With the pandemic hitting us in India, salons were shut for over two months. In some way or the other, it has bothered us all. We sure as hell have missed going to salons for all our beauty and hygiene needs. Don't you agree? Enough of bothering! The good news is around the corner, salons have slowly started opening but the question is, 'Is it safe?' Social distancing is really difficult to achieve, but the salons are trying their best to resolve it. Here's a list of safety measures being taken by salons to fight the virus and maintain social distancing.
1. No entry without appointments.
Mostly Salons are entertaining customers only with prior appointments to avoid ower crowding. Typically, if a salon that used to cater to 14 people at once, can now just have 5-6 people, making sure the middle chair is empty at all times. Looks Salon has decided to make appointments compulsory in all their salons spread across India.
2. Reduced Staff
Salons are working only with 50% of their staff at a time to avoid crowding and maintaining social distancing. Staff is mostly working on rotational shifts at some salons as of now.
3. Mandatory temperature check
The precautions are taken even before you are allowed to walk in. First, everyone needs to sanitize their hands, proceeded by a basic temperature check. Not just this, different salons have different rules. A few salons have made it compulsory to have the Aarogya Setu app on your phone, others are making their customers sign a form that has questions like if one had cold, cough, or fever in the past 15 days.
4. Special training for staff
The staff of Lakme went through rigorous training through video conferencing for weeks before the salon resumed its operations. The salons now have changed their services, meet and greet, and billing policies to maintain the required distance.
5. Disposable uniform for staff
The staff is covered from head to toe. They wear head caps, face shields, protective glasses, masks, aprons, gloves as well as foot covers. Each one of them is disposable and changed after each customer leaves.
6. Not just the staff
Enrich Salons are making a point that the customers also wear gloves, apron, foot cover, and mask. The same needs to be disposed of by the customer in a bin before they leave. The refreshments are also served in disposable packs.
7. Surface Sanitization
Every surface is sanitized after one customer gets done with their services. The table and chair are specially sanitized after every service. Few salons have wrapped their chair with disposable covers for better protection. All the equipments that are used in the process are sterilized after every single use. BBlunt has made an effort to maintain hygiene.
8. A few services are inoperational
A few safety measures being taken by salons include keeping a few services on hold like facials, face threading, and waxing in order to maintain enough distance.
9. The card is all your money
The salons are preferring to accept payments through card as cash can be a carrier of the virus.
10. A higher rate for services
Ensuring the required safety is definitely costing a good amount of money. Which in return means that they will have to increase the price of services. A haircut that usually used to cost you a 1000 bucks will now cost you an approximate of 1300 bucks. Have a higher budget when you visit.
With so many safety measures being taken by salons. The salons are finally safe to go. Are you gonna go already or wait for some more time?
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