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How the Salon and Spa Experience Will Change Once the Industry Reopens

What do you enjoy most about a trip to the salon or spa? Is it catching up with your stylist? A glass of champagne or chardonnay while you decompress? Taking some “me” time to flip through a three-month-old magazine? I personally love a good scalp massage at the shampoo bowl. With COVID-19 protocols in play, however, that might be off the table. As many states begin to reopen businesses that require person-to-person touch, like salons and spas, the salon experience might look quite different for the foreseeable future. Speaking to salon and spa owners, the consensus is both employees and clients should expect to have their temperature taken, face coverings will be required, and clients will be asked to fill out questionnaires, likely about how long and with whom they’ve been isolating, as well as where they’ve been and if they’ve felt ill. In addition to these entry requirements, there are other measures being taken to ensure you feel safe and relaxed the next time you see your beauty professional.

Wide Open Spaces

First and foremost, your salon may actually look different when you enter. It won’t look as full and won’t be bustling because fewer clients will be taken in order to account for ample time to sanitize and disinfect between clients. The number of clients seen in a day will depend on many different factors, but colorists in particular won’t be juggling multiple clients at the same time like they used to, which means fewer appointments will be available for single processes, highlights, and the like. Amanda George, founder of ROIL salon in Beverly Hills and Hollywood, says her salons will be set up with chairs at least six feet apart and “will probably take a couple chairs out at the beginning of reopening.” ROIL will be open longer hours on most days of the week, to account for fewer simultaneous appointment slots.

While George says she hasn’t received any official safety guidelines for reopening, she says ROIL’s clients will likely be required to book appointments — no walk-ins — and remain in their vehicles or outside the salon while waiting for their turn. Texts will be sent when they’re able to enter the facility. George says areas like the hair processing area will be reworked. “The processing area we have is huge. We have five dryers there and we plan to move three out temporarily to create distance and comfort for our clients in the initial period,” she tells Allure. Some furniture will be removed as well so the salon feels open and airy.

At Julien Farel Restore Salon & Spa in New York City, CEO Suelyn Farel says they’re sending forms to clients for what they’re calling “contactless checkout,” which will eliminate the need to pay at a desk. Everything from housekeeping to guest waiting areas will also be restructured.

“We're redesigning our waiting areas to ensure we follow social distancing guidelines and setting up what I call ‘zone defense’ like [in] basketball, whereby housekeepers and assistants will be assigned a zone to reduce cross-traffic,” Farel tells Allure.

And if you were considering bringing a friend, think again. “We're not allowing friends to tag along if [they’re] not having services and asking that babies and children not to come in with parents, unless they are having services,” says Farel. “Caretakers are still welcomed, but all will be required to perform the same measures of temperature-taking and hand washing and sanitizing as clients.”

The Services That Might Be Eliminated

With hair, one service that seems to be a center of controversy is the blowout. Your salon may not offer the service in an effort to dedicate more time to providing appointments for higher-priced services and to avoid potentially spreading the virus.

“Maybe people are just going to get their color done and leave,” says Rachel Bodt, a New York City-based colorist. “We don’t really know exactly, and I think there are going to be a lot of things that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the State Board [OSHA] will come through and say we have to do, but I think the whole model of a hair salon is going to feel different for a while.”

OSHA does have a guidance document for preparing workplaces to reopen, but states that it is “not a standard or regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations.” It includes preparedness plans and engineering and administrative tips, such as installing high-efficiency air filters, sneeze guards, and wearing personal protective equipment, but does not mention blowouts. In Georgia, one of the first states to reopen, the State board of Cosmetologists and Barbers has 28 safety guidelines listed on their site. If salons are found violating any of these during inspection, they may be closed. However, many of the recommendations regarding sanitization and disinfection are already standard in salons. The guidelines cover protocol at the shampoo bowls, even suggesting salons ask clients to come in with wet hair, but offer no insight regarding hair dryers and blowouts.

“The shampoo area, if we’re still allowed to do that, will be a silent place,” George tells Allure. “No talking, because the client will probably have to take off their mask for a shampoo.”

There may be fewer appointments overall and not just because salons will need to socially distance clients. In hotspots like New York, stylists may be leaving for good, says Bodt, recalling one friend in particular who made the decision to move back to California to be closer to her family after 10 years of living in NYC. “I love New York and I want to be here for a long time, but I get how it’s sometimes just too much,” Bodt says.

The New York Post reports that Suburban Jungle, a real estate advisory platform that helps families transition out of urban hubs like New York City, has seen a nearly 40 percent increase in moves from the same time last year. It’s been widely reported that New Yorkers were leaving in droves before the novel coronavirus made it to the U.S, but perhaps the pandemic helped make up their minds.

