COVID-19 has changed the way we live, work, play, and even relax.
It is our new reality, and the sooner we learn to adjust to that new reality, the sooner we will return to some sort of normalcy.
Those who rent a beauty salon suite face a tough decision: stay open during the Coronavirus outbreak, thus generating much-needed income, or close and face a very uncertain financial future. For most, if not all of you, closing is not an option. You all have bills to pay. You all have obligations to meet. You all must find a way to continue on in your booth rental in such a way as to guarantee your safety and the safety of your customers.
We at Salon and Spa Galleria hope this article will help you in taking safety measures which will give you and your customers some peace of mind. The recommendations we are making in this article are a culmination of the latest safety information gleaned from government and health sources. We urge you to follow them. If following these guidelines means taking on fewer customers during the day, our thought is “fewer is better than none!”
Wash your hands
The #1 recommendation regarding COVID-19 is wash your hands constantly during the day. Each washing should take at least twenty seconds.
When to wash your hands in a beauty salon:
- Before and after an intervention with each client
- After contact with any blood or body fluids
- Immediately after the removal of gloves
- After using a tissue or handkerchief
- After smoking
- After visiting the toilet
- Before and after eating
- Immediately after any other activity or contact with a client’s surroundings that could potentially result in hands becoming contaminated
Cleaning your equipment
At the beginning of each day, or at the end of each day, you should conduct a thorough cleaning of every surface in your beauty salon suite. In addition, after each customer has been serviced you should clean each surface that was touched by that customer before a new customer is ushered into your salon rental. Yes, this will take time and yes, this might mean one or two less customers in a day, but it is necessary for the safety of all.
To disinfect something is to render it free from pathogenic organisms or to make them inert. That is, to kill the germs and bacteria or to render them harmless.
To keep you and your client safe, any item that touches a customer must be disinfected before it can be used on any other customer. Most disinfectants kill 99.99% of germs within 30 seconds. When you disinfect you are removing potentially harmful bacteria that might not be visible to the naked eye. You can disinfect tools by soaking them in alcohol, quats or a phenol compound such as Barbicide for at least ten minutes (see recommended instructions for products used).
Most disinfection solutions are weakened or rendered inactive by contamination of organic material such as skin or nail dust. They should be replaced daily or according to manufacturers directions. We also recommend disinfecting tables, handles, magnifier lamps, doorknobs, sinks and dispensers between clients.
Discouraging customers
It may be necessary to discourage a customer from keeping their appointment at your salon studio if they do not feel well. Any sign of a cold or other respiratory distress should be an immediate red flag. In addition, it is our recommendation that you offer a “free cancellation policy” so there is no penalty for not keeping an appointment due to health concerns.
One customer at a time
It is also recommended that if you have a waiting room, only one customer wait in that room at a time. Make it known to your customers, through email, that this guideline is for their own safety. If a customer is waiting when they arrive, they should go back outside, wait in the car, go get a coffee, anything other than waiting in a confined space with another person.
A final word from Salon & Spa Galleria
We want you to succeed in business, but more importantly we want you healthy. Taking these precautions may be problematic, but they will save lives. Taking them will take extra time and possibly mean fewer customers, but they will ensure that you are making a living in a safe and responsible way at a time when we all must come together for the common good.
Best wishes to you all!
