Hairdressers and beauty salons advised to consider providing ‘shorter’ treatments in new government guidance

Government website suggests hair and beauty salons ‘should consider providing shorter, more basic treatments to keep the time to a minimum’

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On Monday 12 April, hairdressers and beauty salons will reopen in England for the first time since the third national lockdown was imposed on 5 January.

But according to new government guidelines, various restrictions will be in place to limit the amount of time people can spend in the hairdresser or salon.

For example, hairdressers have been advised to avoid offering longer treatments. This might include haircolouring, which tendsto takemore timethan regular cuts and blowdrys.

The guidance states that hair and beauty salons “should consider providing shorter, more basic treatments to keep the time to a minimum”.

It adds that when carrying out longer treatments such as braiding or massages, that staff should “consider how the length of the appointment could be minimised”.

However, the guidelines have been criticised for being ambiguous, with Labour MP Judith Cummins, co-chair of the Parliament’s group on beauty, aesthetics and wellbeing, calling for more clarity.

“It’s very difficult to make a living if you’re given guidance that is very woolly and very unclear,” she told The Telegraph.

“What’s a short appointment, and what’s the medium appointment, and what’s a long appointment? I’ve got no idea, and I doubt whether the government has any idea either.”

Additionally, Richard Lambert, chief executive of the National Hair and Beauty Association, said massage salons may need to reduce their appointment durations in order to abide by the new rules.

“There are places that offer massages of 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes and 90 minutes,” he said. “They may decide that they’d rather not do 90-minute massages.”

There will be numerous other restrictions in place at hairdressers when they reopen given that social distancing is not possible when having your hair done, so your hairdresser will likely have to wear a visor according to the government’s rules. 

Last time around, the National Hair and Beauty Federation also discouraged talking, and hairdressers were told to keep hair-cutting time to a minimum, and any face-to-face discussions will have to be side-to-side.

You can read more about the rules regarding hairdressers reopening here.