After two months of restrictions, Saskatchewan is gradually opening up.
Fortunately, barbers and hairstylists, whom many view as almost essential workers, took the second spot in the line of reopening businesses and were back to work starting May 19.
As soon as the government set up the date for hairstylists to get back to work, hair appointments became something quite hard to get. The first day at work, Alexis Storozuk, who rents a chair at Studio 11 in Estevan, said that the first day was really busy and it seems that it’s going to be the same for at least a month.
“It was crazy. I started at 9:30 (a.m.) and I’ll be done at about 8 at night. But it’s good,” said Storozuk.
When it became clear they could begin working, she started booking her clients back in an order similar to how it was before the quarantine.
Reporter Anastasiia Bykhovskaia was one of the lucky Estevanites who got in on the first day of Phase 2 and had a personal experience of getting a post-quarantine haircut.
Even though businesses and professionals were allowed to accept clients again, the entire procedure was very different from how it used to be. Storozuk talked to the Mercury about the new instructions they had and the new normal the customers can expect when planning to get their hair done.
The preparation for hair appointments now actually begins a week prior. At that time, Storozuk sends her clients a text message with guidelines for their visit.
“Please wait in your vehicle till I call or text you that I’m ready for you. As soon as you enter the salon, please go to the washroom and wash your hands. I will seat you in my chair or the sink after that. I will be wearing a mask but only recommended that you do, it’s not a must,” says the instruction. “Please do not wander around the salon, if you need a product off the shelf, I would be happy to get whatever you are needing … Please know that we are taking every precaution necessary to keep everyone safe and healthy!”
Such text messages were not required by the government, but Storozuk believes that most hair professionals in Estevan provide their clients with similar instructions in one way or another.
There are many things that hairstylists now must do to ensure clients’ and their own safety. Wearing a mask and changing the apron and capes after each appointment is mandatory, but there are also many other steps hairstylists do to protect everybody. They sanitize everything that they or clients may have touched including the entire chair, brushes, combs and other tools they used. The station has to be wiped down, and all other devices, items and surfaces such as calculators, pencils, pens, countertops, sinks and others have to be cleaned after each customer.
“If we do it after every single client, we don’t have to worry about it knowing that it’s always sanitized and always clean,” said Storozuk.
“I’m just so eager to come back to work, so if this is what we have to do to be able to work, then this is what we have to do.”
Before the pandemic, some of these procedures took place during the day, but the major cleaning usually would happen at the end of the shift.
For Storozuk it’s always been busy, and while the cleaning procedures slow things down a bit, she still can accept almost as many clients a day. However, with a two-months gap, working an 11-hour first day after the quarantine, her next opening was only in mid-June. Clients have been “great” and “patient” throughout the tough weeks of self-isolation, but the schedule got booked instantly as soon as the reopening date was announced.
“I had three full weeks booked by the third hour of making my schedule,” said Storozuk, adding that people were really understanding.
For most professionals, the next few weeks are definitely going to be busier, but that will cover up for some of the work time they missed this spring. Storozuk expects June to still be crazy, but it should calm down after that, especially since many big public and personal events were cancelled due to uncertainty around COVID-19. Although there will be no graduation ceremonies this year, a few grads will still come in for hairstyles for pictures. The wedding gigs Storozuk had booked before are all postponed until a later date too.
All hair services such as cuts and colours are back, however other beauty services often offered at hair studios are still restricted.
