Our Chair Jane Boardman shares some thoughts on the coronavirus crisis and an industry service she has come to rely on and cherish.
“Many of us will develop a renewed respect for our hairdressers. They are of course, one of the hardest hit businesses, reliant as they are for customers to come to salons.
Their many customers are missing them dearly. Not just because natural hair colour is beginning to peek out of the glossy manes and beautifully styled cuts are growing out, but because of the special kind of intimacy you get from hand to hair contact with your hair stylist or colourist. Even the backwash with its ‘would you like a head massage’ is a kind of loss.
This reliance demonstrating itself early in Italy where women had to be censored by their local governments for sneaking in their hairdressers to their homes. And here in the UK I have more than one friend arranging secret assignations with their colourists. In several countries where the restrictions are gradually being lifted, it is hair salons which are early on the list.
Online retailers are selling out of at home hair colour. On the surface, this is a clear alternative, and much cheaper than the salon visit, but rather than allowing us to break our dependency, it is reinforcing the importance of our trusted experts.
Perhaps one of the good things coming out of this crisis, will be an increased appreciation for the role that hairdressers play in our lives and in our community. I for one am counting the days till I can visit mine…….”