Salon owners interviewed for this story agreed that magazines and books would be removed from the premises, as would glassware, cutlery, and beverage services. At Dime Nails in Los Angeles, owner Kristin Gyimah says things like chair pillows and handbag baskets will be eliminated. The process of selecting nail polish colors will evolve over time as well.

“We aren’t completely sure how [clients] will pick colors yet as it’s going to be an ongoing project to explore ways that work,” says Gyimah. “A kind of trial and error, if you will. Polishes will be pointed to [by the client] or marked in some way. Then those polishes will be taken to the client’s station and will not go back to the polish wall until sanitized. Gel swatches will be a little more complicated, but we’ll figure it out as we go. I’m thinking the swatches will eventually go digital, but that is a project. Until then we might have to show each client the swatches ourselves and then sanitize each time a client touches them.”

At Dermalogica clinics, no services will be off the table, but additional measures may be added. For instance, prior to clients getting a face mapping skin analysis, clients’ faces will be washed. And if you plan on coming in for a treatment, you’ll be required to fill out an online questionnaire plus undergo a virtual consultation prior to your appointment. Testers in the stores will still be available, although will only be allowed to be applied on hands and sanitized before and after anyone touches them, and your skin therapist will not only be wearing a mask but a face shield. The brand has created 12 principles for “enhanced service safety” that will be implemented throughout their stores, as well as a Clean Touch Certification program available to all skin therapists and estheticians, not just Dermalogica employees, to help clients feel comfortable once they return to getting professional beauty services like facials.

“When developing our 12 principles for enhanced service safety and Clean Touch Certification, we pulled existing state board guidelines from all 50 states and combined all the strictest practices, then layered our own additions,” Heather Hickman, senior director of education at Dermalogica tells Allure. “If there were ever a state with a higher standard than another, we always went with the strictest. Our principles are to be used in addition to and not in replacement of state board guidelines. There may be some differences between our guidelines and the state’s – and we’ve implemented the guidelines we feel is safest. For example, we are recommending hand washing for professional skin therapists instead of gloves.”

Ventilation Overhauls and Antibody Tests

At some salons and spas, extreme measures are being implemented that you probably won’t notice. For Salon Spa W, a salon based in Des Moines, Iowa, a Synexis Microbial Reduction System was installed prior to their reopening on May 16. Synexis created a dry hydrogen peroxide (DHP) molecule that is effective at reducing viruses, bacteria, and mold, as well as odors, in the air and on surfaces, according to their site.

“It is imperative to me to lead by bringing best practices from other disciplines to the beauty industry,” China Wong, owner of Salon Spa W tells Allure. Wong’s sister is a nurse and after discussing the efforts hospitals make to control airflow and improve air quality, she started researching options for her salon.

“Synexis is a pioneering air quality system,” says Wong. “It literally cleans the air. It is next level for a salon to have such equipment, but that is exactly what I wanted to bring, the best safety practices available to my team and guests.”

Other measures being taken across the globe will be hard to miss. At SHA Wellness Clinic in Spain, protocol will be more intense than airport security. The luxury facility’s holistic programs typically involve 4- to 21-day stays in on-site suites or residences; clients will now be expected to take tests 24 to 48 hours prior to their stay and will also be required to take an antibody test and receive a full medical examination upon arrival. (SHA employees will also be required to take COVID-19 tests prior to returning to work.)

At Dime Nails, sneeze guards will be installed at manicure stations and the front desk as protective shields and the owners are looking into the costs to install an automatic door. Gyimah says she’s seen more aggressive measures being taken at other salons.

“I've seen sneeze guard installations with nail techs behind them in full disposable gowns, gloves, face shields, and face masks,” says Gyimah. “It's hard to know what is extreme and what is not in a time when there are still so many COVID-19 unknowns. After a base level of safety precautions including personal protective equipment and proper sanitation, I think each business owner and salon space has to employ what works for them, their staff, and their clientele.”

What Remains the Same

One consensus? Salon and spa professionals are eager and excited to see their clients again, but they want everyone to remain safe and hope clients can remain patient with them as they figure things out.

“We have always been committed above and beyond to levels of cleanliness and sanitation you rarely find in other nail salons,” says owner Gyimah. “With continued research on COVID-19 safety requirements, we will absolutely continue to be a safe and healthy space for nail care. It's important that you approach your next nail salon experience with kindness and patience as we all get used to our new normal.”


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Originally Appeared on Allure

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