Our hairdressers, salons and beauty parlors have been out of commission for weeks due to COVID-19, leaving many without an idea of how to keep up with their normal beauty regimens.
In fact, the global half-trillion-dollar beauty industry is expected to take a 20% to 30% hit in revenue this year, according to a study done by the McKinsey Global Institute, a U.S.-based market research organization. This is due largely to cosmetic makeup and beauty products taking a dip in sales because of the quarantine.
However, a number of Santa Clarita Valley beauticians say they’ve been speaking with their clients almost as much as they would during normal circumstances and giving them the do’s and don’t’s of at-home beauty treatments.
Josh Rivas, owner of Tribute Beauty Lounge in Newhall, said that he and his colleagues and clients have had to adapt to the way things in a very dramatic fashion.
“I think one of the things people should do is reach out to their stylist directly,” said Rivas.
However, for those without a stylist or between stylists, here is what the professionals recommend for your stay-at-home.
Hair
Rivas said a number of stylists are creating kits for their clients in order to give them some semblance of normalcy when it comes to their hair.
“I’ll mix someone’s formula and drop it off on their doorstep and they apply it themselves,” said Rivas. “That falls within the quarantine standards. I have everybody’s formula and their color, so I can put it together and they can do it themselves when I give them instructions.”
Rivas said it’s been eight weeks since his shop was last open, and that these kits have been assisting his clients throughout. His beauty lounge, along with all others throughout Los Angeles County, are the last of the businesses to reopen during phase three of the recovery.
However, if you can’t afford your formula right now, the first beauty tip Rivas gave is one he’d standby even when there wasn’t a pandemic: don’t cut your own hair.
“I wouldn’t recommend anybody trying to cut their own hair, because anybody that I’ve heard that has done, it’s come out way worse than if they would have just left it long,” said Rivas.
“My assistants work with me for a year before they touch scissors, and their first haircut, it takes like four hours to get them through it,” Rivas added. “Don’t cut your own hair.”
Rivas said if your stylist isn’t delivering color, that he would recommend using temporary coloring that can be purchased over the counter.
“If you do it wrong or too much or not enough, then you could just wash it out,” said Rivas. “It’s going to really suck with all these messed up hair colors are doing themselves (when he’s allowed to reopen) because color correction is like an all day thing.”
Rivas also warned against trying to do more complicated services on your own, such as Brazilian blowouts, because if done incorrectly, the fallout could be literal.
Makeup
Makeup, for a lot of women, is an art form that they’ve perfected through years of practice. And even when just bumping around the house in quarantine, women continue to practice their craft, said Adavel Fernandez, a local independent makeup artist.
“You can use a bronzer for different things, you can use it as a blush, a shadow and a bronzer, a little mascara and lip gloss, or even lipstick,” said Fernandez, when asked what she personally does sometimes even when she’s not planning on leaving the house. “That’s pretty much what I do for myself or for my clients when it’s a really light look.”
Since the onset of the stay-at-home order in March, thousands of couples throughout the country had to make the decision to either reschedule or alter their wedding plans. And by altering it has largely been only the closest nuclear family members staying socially distanced apart to watch the small, but intimate ceremony between a bride and groom.
For these kinds of events, or when small events gradually return and are permissible, putting on a little bit more makeup appropriate for the occasion is possible when no professional is available.
“Definitely lashes,” said Fernandez, adding that there are a number of tutorials on YouTube where people explain and make putting on your own lashes seem easy. “Just because they’re gonna have to remember that day’s photographs … and the lashes always make the eyes look better in the photographs.”
Skin
And, according to Fernandez, at least in terms of skin care, the quarantine may have been a blessing in this specific area.
“If you’re not going anywhere, let your skin breathe,” said Fernandez. “I think (that’s) the best for hair and skin, honestly, because it’s giving your skin a break from just the daily (makeup use).”
Fernandez said for women who put on makeup on a daily basis, even if it’s just a natural look, they do so in order to cover blemishes, freckles or dark circles.
“We always try to do, ‘Less is more,’” said Fernandez. “But honestly, if you’re home, just skip the whole thing, give your lashes a break and give your skin a break.”
Fernandez added that people should continue to hydrate their skin and use sunscreen while outside to protect their skin.
