Making the cut
Hair salons, barbershops reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic
Being unable to get a haircut is now a thing of the past.
Humboldt County certified 118 barbershops and hair salons to begin reopening on Monday and many, such as The Hair Port in Eureka and Like Nobody Else Salon and Day Spa in Ferndale, have begun to do so, offering haircuts that their customers were long awaiting.
“Business has been great,” said Stacy Craig, owner of Like Nobody Else. “Everybody needs their hair cut. It’s been too long.”
Salons were serving customers Wednesday afternoon with everyone masked and both stylists and clients said they were happy to be back since the hair salon is a place to socialize.
“It’s very different, but I’m so happy we’re able to do it,” said Jana Bentley, a stylist at The Hair Port. ” … It’s a very social job and we miss our people.”
Reopening has presented some challenges in terms of time and technique, Craig said. Hairstylists have to leave some time in between clients to clean and sanitize their work area and everyone has to wear masks, which makes it challenging to cut hair around the ears, she said.
“But we’ll figure it out as it goes on,” Craig said.
Hair salons and barbers can only offer haircuts right now, which is impacting the industry that also provides services like manicures, waxing and facials, said local members of the industry.
Because of that, some salons are choosing not to reopen right away. Platinum Studio Salon and Float Spa posted on Facebook that it had received clearance to reopen, but it wouldn’t do so until it could start providing all services beyond haircuts.
“Fact is California has crippled half of our team,” the post states. “No nails, no massage, no waxing and no facials! As most of you know these are (a) huge part of what makes us function and able to serve you.”
Lydie Greene owns the Be.you.tiful salon in Eureka and works on clients’ nails and skin, which she isn’t able to do at the moment.
“The hairdresser is the only one that can work right now,” Greene said.
Several salon owners said they were frustrated with being unable to reopen the rest of their businesses because the state already has stringent sanitation requirements in place.
“State sanitation laws, even before COVID, were already strict, like super strict,” Greene said. “Everything they’re saying we need to do, we’ve been doing it the whole time and if you weren’t you shouldn’t have had a license.”
None of the owners said they received any indication when they could begin reopening other services.
In the meantime, Greene said she’s needed to work at Instacart, a grocery delivery service, which seems to put her at a higher risk through frequently having to go in and out of grocery stores than doing a few clients’ nails one-on-one.
Pedicures, in particular, shouldn’t pose more of a health risk than getting a hair cut, she said.
“Instacart is hard,” Greene said. “I like sitting on my butt and making people look pretty.”