...but hairdressers and beauty salons feel the pinch as DIY ‘Covid cuts’ return
HARD-PRESSED consumers are stretching out the periods between haircuts in a bid to save cash, with some resorting to DIY ‘Covid cuts’ of the lockdown era.
And hairdressers themselves are feeling the pressure as fewer clients and soaring energy costs leave many salons on the brink.
Lisa Eccles saw the energy bill for her Dublin-based salon, Zinc Hair & Beauty, more than quadruple from €500 to €2,200 for August and September this year.
The salon owner said customers are increasingly forced to wait longer before booking their next beauty appointment.
Ms Eccles told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘I would have certainly noticed a drop-off through September and now we’re into October, I definitely don’t feel that I have the same number of people coming through the doors. You can feel it with clients. They’re trying to stretch out their appointments. Maybe instead of coming in every six weeks, they will come in every 12 and try to do a little touch-up themselves at home. I totally understand that’s something a lot of clients need to do.
‘But obviously, as a small business you are very dependent on your regular customers.’
Several barbers are also reporting that many customers are stretching out their hair appointments, with some men resorting to the DIY cuts.
Ms Eccles, who is also vicepresident of the Irish Hairdressers Federation, warned haircut costs will rise and more salons will shut when the industry VAT rate returns to 13.5% in February.
She said: ‘ The little bit they give you with the energy subsidy is going to be wiped out with the VAT rate going back up, because salons can’t absorb that.’