by Annilee Armstrong, Red’s Chair
We’ve all heard of a “bad hair day,” but how about a “bad hair year?”
Mid March of 2020, people were shocked to realize their impending doom when hair salons were shuttered. In B.C., we were lucky that initial shutdown was only for nine weeks, and only once.
Still, those nine weeks were painfully long for those who religiously had a cleanup every two weeks, grey coverage every three weeks, and so on.
Some decided that this was as good a time for change as any. They owned what was happening on their head and grew their hair. Some invested in hats. Some went to the colour aisle at the grocery store and texted a picture to us asking if this would be OK to use. Some took to YouTube and got brave with their kitchen scissors!
The pandemic made us realize a lot about ourselves. Those of us in the profession also went into panic mode! Yet, we remained calm.
I’d meet clients in the grocery store or out for a walk and many times, both of us would well up with tears. We missed each other. We missed catching up on life. The connection we have with each of our clients is deep. The uncertainty of when we’d be together again was hard. There was no hug, no contact. We remained safe.
It became obvious as we watched Dr. Bonnie’s hair get longer, and her bangs get uneven, that we were all in this together.
Late in May, we rejoiced with the news that salons could reopen! Then hairdressers panicked again at the thought of rebooking nine weeks of appointments! The supply orders were backed up and PPE was hard to come by. Some of you crafted homemade masks and eagerly dropped them off for us to use. You were patient with our rebooking process and new protocols that we had to enforce. We were kind.
When we saw you all again, we knew you were smiling behind those masks; we were too.
Some people were thrilled to get those pesky greys touched up and some were realizing that monthly trips to the salon weren’t as important as they once thought. A number of people decided to embrace what mother nature was doing, and own the grey!
Some decided that they needed to come in more often, and be more organized with their appointments. Some decided that it was time for a major change! Colour, cuts, extensions … you name it: there were a few who wanted it all!
Of course, those who got brave with their kitchen scissors or took a trip down the colour aisle of the grocery store confessed their ways. We understood, and were happy to help with the fixing.
We realized that we relied on each other more than we thought possible. We needed that human contact that some only received from that initial shampoo. We needed that connection.
Nobody has used the term “just a hairdresser” ever since.
