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www.thevillagenews.co.za
24 June 2020
MY WELLNESS
Personal care services get the green light Writer Hedda Mittner
P
resident Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement last Wednesday that hair and beauty salons, tattoo and massage parlours may all reopen, under rules published in the Government Gazette on Friday, has been greeted with joy and relief by locals in the personal care services industry. This after the Employers Organisation for Hairdressing, Cosmetology and Beauty (EOHCB) threatened to go to court when the Department of Trade and Industry initially failed to publish health guidelines and protocols which would have led to personal care services being reintroduced under alert level 3 of the national lockdown from 1 June. The organisation had previously stated that up to 70% of the country's salons, spas and tattoo parlours were facing closure as their businesses remained under lockdown. It is estimated that about 90 000 people are active in the hair and beauty sector, which is worth about R300 billion. “Yes, it’s been a very stressful time for us,” says Lindi Prinsloo, the owner of Refine Clinic. “There is no way that businesses in the beauty industry would have survived being in lockdown until alert level 1.” These businesses are largely owned by women, who in turn employ mostly women, many of whom are single mothers whose sole source of income had been abruptly cut off.
Thousands of workers in the beauty industry had called on the president to ease the regulations and allow them to work, as many businesses risked losing their rental premises or had been forced to close up shop due to the financial impact of the lockdown. Some had turned to crowdfunding platforms in desperation, while others continued working under the radar in order to put food on the table. Several local hairdressers confessed that they had continued to service their clients at their homes during the lockdown. “What was I supposed to do?” one asked. “I’m the sole provider and I couldn’t just sit at home while my bills piled up and my children had nothing to eat.” Lindi agrees that the sector has been hard hit. “For some the news that personal care services are now permitted to resume has come too late,” she says. “This is heart-breaking not only for the business owners but also their staff.” Fortunately, Refine has been able to weather the storm by offering their clients virtual consultations and by continuing to supply them with products. “Our therapists have done a wonderful job staying in touch with our clients during the lockdown. It was a new experience for us, as we are such a hands-on industry, but at least we could still give our clients the feeling of being cared for.” The personal care services (both formal and informal) that are now allowed include hairdressing, barbering, nail and toe treatment, facial treatment and make-up, body massaging, tattooing and body piercing. According to the
regulations that have been gazetted, the basic principles that have to be adhered to include “hand washing; social distancing between customers and staff wherever possible; the use of cloth masks at all times, and more protective masks for close facial contact; and cleaning and disinfecting of touch areas and equipment.”
PHOTO: GettyImages
As with most lockdown regulations so far, there are also a few curiosities such as the suspension of “all beverage and food amenities for customers” (what, not even a cup of tea or a sip of water?); “no unnecessary touching” (which I guess would be a bit difficult if you are supposed to be getting a body massage), and “no scalp, neck, shoulders and arms massages at the basin” (that scalp massage is the best part of my visit to the hairdresser!). I also can’t help wondering how my hairdresser is going to manage giving me a decent haircut while I have a mask tied around my head (“No customer will be served without wearing a mask”). And while it appears you may wear a cloth mask to the hairdresser, if you are having a tattoo done, “No customer will be served without wearing a medical/surgical mask.” Curious indeed. However, there are enough customers lining up to have their dishevelled locked-down looks groomed, snipped, curled, coloured, lifted and rejuvenated – in any which way possible. And the salons are ready for them. “We are experiencing a whirlwind of emotions as we prepare to reopen from Monday,” said an excited Lindi on Saturday. “Because our services include medical treatments that involve close personal contact, the safety protocols that we need to follow are not all that different from what we’ve been doing all along,” she explained. “It has always been important for us to maintain
a sanitary environment and we’ll simply extend our normal measures to include the wearing of face masks and visors, and additional hand sanitising. Our prime focus, as always, is the safety of our clients, of ourselves and our staff.” Lindi, who’s been in the industry for 23 years, said her clients couldn’t wait to return and that her phone had been “ringing off the hook!” While beauty treatments are often viewed as a luxury, she said the importance of touch should not be underestimated. “It is therapeutic and essential for overall wellbeing; we all need to be touched. The minute a client starts to relax, they open up about their life, their feelings, their families and pets. We know each of them intimately and we need each other.” Now that they have been given the green light, Lindi says they are ready and raring to go. “We have to stay positive and supportive of one another,” she says. “All businesses should focus on supporting local, as that is the only way we are going to survive. This morning, for example, I popped in at Fleurs to get some fresh flowers for the salon (something natural and beautiful to soften the presence of sanitisers and PPE!) and it felt good to know that I could support another local business in a small way.”
