In close contact
The cosmetology industry and its sub-sectors, like hairstyling, are in peril after establishments reopen across the country. As mentioned in a previous post, two Missouri stylists exposed over 140 clients and 7 coworkers with COVID-19 over the span of eight days. The Great Clips stylists wore PPE and maintained proper sanitary practices as guided, however, the issue emerges, as with most cosmetology functions, regarding potency of contraction. Understanding the new environment produced during the pandemic, effectiveness of practices is uncertain; especially provided ongoing research centers in laboratories. In a time when proactive measures reveal to contain flaws, reactive measures should attempt to seal cracks in mitigation efforts.
Melissa Engen, owner and stylist of a one-chair salon in Conway, New Hampshire, finds herself with mixed feelings about the nation’s reopening. One the one hand, she is eager to return to work, sustain her livelihood, but she is skeptical of containment. In early May, when cosmetology establishments were to reopen, she closed her shop an additional two weeks to assess exposure.
Even though Melissa Engen’s approach is the simple to meet, it could not translate for other beauty businesses. Dentist offices and hair salons started adding a COVID-19 surcharge; one Houston salon added $3 to customer tickets and was immediately met with backlash. Rachel Gower, the owner of the salon, stated, “Reopening includes… the extra supplies… we need and… the cleaning supplies… we need.” Witnessing the backlash, some entities increased prices altogether, a less obvious surcharge that customers may find less uncomfortable.
Beyond hairstyling, botox services experienced a dramatic increase in demand. Dr. Renée Moran explains to Business Insider, “I think it’s people on Zoom looking at themselves constantly. They’re spending so much time staring at themselves.” Requests for in-home client visits were prompted among alternatives.
Challenge awaits
As of 2019, cosmetology and beauty expanded to serve an industry worth over $532 billion. Certainly the impacts of COVID-19 will affect that figure this year, nonetheless sustaining health sustains success. To assistance in your containment efforts, American Medical Compliance introduced a new solution package:
