Before the announcement of the government new guidelines for hair salons, stylists and salon owners from all around the country started preparing and organising for the new normal by looking at other countries. The feelings were mixed with many of you feeling excited, some feeling nervous or stressed and many overwhelmed. Or a little bit of everything! At Michael Van Clarke salon in Marylebone, they took it to the next level and got very creative!
Fun times
The Michael Van Clarke salon hairdressers were feeling anxious so they decided to satirise it all the the way; basically they had a bit of fun by dressing up and we’re here for it! They created a ‘spoof’ look at how you could have been met when you arrive at the hair salon at your next visit with their own versions of PPE: scuba diver, astronaut, beekeeper, deep sea diver!
Michael Van Clarke, the salon owner, commented: “We were sitting around panicking a bit; worrying about having to play doctors and nurses. I mean, I remember enjoying it when I was seven, but this head-to-toe PPE thing the German salons started has freaked us hairdressers out a bit. And anyway, wouldn’t it be professional cultural appropriation? Not really very woke, is it? So we thought of being a bit more creative with our outfits, and frankly we quite enjoyed it. We started practising our routines. A bit of am-dram at work! But then Boris announced this week that we’d only have to wear visors.”
Well, yeah, visors may be simpler, to be fair; nice try though!
Re-opening changes
To adjust to the new normal, Michael Van Clarke salon has removed half the seats, extended its working hours, arranged the staff schedules so that only half of the team works at the same time and hired two full time dedicated cleaners/sanitisers. They have put screens at front desk, backwashes, all along the 20ft Deli Counter, at the manicure table (once permissible) and they will be operating a pre-payment system to minimise contact. Face shields and masks will be worn by the staff and they will be using disposable towels. Wishing you a great and safe comeback, guys!
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