Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
A bad hair day for beauty salons
Enough! I’m through with looking like Chewbacca. I would welcome the sharp rip of a bikini wax strip and I’m desperate for a deep cleanse.
But I’m not as desperate as the beauticians who need to get back to business to pay their bills.
But the out-of-touch blokes in charge have decided otherwise. And while we can get our hair cut next week, the nation’s legs and eyebrows are still off limits.
Which would only make sense to someone who has no clue how these businesses operate.
My friend Irena is a beauty therapist and was all geared up for a July 4 opening. She had bookings in her diary, and I was in for the works – waxing, manicure, pedicure, tinting and facial.
Safety is her top priority. Naturally she wants to protect her clients as well as herself, so she’d wear a mask and gloves, everyone would be given their own new nail file and she had a protective screen at her station. But all the prep was for nothing.
And it’s not just beauty salons – spas and gyms are also a no-go.
My beautician raged to me that those in charge of our country have no understanding of people like her.
This is why I made such a direct appeal on TV this
Lockdown logic week – pleading with the Prime Minister to allow salons to open.
It’s not just to stop me looking like moustachioed TV private investigator Magnum.
This is about the sanity of self-employed beauticians, who make up half the industry and are not covered by the furlough scheme.
They are clearly way down the pecking order.
How short-sighted that pubs and the footie are back on. In other words, drink, get lairy and watch the match, but forget about getting back to the gym and feeling good about yourself. So much for mental health being a concern.
We’re emerging from this “long national hibernation” looking like grumpy, tired bears.
And as much as I’ve wanted to embrace a more laidback attitude to my beauty regime in lockdown, the fact is personal grooming does make you feel good. It’s not for the benefit of men. As silly as it sounds in a global pandemic, I would feel euphoric getting my nails done.
And with all the extra pressure put on women during lockdown – bearing the brunt of home schooling and the work/childcare juggle – we deserve it.
But it’s the thousands of women whose jobs are in jeopardy who deserve to be thought about most of all.
The sad truth is, it’s this government that needs the biggest makeover of all.
Lunatic idea to allow a cut but axe the waxing
My mate Denise Welch has been speaking out about her 30-year battle with depression. On the surface, Denise is confident and self-assured, but there’s a real vulnerability to her. She’s written a new book, The Unwelcome Visitor, about living with depression, after seeing how shockingly misunderstood it still is. It is a potentially terminal illness, and there have been warnings of a tsunami of issues from problems bottled up during lockdown. Famous faces sharing their stories is such a comfort to others, and while Stephen Fry and Ruby Wax have spoken about their struggles, different people relate to Denise – the “Betty from Bolton” crowd, she says. I bet Betty appreciates her honesty and humour on this difficult conversation.