What Are Salons Doing to Keep Everyone Safe?
The good news is that if you do decide to book an appointment for a haircut or highlights, salon owners are not taking safety lightly.
While the regulations may vary a bit from state to state, salons are given reopening guidelines by their governors and their state's board of cosmetology.
"To be a hairdresser in any state, you have to go to beauty school and you have to learn the laws and rules regarding sanitation, so there’s a lot of it that’s already a part of our culture," says Jason Backe, celebrity colorist and co-owner of STARRING by Ted Gibson in LA.
STARRING is a unique salon because it's unknowingly been practicing social distancing since it opened in 2019. The salon's chairs are eight feet apart in semi-private "clouds." There's a secure front and back entrance, no assistants or front desk person, and cashless. "When Ted and I came up with the concept of the salon, we were thinking about 'the salon of the future' and how that would be an intimate, luxury experience, not a safety precaution," explains Backe.
STARRING reopened on June 3, and while the salon's four stylists and clients are all excited, they're playing it extra safe by taking things slow. "We’re only open five hours a day," Backe shares. "We have a really small team of four, but we're working opposite days so if by chance one of us gets sick or a client who has come to see one of us gets sick, not everyone is going to get sick at the salon."
The stylists are also wearing masks, asking that clients wear mask, aren't double-booking services, and removing magazines and drinks from the salon.