K: That’s the thing, isn’t it? That use of ‘normal’. S: Do you think that once things go back to normal, these trends will continue? Because of Covid and people wearing masks, that has caused a lot of breakouts around the mouth and nose. I do more of those than any of my other facials now. When I opened in April, I added a new deep cleansing facial to the list. People have told me that they’ve booked facials just to feel better. I’ve had all manner of people come in for facials, whether they’re suffering from ‘maskne’, or this is just part of their self-care programme. That’s one of those treatments that was often deemed a luxury. I do more facials than I ever used to do. Since reopening, the amount of facials I’ve done, it’s changed exponentially. Facials we used to do a few now and again. K: Before Covid, we used to do a lot of nails, manicures, pedicures, waxing. Sarah: Since the pandemic, do you think there’s been a difference in what people are looking for out of a salon? There are instances of businesses having to close because they couldn’t survive the pandemic the industry as a whole tends to do well in times of adversity. It’s not always just a luxury and, yes, it can be, but I think it’s also this kind of self-care angle that everyone’s doing now.
Even if they didn’t have money, they’d find the money to do their hair or do their nails. No matter what, people will want to feel good about themselves. Karis: Somebody once told me that one of the very rare industries that will never get hit by recessions and that kind of thing is the hair and beauty industry. I spoke to Karis about her experience of running a beauty salon during the pandemic. She started working at Bijou in 2014 and took over following the previous owner’s departure from the business in 2020.
Karis Chetty runs Bijou Beauty, a beauty salon in Walthamstow, London. Lockdown restrictions led to lengthy closures for the sector, with uncertainty about when they could reopen, and how long for, further complicating trading and placing the sector under unprecedented strain. The first half of this year saw a 44% decrease in the growth of barbers, beauty salons and nail salons compared with the same period in 2020. Before 2021, the hairdressing, health and beauty category had been growing across GB for several years.
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