It seems the time has come. Governor Jared Polis has made the decision to reopen salons.
If you have been a client of mine, or you have followed my work for some time, you know that my number one priority in the salon is safety. I’ve talked a lot about maintaining the integrity of your hair fiber throughout all services, lifting safely, and using the best extension method on the market in order to keep your hair and scalp as healthy as possible.
What you may not know is that a lot of my job revolves around maintaining your actual health, not just your hair. In school, one of our first units that we study is microbiology and the study of how germs are spread. We learn about mitigating the spread of communicable diseases, and how to identify several ailments like ringworm, psoriasis, eczema, lice, cradle cap, dandruff, and more. We are not licensed medical professionals, however, so we are not able to diagnose anything. Essentially, if it looks iffy, we send you to the doc to get checked out. I’ve known many different stylists over the years that have successfully identified skin cancer, and sent their client to the doctor, essentially saving their lives.
Our job is to make you look and feel great, and keep you healthy while doing it.
One thing I love about working at Chris Lane Salon Spa is that the owners and my co-artists and I keep everything insanely clean. We have always gone above and beyond our state-mandated procedures, and take immense pride in providing a beautiful service in a super clean environment.
If any of you follow me on Facebook, you may have seen me posting comments from my personal page about reopening salons. I’m not going to lie to you: I am nervous about reopening salons so soon. My job is literally hands-on, and we cannot social distance. I love all of my guests, and if one of my guests got sick after seeing me for a hair service I don't think I could forgive myself.
Part of my issue is that we have received no guidance or recommendations from the State Board regarding heightened sanitation and disinfection procedures. I am sure we will soon, but I'm a planner. I've gotta have a plan, and I don't do well with uncertainty.
We are working off of what we are reading from other states. Some states, like Georgia, have put out a huge list of requirements, some of which include wrapping the shampoo sinks in plastic wrap, disposing of an entire pot of wax after one client (even though we use single-use implements and never double dip), and suggesting stylists wear face shields. We have not implemented any new procedures or even received any guidance from the State Board here in Colorado, so who really knows what our procedures will be at this point? Certainly none of us.
So, because I'm an obsessive planner, I have created a plan that I believe will help mitigate the spread of disease while enabling you to receive hair services.
Don’t get me wrong, please. I really, really, really want to go back to work. I miss working with all of my amazing guests, and being inspired daily by my incredible salon team, and truly being creative and artistic while making people feel like rockstars.
I am very excited to see all of you!
April 29th: Salon Meeting discussing all new procedures
April 30th: Prepare for opening
May 1st: Opening Day
May 2nd: My first official day back at work.
New Procedures *Subject to Change*
I will prepare a “clean box” for each client the night before their appointment. The Clean Box will include a sanitized and disinfected cape or robe for the guest, sanitized and disinfected combs, foils, clips, and other tools needed, and a mask *IF* we are able to provide them. If not you will be required to bring your own mask. Throughout the appointment, all tools will be placed back into the box and sealed to be sanitized and disinfected thoroughly at the end of the day.
Before, during, and after each appointment, I will be spraying disinfectant over my entire station, tool cart, chair, mat, and products. I will then be washing my hands as per CDC guidelines before retrieving the next clean box and my next guest.Because of this, we will be adding a little bit of time between each appointment to ensure disinfection.
Each shampoo sink will be thoroughly sanitized and disinfected before and after each shampoo service. We are suspending the use of paraffin wax hand treatments and lavender eye masks until further notice.
I will not be taking double appointments at this time. Prior to this, I would occasionally take a guest while another guest’s color processed. I will be taking one client at a time until further notice. Please do not bring unnecessary people to your appointment with you.
I will be wearing a mask covering my mouth and nose throughout the entire service. If I have masks available, I will be switching out my masks between clients. Gloves will be used as much as possible without compromising the service or your safety (glove cross contamination is just as bad as not washing your hands).
Client Expectations
You must wear a mask. No mask, no service.You must keep your mask on for the entirety of your appointment. (This is a rumor and is not confirmed, but you may be able to purchase a mask for $10 at the salon at your appointment. Again, not confirmed.)
If you have even a tickle of a bug, YOU MUST RESCHEDULE. If you have been around someone who has been ill, YOU MUST RESCHEDULE. Your hair is a luxury, not a necessity. Please do not compromise my health, the health of my family, the health of my co-artists, or the health of my other clients to receive a service if you are not sure you are healthy. It’s super not cool.
We are asking that you wait in your car until your appointment time, or until the front desk calls you in. Please do not wait in the waiting area. At the end of your appointment, I may keep you back at the chair for a moment until the front desk area has cleared out and has been disinfected.
Cashless payment is preferred.
Please be aware: six weeks of our appointments were unexpectedly cancelled and then rescheduled, and as soon as the governor announced we would be opening, I got 18 texts, emails, and DMs all wanting appointments. We are not allowed to have more than 10 people on the salon floor, and everyone’s appointments must be staggered to avoid over-saturation. We have 11 stylists who all have full books of clients who also want to get in and get their hair done.
I am asking for your patience. I am already booked to the brim and I cannot accommodate any “squeezing in” without compromising health and safety. Please be patient with wait times. Please be patient when scheduling or rescheduling. And please be patient and kind during your appointments.
None of us really know what this means, or if we’ll all get sick and die, or if we will all be fine. We are facing our own mortality every day. As human beings, we kind of suck at change. And we have a lot of changes coming our way. Our old, blissfully unaware lives are gone. Like we did after 9/11, we will need to readjust our entire lives. This is a collective trauma that we are experiencing as a society, so we need to approach each other with love and kindness and peace.
Let’s be gentle with each other and let’s take care of each other. We are all humans, and we are all in the same storm. We may be in different boats, and we will weather the storm differently.
So let’s be kind. Let’s lead with love. And let’s work together to shift into a better world.
I truly can't wait to see you all again--I may be a smidge nervous, but I have been absolutely ACHING to get my hands into some hair. This is gonna be our new normal for the foreseeable future, so let's roll with it and make some serious hair magic! <3
XoXo
Jes!