like facials and massages, and even larger garbage bins to accommodate more paper towels. Beauty businesses have to allow more time between clients for heightened sanitation, which means they can see fewer people in a day.
“We’re not able to operate at 100 per cent capacity as we previously were, so that limits the number of clients we are able to see, and because tables have to be staggered for social distancing, we can’t have our full staff working,” says Linh Khuu, owner of Yaletown’s Varnish Nail Lounge. Doing your job while wearing PPE all day is difficult. Because Otsuji is a tattooist, she has to wear an even more extreme version of it. “We had N95 masks donated to us and are wearing them, but they’re really fitted so I have these red marks and dents, and I’m wearing plastic sleeves over my forearms, which is so sweaty. I’m wearing a face shield, which is pressing against my forehead, and it’s curved, there’s glare, there’s blind spots. It’s challenging to be relearning so much.”
Some of the familiarity is lost when the client and service provider are wearing PPE. Things are almost the same, but very different. Otsuji says clients are taken aback to see her dressed up like something out
of Breaking Bad—and the sense of creative collaboration is different with masks in the way. Shai is doing phone and video consults instead of her usual pre-appointment conversation, but it’s not the same if you can’t see a client’s whole face in real time.
“When I cut hair I can see people’s expressions and figure out more about what people want for their hair—expressions give me a signal about whether to do more or less,” says Shai. “Now, I see nothing but the mask. The joy we get from our jobs is from the smiles on people’s faces.” Too has the luxury feel we associate with beauty appointments changed— no more plush duvets at your facial or cups of coffee. “Most people are not expecting pampering—they want in and out as fast as possible,” Shai says. “But … there are still moments of connection. For me, after the excitement of catching up, it’s all about listening to music together.”
There are more silver linings. Some service providers have come up with creative solutions to integrate technology in this brave new world. Sawers was doing online consults with clients during her shutdown and has relished the opportunity to maintain relationships virtually: “This whole experience has shown us there are a lot of ways we can stay connected virtually and I wouldn’t see that going away.”
Sharon Ebid of iLash Boutique points out that, in a world where everyone is wearing masks, the eyes may be the big focus—a potential boon for her as a lash specialist. “Full, long lashes can open up your eyes and make you look more alert. Lashes can brightens someone’s face and mood, which is something we need during these times,” she says.
Clients are generally happy to be back and receiving their usual treatments and services. “They seem at ease and happy to be able to get back to familiar routines that make them feel good,” says Sawers. But a few weeks into reopening, things are most definitely not back to normal. Always, there’s the threat of another provincewide shutdown should Covid-19 numbers begin to climb again and, while people have the perception that salons are busy, it’s not necessarily the case.
“It’s definitely been different; getting back, you have this huge
rush of clients wanting to come in, but also realize that others have decided they don’t need the service for now or can’t afford it due to the circumstances,” says Ebid. “They are new challenges that we business owners need to face, and it will take a lot more time to feel anywhere close to normal again.”
“After the first influx of clients things have been quiet, partly because people have continued to work from home and partly because some clients aren’t yet comfortable to come to the salon,” adds Shai. “I understand that people have different comfort levels and aren’t ready yet, but we’ve been told we’re all in this together. The clients that have come were excited to be back—but they were also aware of precautions and they thanked me for keeping them safe. Even Dr. Bonnie Henry, who signed off on us reopening, has gone into a salon to get her hair done.” —Aileen Lalor
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