How facials, nail and eyebrow appointments will change after COVID-19.

Now that restrictions are easing across the country, there is hope that we will be able to resume our beauty appointments soon.

And yes, we know there are more important things to worry about right now, but we might be able to deal with them a little better if we are feeling good about the state of our eyebrows and nails. Agreed?

Remember what life was like with nails. Post continues below.

While we are all anxiously waiting for our local salons to mutter those exciting two words, “we’re open,” there are some new protocols that we will have to consider.

Here’s what will change at our facials, nail appointments and brow appointments after COVID-19.

Facials

Considering facials involve someone else touching your face, hygiene practices have always been in place. However, Carina Gross, the skin expert behind Belameres, explains that there will be additional measures implemented post-COVID.

 

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It can be quiet difficult to treat break-out prone skin which is also very sensitive but the combination of our healing laser and Beaute Pacifique homecare achieved that beautiful result after only 8 weeks #nofilterneeded

A post shared by Carina (@belameres) on Feb 3, 2020 at 2:18am PST

“The new rules will be more intense hygiene practices like pre-treatment handwashing (sometimes even in between) and sterilised equipment. We’ve already been doing this before we had to close down including wearing masks to protect us and our clients,” Carina explains.

She also shared that she has always had a flexible policy, so if you don’t feel well, don’t come in.

“We already had a flexible appointment policy: if someone wasn’t feeling well I didn’t charge for cancelling last minute and same goes for me and my employees. If they are sick, I send them home to rest.”

However, if you do visit Carina, the experience will be as safe and relaxing as possible.

“Clients who do come in will find sterilised tools, medical linen sheets and disposable towels, and surfaces that have been disinfected with hospital-grade solutions,” she said.

Nail appointments

For many of us, fixing our dry, unpolished fingernails will be the first thing we do. But there will be some new rules to follow.

Lilli Vo, the SNS nail educator from SNS Nails Australia advises that nail salons take up the following practices to ensure our visits are as safe as possible:

• Limit walk-in appointments. Encourage clients to make phone or online bookings to limit face-to-face interaction at the counter.
• Request that clients cancel their booked appointments and stay home if they are feeling unwell.
• Allow an extra 30 minutes in between each client booking so the staff member has time to sanitise the work station in preparation for the next client.
• Install Protective Table Shields.
• Wear Protective Face Shields.
• Technicians to wear disposable face masks and gloves.
• Sanitise client’s hands before each treatment.
• All nail implements should be sterilised with an autoclave prior to use on each client.
• Remove waiting area for clients.
• Where practical, set up separate entry and exit points to minimise contact.

Lauren Warwick, the Head of Marketing at the mobile beauty services company, Urban Company, agrees and shares that their nail technicians will be implementing new hygiene measures.

"Our beauty professionals have been re-trained to maintain a 1.5m social distance for all services. For example, for manicures, the customers are asked to outstretch their arms, where the nail technician will place a rolled towel underneath their elbow and forearm for comfort.

"This ensures a 1m distance from the customer's face to their fingertips, and the nail technician must sit a further 50cm away. All nail services are done across a client's dining room table for this purpose," she explains.

Eyebrow appointments

Eyebrow appointments will be changing too.

Colette Manion is the owner and Senior Stylist at KOHL Beauty, a Sydney-based beauty salon that is known for brow tattooing and lamination.

 

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A post shared by KOHL BEAUTY (@kohlbeauty_colette) on Feb 17, 2020 at 10:09pm PST

She shares with Mamamia exactly what new rules will be implemented at her St Peters salon to make sure your appointment is as safe as possible.

"At KOHL Beauty, we already operate using the most hygienic practices across our business and for all our clients which includes the use of hand sanitiser and handwashing, cleansing the studio with medical-grade cleaning products daily and in between clients, only using sealed and sterile products on all of our customers, wearing PPE masks and covering the treatment beds," Colette explains.

"Additional things we will be introducing as we reopen will include, free face masks and gloves for clients during their appointments, compulsory questions on all bookings about recent travel and clients health and late cancellation fees will be waived during the pandemic to encourage people to move their appointment if they are feeling unwell."

She also says that to ensure that clients are safe from others throughout their whole experience, treatment times will be longer.

"As a private, 1-1 studio space, our client experience is essential to us. We have always believed in quality over quantity so longer treatment times and limited waits have always been a staple at KOHL and nothing will change here.

"However, as we reopen we won't have clients in our waiting area at all (even for a short period) to ensure clients don't even cross paths with anyone else during their appointment."

 

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A post shared by KOHL BEAUTY (@kohlbeauty_colette) on Feb 25, 2020 at 10:28pm PST

And whilst previously they would have in-person consultations, they will now be conducted over FaceTime and Skype.

"We have also switched to online consultations to allow them to be done remotely and reduce the amount of clients passing through the salon. We can do this over FaceTime or Skype and it has been hugely popular.

"It has been a great learning for us and is something we intend to keep as part of our business offer moving forwards as for many it is a highly convenient option."

Lastly, because of this temporary closure over the past two months, the waitlist for an appointment will be longer.

"Prior to COVID, we had on average a 6-8 week waitlist for cosmetic tattoo treatments. Due to the backlog created from lockdown this waitlist is now longer and means new clients will have a bit more of wait on their hands.

"As we reopen, our first priority will be working with our clients who missed out their bookings due to lockdown. This will be followed by those who have purchased vouchers during lockdown and those who were on our waitlist. After this, we can start to look at opening our diary for new clients again," Colette explained.

What beauty appointment will you be attending first? Let us know in the comments.

Feature image: Getty.