Beauty Issues during Covid 19 - Megathread - Hair, nails, brows etc

neonsofa wrote: »

When I went into boots to get some prescriptions and saw the cosmetic section back open it was like seeing the gifts under the tree on xmas morning!! My bank was not happy with my celebratory purchases! but I feel justified as I was doing my civic duty by purchasing everything all at once in order to limit my trips out! :pac:

Not to mention stimulating the economy

I can't wait to be able to support my local bricks and mortar shops again.

If you spend your money in Ireland - the VAT element at a minimum goes to our exchequrer, and wages of the staff are likely spent locally too, even in the case of a UK retailer like Boots. If we can shop in Irish owned stores or buy Irish products, all the better.

Yeah I mean I get what you're saying but at the same time, if we don't give our custom to Irish shops then they won't exist in future and our cities and towns will look very different. Its a matter of deciding what we want.

I'm not saying I never buy from Amazon but especially lately I've tried to shop locally.

From a beauty perspective, I've found Cloud10 very good lately. They're up in Monaghan. They regularly have discount codes and the bar for free delivery is quite low at €25. Got a great deal on Bioderma Micellar water at the weekend, worked out around €17 for 2x500ml bottles which will last me at least a year. Bought a nice Nuxe aftersun to get over the €25 mark, which I'm going to use to try to prolong the tan I managed to get over the past few weeks.

Jillian Obedient Mutt wrote: »

But to be fair they’ve been ripping their Irish customers off for years. I remember years ago (2009) looking monsoon for a dress for college ball, and it was almost 100 euro more expensive than its sterling price tag. If those shops want to keep people buying things then they need to adjust their price accordingly. I wouldn’t mind paying a little more but not to the extent were expected to pay to keep things local.

Well to be fair I wasnt really referring to chain stores that are British anyway. Obviously they're bringing local employment but beyond that, profits are going back the the UK.

I'm talking about buying items that are the same anywhere, but giving the business to an Irish store. Like buying a book from Easons or Dubray rather than Amazon. Likewise I try to buy by makeup etc from Arnotts/BTs (or Dublin Airport back in the good old days) rather than Boots.

UK retailers who like to be generous to themselves when converting from £ to €, well them I have no sympathy for. Topshop, M&S etc are all terrible for it.

Jillian Obedient Mutt wrote: »

I hear you on m and s! Yes a book, or something small I’d keep it local purely cause I just would rather pay a little extra to have it right now.

Exactly, theres a value to getting something in your paws straight away. I'm waiting ages for deliveries at the moment and its making me angsty, can't wait to have real shops again!

I also find a good tip is to focus on brands from the eurozone and not rely on buying things in £ and then converted to €. I think in Ireland we're quite conditioned to buy from UK stores, but if you take ASOS for exmaple, european brands that they carry are often more expensive on that site, so I always shop around and tend to get a better price in € from either the brands own website or from the likes of Zolando. I find if you buy from a brand in its own currency, then thats the best option. There are great european brands our there if you look around and don't defualt to the UK highstreet.

https://www.thejournal.ie/hairdressers-phase-three-5116846-Jun2020/

Fingers crossed!!

MinnieMinx wrote: »

Let’s hope the government ignores the IHF because I don’t think they represent the views of the majority of hairdressers, beauty therapists and nail technicians, who don’t want to go back to work until it’s reasonably safe to do so.

And what will they do then on July 20th, only three weeks later than is being proposed, when they are due to reopen? It’s not going to be compulsory to return to an industry if you feel unsafe.
It also doesn’t mention nail techs or beauty salons. Just hairdressing.
There are many hairdressing salons who are itching to get back to work and have made lots of changes to their salon in order to comply with regulations. Those who don’t want to open their doors until they feel safe again won’t be forced to.

Rfrip wrote: »

I just know I will feel so much better in myself after I get my hair done and will be the equivalent of about two therapy sessions tbh.

It’s not a vanity thing, it’s a self confidence thing!

I may change to ballyage again though in my first apt, for fear of a second wave!!

I feel the exact same. I’m delighted things are finally opening up but it’s so hard to enjoy anything properly when you feel so shlte in yourself. I for one won’t be going next nor near any pub while I look like a hairy monster!

MinnieMinx wrote: »

Let’s hope the government ignores the IHF because I don’t think they represent the views of the majority of hairdressers, beauty therapists and nail technicians, who don’t want to go back to work until it’s reasonably safe to do so.

