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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National
Helen Gregory

Hunter beauty salon welcomes clarity around NSW's post-COVID 'roadmap to freedom'

Counting down: Michelle Grove encouraged clients not to do anything rash in lockdown. "Leave it, so we can fix it when we come back!" Picture: Simone De Peak

INDULGENCES Beauty Therapy director Michelle Grove said of all the treatments clients are looking forward to after lockdown, eyebrows rank high on the list.

"Lots of people want their greys covered on their eyebrows - as they do on their head as well - it's definitely eyebrows, hair removal, skin treatments, it's a broad spectrum of things really, each person has got their different priority," Ms Grove said.

"It can be huge [the difference] and so uplifting, it definitely helps make people feel human again and gives them some self confidence."

Ms Grove has welcomed Premier Gladys Berejiklian's confirmation that October 11 will likely be the first Monday after the state reaches the 70 per cent double vaccination rate and from when fully vaccinated people will be able to enjoy greater freedoms.

This includes personal services including beauty therapists opening with one person per four square metres, capped at five clients per premises.

"It's a bit of sweet relief isn't it," she said.

"We were looking at that October 18 and I've been watching the last couple of weeks thinking 'It's definitely going to be moved forward' so if there's a bit of clarification there that's amazing.

"It just really helps us to be able to plan.

"That's our biggest issue, we're inundated with messages and calls from clients trying to book in but you can't double handle appointments, you need to know for certain that when you're booking somebody in, that's their appointment time."

Ms Grove said her salon would open slightly understaffed because some of her 10 staff weren't getting their second doses until mid-October.

Premier Berejiklian said on Monday there would be further freedoms at 80 per cent double vaccination and personal services would no longer be subject to customer caps.

Ms Grove said this would not make much of an impact at her salon, which has five treatment rooms, but would help with managing the "crossover" as clients arrived for and left their appointments.

Ms Grove said her salon pivoted during lockdown and had been operating an online store and hiring out its portable LED machine.

"People are doing a lot more pampering for themselves at home... and doing a lot of self care."

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