Coronavirus: Hairdressers wait for reopening instructions while Britons learn to make do
Some have resorted to DIY and others have put up with unruly locks but there is hope that hairdressers will be open again in July.
Sunday 21 June 2020 04:41, UK
Desperation to be done with dodgy lockdown hairdos has prompted a surge of home cuts but it's thought they may not always be the work of a fellow householder.
The sight of certain footballers, television stars and MPs emerging with neatly coiffed hair has prompted questions about how they managed to get a trim during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clive Collins is director of 25 Hob salons across the country and has been inundated with calls for him to break the rules, while he is forced to keep his doors closed and his income at zero.
"My phone has been on fire!" he said.
"We've had clients, phoning, texting, emailing 'please, please come over, come and do my hair' and of course the government strictly says you are not to do anyone's hair at home."
As a result, he has refused.
But it's quite clear that some have found a way to get a cut, with online searches for the phrase "haircut home visit" increasing seven-fold from March to April, according to The Media Foundry.
Some have clearly resorted to the do-it-yourself approach - sales of Remington hair clippers nearly trebled in April.
That may be why there was an abundance of tidy hair on show on the first day back of the Premier League, prompting as much discussion as a disallowed goal and fan-free stadiums.
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But in Mill Hill, in northwest London, most seemed to be finding a way to cope.
Francine Lewis has asked her daughter to do her roots.
"I am somebody who has their hair done religiously every single week so lockdown has been really difficult," she said.
Amit Mass was so desperate, he got his wife to cut his hair.
"It's perfect. I'm not sure I'll go to the hairdresser afterwards," he said.
And Michael Alexander said he understood the need to wait until July for his trim as "it's dangerous with people getting too close to you".
Indianna Antoine-Gabriel, however, has the right to feel slightly smug as she said: "I do my own hair anyway so it's not really affected me at all."
For Mr Collins it has been an extremely stressful time, with some salon landlords still demanding rent and suppliers to be paid.
"It's hit our cash flow beyond all recognition, albeit we've had the furlough scheme, which has been amazing… and the government grant for each unit, but within a week to 10 days, that ran out."
Hairdressers in England are hoping to reopen on 4 July, while the aim is 6 July in Northern Ireland and 13 July in Wales.
But a real concern, according to Hilary Hall, the chief executive of the National Hair and Beauty Federation, is that there are still no clear rules to follow on issues such as personal protective equipment.
"For Scotland we are still waiting for a date and we don't yet know whether the guidelines are going to be the same across the four nations or whether they will be different," she said.
"It's really important that all of them have guidelines rapidly."