Celebrity lash artist: ‘I’m literally living off soup’
THE beauty industry suffered another huge hit last Saturday when Boris Johnson postponed the opening of close-contact services for the second time.
The first instance was met with frustration, but now many fear for how they’re going to survive.
Katie Hulme, an established celebrity lash artist, opened her salon and academy at the start of 2020 with her business partner Sophie Dumville.
They closed just 11 weeks later due to the coronavirus lockdown, which means they’ve now been shut for longer than they were up and running.
Although some salons opened on July 13, the government stated ‘only services that do not involve work in the highest risk zone – directly in front of the face – should be made available to clients’, as it banned eyelash treatments and eyebrow services.
“I am just one of thousands that this decision by the government is devastating. It’s incredibly wrong and it’s destroying the beauty industry,” said Katie, who has a number of soap stars on the books.
“We’re drowning. I feel low, worthless. I don’t know what to do.
“If you look in my cupboards now, I’ve joked about it, but I am literally living off soup.
“I’m absolutely terrified. The grant
runs out this month so we don’t have September’s rent. I’m going to have to beg the landlord.
“But we don’t want any more from the government, we just want to be able to work. The first push back was frustrating, but the most recent one, to be given less than 24 hours notice when we had clients booked in, it was gut wrenching…soul destroying.”
Katie told the M.E.N. she has been in touch with 150 other therapists in similar positions.
When asked what she would like to say to the Prime Minister, the former British Airways worker responded: “I’d like to stand in front of him in my full PPE holding my disinfected tweezers and say I’m no closer to my client than what a hairdresser is. We work from behind the client.
“And I would want him to explain why I can get a plane - the most unhygienic environment you could possibly be in and expose myself to hundreds of people on holiday that aren’t in PPE, but I can’t wear a visor, gloves, an apron, and do my client’s eyebrows or lashes with her wearing a mask, why can’t I do that?”
A government spokesperson told the M.E.N: “We know this is an incredibly difficult time for beauty therapists, but they will need to remain closed until 15 August at the earliest. To help avoid a second wave, we have made this decision on health grounds as the highest risk of transmission is through aerosols and droplets when people are in prolonged close, face-to-face contact within two metres.
“Beauty therapists can access the government’s far-reaching package of support to help businesses through the coronavirus pandemic, which includes loans, tax deferrals and cash grants.”