Here’s when beauty salons can resume all treatments in England as UK eases lockdown
England is slowly easing lockdown restrictions with a phased approach, with pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and beauty salons all now open.
But when will beauty salons be able to resume all beauty treatments? Here’s everything you need to know.
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Hide AdWhen will beauty salons open?
Those eagerly anticipating getting their nails done, or other beauty treatments, won’t have to wait any longer, as beauty salons have reopened in England, with new safety measures in place and limited services available.
Most non-essential shops reopened on 15 June, while hairdressers, along with pubs, cafes and restaurants, places of worship and socially distanced cinemas, could able reopen from 4 July.
Will all beauty treatments be allowed in salons?
Following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement on Friday 17 July, all beauty services will now be able to resume from 1 August.
Although beauty salons are now able to reopen and services such as nail treatments and waxes can resume, no treatments on the face are currently permitted, as this is considered a ‘high-risk zone’.
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Hide AdTreatments in the “high-risk zone” are those carried out directly in front of the client’s face, which put people at higher risk of spreading COVID-19.
These include face waxing and threading, facials, eyelash and eyebrow treatments and microblading.
However, from 1 August the government will, "Enable all close contact services to resume, including any treatments on the face such as eyebrow threading or make-up application, working closely with the sector and public health experts to ensure this can be done as safely as possible and in line with COVID-19 Secure guidelines."
Boris Johnson said: ““From August 1, we will be reopening most remaining leisure settings and we will enable close-contact services [such as] beauticians to resume.”
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Hide AdWhat safety measures will be in place?
The government has issued new guidance for beauty salons to ensure they are COVID-19 secure when they open.
This includes social distancing measures and increased hygiene practices.
Businesses will also need to keep records of staff and customers, in case these details need to be shared with NHS Test and Trace.
Some of the new guidelines include:
- Wearing further protective equipment when two metres social distancing cannot be maintained
- Avoiding skin-to-skin contact and wearing gloves where it is not crucial to the service
- Using screens or barriers to separate clients from each other, and to separate practitioners from clients, such as in nail salons
- Making sure limited and fixed numbers of workers work together if they have to be in close proximity to do their jobs
- Operate appointment-only booking systems to restrict the number of customers at any one time
- Increased handwashing and hygiene practices, including disposable equipment where possible
- Allowing for space between customers, and not allowing food or drink to be consumed by customers - except for water
- Keeping the activity time involved to a minimum