After four months of dodgy home haircuts and bushy eyebrows we can all breathe a little easier now the beauty industry has been given the go ahead to reopen next Friday (April 23).
Business owners at some close contact services in Northern Ireland have told Belfast Live they are “delighted” and “elated” at finally getting some reopening dates.
Nicola White of Ben Thomas Hair Salon on Belfast’s Oldpark Road has said she is delighted and shocked about being able to open the doors to her salon for the first time in four months.
Speaking to Belfast Live, she said she’s ready to go for reopening next week and is excited to see all her clients again.
"I am absolutely delighted, I'm a bit shocked to be perfectly honest because I thought it would've been maybe the following Monday we'd be opening," she explained. "But I actually can't believe it, it's just taken us so long to get here hasn't it?
"You're almost thinking 'Is it real? Is it actually going to happen? Are we going to be allowed to get back to work?'
“It’s like you're missing part of your family - that's how I feel. My clients are like my family. One of my clients just text me there saying 'I can't wait to get back to the banter and back to you harassing me, I've missed you' and then you're thinking that you've missed them too.
“It's just the silly conversation - you know the conversations you never want to have. The 'oh what did you do today?' or 'have you any holidays booked?'
"I said to my staff today that we're not talking about the virus in the salon - it's banned. We're not going to be doom and gloom, we're going to try and get everybody into the brighter thoughts of 'oh so what are you most looking forward to doing now?' I just can't bear the lockdown conversations again. I think now we have to look forward and try and rebuild."
And her clients seem excited to get back in the doors to get their lockdown haircuts fixed too as Nicola says her phone’s being going since six this morning with no signs of it slowing down.
Geraldine McGuigan has been running her beauty salon and school on the Antrim Road for over 35 years. She said she’s relieved to finally be able to welcome back customers next week.
She said: “How am I feeling? I’m elated, excited, delighted. It’s been long overdue. I think this lockdown has been the longest and hardest for everybody. We stopped on December 24 - we haven't had a customer for four months.
“It's been so tough, and I know we got loans and grants which have been a fantastic help, but we'll be paying that back and will have to work very hard for the next few years to even get back on an even keel.
"But I'm excited. We have about 20 employees, they've all been furloughed, and thankfully they're all coming back.
"Through this lockdown in particular, I've been talking to clients while we've been doing kerbside pickups for colours, and I just feel a salon is the heart of the community. It's not just about coming in and getting your treatments, there's a bit of social interaction, there's that bit of wellbeing. People have been missing that - they've been missing that lift.
"We've got some orders to put through, but we will be there, and we'll be good to go. We're looking forward to the future.”
Geraldine’s salon also runs a beauty school, and she said she lockdown has changed the way it’s worked – changes that she’s considering keeping for good.
She said: “The theory has all been taught on Zoom, then they just need to come in to do one on one practical work.
“But that might be a way forward for doing learning in the future. It’s going to make it far more flexible and blended. Out of all the bad things covid has brought, it’s brought different aspects to how we can move our businesses in a different format that works better for the future.”
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