Portsmouth beauticians 'relieved' ahead of reopening but say it should have come sooner

As part of relaxed restrictions around coronavirus, the government has announced the beauticians – such as lash and nail technicians – can reopen their doors to customers on August 1.

It comes as prime minister Boris Johnson talked up a ‘more significant return to normality’ by November.

He said: ‘From August 1, we will reopen most remaining leisure settings, namely bowling, skating rings, casinos and we will enable close contact services, beauticians to resume.

‘Nightclubs, soft play areas – sadly – need to remain closed for now, although this will be kept under review.

‘It is my strong and sincere hope that we will be able to review the outstanding restrictions and allow a more significant return to normality from November, at the earliest, possibly in time for Christmas.’

But while some may be relieved by the relaxing of coronavirus restrictions, professional beauticians are outraged by the poor timing.

Many of them are frustrated that barbershops and hair salons were allowed to reopen before they were – claiming that there is little difference in the protection measures that would need to be introduced,

Nicola Ford is the owner of Unique Lash and Brow Bar in Cosham High Street.

She said: ‘I am relieved that we are allowed to open for customers once again, but the government has failed to understand that there is practically no difference between us and going to places like the barbers.

‘For us it’s another month with no money coming through for no reason whatsoever – lockdown has already been tough enough for us as it is.

‘Things haven’t been easy but I’m glad that I will be able to see my clients again.’

For Nicola, preparations for social distancing have been underway for some time now, in anticipation of the reopening of her business.

A booking system, contactless payments and more have all been enforced in her Cosham shop.

‘There will be no exchange of money and since it's just me in the shop I only have one client at a time,’ she said.

‘That means I can do a deep clean and sanitise everything between every single customer – it’ll make things much easier.

‘If anything, it’s probably more safe from coronavirus than some places that have already reopened, and for us that is probably the most frustrating part about it.

‘I am glad that we can finally go back to work, but this should have happened much sooner.’

Katy Carter from Aesthetics and Beauty in Baffins added: ‘It’s amazing that we can reopen but it’s rubbish that we couldn’t do so sooner.

‘For the most part the hygiene stuff and PPE is already in place for us, so I haven’t actually had to buy anything new – just extra of what I already have.

‘It makes me wonder if the government actually knew anything about beauticians and the work that we do.

‘I’m already booked up until January next year, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing all of my clients again.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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