Hair, nails and waxing — and face shields?

RESTART PLAN: PERSONAL SERVICES, CAMPING

Personal-service establishments — including hair, nail and waxing salons and barbershops — will be able to open around mid-May if they have an approved plan detailing how they will safely operate.

The timeline is earlier than expected, said Greg Robins, executive director of the Beauty Council of Western Canada. Businesses in the industry were ordered to close in mid-March and the order was set to last until the end of May. “We were surprised,” Robins said.

Salons and spas are intimate spaces, in which staff and clients are typically less than one metre apart, he said, and the timeline for individual businesses to reopen will depend on how quickly they can put together a plan that aligns with public-health guidance.

Robins said some business owners remain concerned about reopening while the virus is still spreading.

Some hairstylists and barbers had petitioned the government not to include them in the first phase of reopening due to safety concerns. As of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, more than 4,600 people had signed their names to the petition at change.org.

Robins expects WorkSafe B.C. to require the use of masks and possibly face shields for staff and clients, raising questions about access to equipment.

“So, within the next few weeks, will we be able to access that equipment?” he said. “If the client were required to wear a mask, does the facility have to provide the mask for that client or do they bring their own and, again, do people have access to it?”

Robins also anticipates that public-health officials will be looking to ensure businesses have appropriate procedures to maintain good hygiene and disinfection of tools and surfaces.

The measures mean people will likely soon be able to get a haircut and other services they’ve been missing, but they’ll also change the experience for clients, Robins said.

“We all love and know salons as these sort of fun, conversational escape from our daily lives where we can lay back and be pampered, maybe have a glass of wine,” he said.

But for the next little while, salons will look and feel a bit different. Clients likely won’t be able to indulge in a drink with a treatment, and physical barriers may change the atmosphere.

“Certainly, it’s going to be a little more sober and controlled. Talking may be kept to a minimum. There won’t be nearly the interaction that there has been in the past,” Robins said.

Anna Piloyan, owner of Gold Hair Lounge on Broad Street, said her phone was busy Wednesday with calls from clients wondering when they can get back in the salon.

“We’re very happy. We are ready to work,” Piloyan said.

Piloyan said the salon will be making a number of changes. Clients will be required to arrive at the salon in masks and wait in their cars or outside before their appointment.

Piloyan hopes customers will pre-pay to reduce the amount of time inside.

The salon has reduced the number of stylists working at any one time to three, down from six, in order to allow adequate distancing and won’t be offering complicated cuts or dye jobs.

Staff will also add an extra 30 minutes before and after appointments in order to clean and disinfect tools and surfaces, she said.

Piloyan also owns Deco De Mode salon in Victoria, which offers manicures, pedicures, laser hair removal, waxing and eyelash extensions. She plans to install plexiglass barriers to separate customers and technicians during manicures, as well as ones to separate customers receiving pedicures.

She hopes to open the salons as soon as the province allows it.

“We’re looking forward to serving the community and just offering that space where they can pamper a little bit,” she said.