Id feel safer working in a hair salon than I would working in a shop or supermarket. We would hope that Salons have a good level of hygiene at the best of times, during a situation like this they'll no doubt increase their hygiene standards. Ive seen a decent amount of salon owners posting recently received certificates in hygiene after they sent their staff on training courses. Salon staff have access to sinks and cleaning products throughout the day, they can wear masks while working and can clean surfaces and chairs in between each customer. They literally have someone employed in the salon cleaning constantly and thats without a pandemic. Theyre probably one of the safest places you can be, I dont know why theyre not opening sooner.

Faith wrote: »

I’ve been a bit surprised by just how much my confidence has taken a knock from not getting my hair done. It has also caused the knock-on effect that I feel unattractive, so I often can’t be bothered doing my make up nicely, or wearing nice clothes on the weekend, which just reinforces me feeling rubbish about myself!

I don’t think it is vanity, but I think a lot of people out there really don’t understand the impact that something relatively simple, like closure of hairdressers, can have on your wellbeing.

I had red hair for about 18 months that I just box dyed - half raging I went back to blonde so that I can’t just dye it myself

I got "Mam'd" a couple of weeks ago and when I commented on how warm I was last week, I was asked was I going through the menopause!!!
I'm 49, but I've always looked younger than my age, not in the menopause yet but I've obviously aged over the past 3 months. My natural dark brown hair, which is dyed blonde is showing some grey strands, but not as bad as I thought, but I've definitely not been looking after myself as much. Those 2 comments amused my OH no end, me - not so much.
I can't box dye mine either so I'm counting down the days to get mine done and I can hopefully feel more like myself.

retro:electro wrote: »

Totally understand the feeling of not bothering with nice clothes. I’ve a wardrobe full of lovely summery dresses and I just look at them and think, meh. I’ll get back to all of that when I get my gruaig sorted and feel nice again. I ordered a nice straw fedora on H&M so that should hide a multitude when I’m out and about at least. It can seem like such a trivial thing to be frustrated and effected by but it really does have an effect on your self confidence.

I have found the opposite, as I am no longer meeting with people in work, I just turn up to the office in my casual attire- floral skirts or jeans and cute sandals that I wouldn't usually wear to work, and then I come home and change into another outfit for my evening walk, so im getting more wear out of my cute clothes than I usually would :pac:

(Secretly hoping our dress code becomes a little less "smart" as people begin returning to the office after remote working for so long!)

MinnieMinx wrote: »

Let’s hope the government ignores the IHF because I don’t think they represent the views of the majority of hairdressers, beauty therapists and nail technicians, who don’t want to go back to work until it’s reasonably safe to do so.

And you think you represent them, do you?

Fortunately it appears that you don't. With several counties now Covid free and huge strides made in sanitation procedures, anecdotally I hear that most people in the beauty industry are itching to get back to work.

There is also the huge economic cost and the economic suicide of keeping businesses shut for any longer than necessary.

All around Europe salons have opened up and they have done so safely. Let's hope we soon see them open here!

acequion wrote: »

And you think you represent them, do you?

Fortunately it appears that you don't. With several counties now Covid free and huge strides made in sanitation procedures, anecdotally I hear that most people in the beauty industry are itching to get back to work.
All around Europe salons have opened up and they have done so safely. Let's hope we soon see them open here!

No, I don’t represent anyone.

I wasn’t aware of any county that’s been classed as Covid free. Where did you read that?

However I am a member of a hair & beauty forum for professionals and a large proportion of the members posting don’t seem particularly keen to return to work because they don’t feel it’s safe to do so, just yet.

If you had a row of say 6 chairs in the salon, to maintain a safe distance you’ll have to take every other chair out of service. So you’re immediately halving the numbers of clients you can attend to.

You can’t use a hairdryer at all, so clients will have to leave with towel dried hair.

A plastic face shield only offers limited protection to your eyes so as the hairdresser, you’d still need to wear a mask to cover your nose and mouth. You’ll have to change it regularly throughout the day as you’re not supposed to wear the same one for hours on end.

Clients will also be required to wear a face mask and those that refuse will have to be refused service. You can’t offer drinks to clients and you can’t have clients bringing their own drinks because then, they’ll have to remove their own face masks to drink it, which they won’t be allowed to do.

Hairdressers will need to use full length disposable gowns or a clean gown for every client. Not just the disposable bib used when colouring.

You have to wipe down and disinfect every piece of equipment inc. basin chairs between clients, so adding more time to every appointment.

A lot of salon owners are concerned about how they’re going to cover the extra costs especially as they’ll obviously see fewer clients and have the same amount of costs to pay for rent, heating etc. as they had before lockdown.

You might not have given much thought to what’s going to be required for a safe re-opening, but I can assure you there’s a lot of very anxious hairdressers, beauticians and nail techs out there who have thought of nothing but how they’re going to keep their businesses running and still make enough to live on!