Haywards Heath hair salon owner’s 6 top tips for looking after your hair during lockdown

Samantha Newton, owner of the Samantha Elizabeth hair salon in South Road, was among hairdressers across the country that were forced to close their doors for the second time on Thursday, November 5, amid Covid-19.

Only essential retailers such as supermarkets and garden centres were told they could stay open under the new restrictions imposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Samantha said: “This latest lockdown comes at one of the busiest times of year for hair salons, in the run up to the Christmas holiday period.

“December is always our busiest month and this lockdown means everyone who was booked into November will now be desperate to be seen in December.”

She said she has had to close the salon’s online booking service for the time being and the salon is not accepting new clients at the moment.

But to try to accommodate as many of her clients as possible, she said she will be extending her opening hours in December. The salon will open from December 28, to December 30.

“We are lucky to have built up a good base of very loyal clients for which we are grateful, and we will try to look after them as best we can in these extraordinary times,” added Samantha.

She continued: “We know salons across the country are struggling and some have already closed their doors. This could push more over the edge.

“The hairdressing industry is calling on the Government to give salons the same helping hand as the tourism and hospitality sector, which has had a temporary cut to VAT from 20 per cent to five per cent until March 31, 2021, to help them survive the coronavirus crisis.

“The new lockdown is hard on us as a business not least because hairdressing is what we love and not being able to see our clients, particularly at this time of year, is as frustrating for us as it is for our clients. All we can do is be patient and kind to one another.

“If there is a silver lining to this lockdown, it has to be that an end date has been set, which will help us better plan this time around.

“Let’s hope it does what it’s intended to do and helps stop the spread of the virus and we don’t have to suffer any more lockdowns in the future.”

Samantha has shared the following six top tips for looking after your hair during lockdown:

1. First, don’t DIY. We advise our clients not to be tempted to home dye their hair. Once dyed, to get your hair back to a professional colour and the way you want to look when this is all over will take many hours of remedial work and a lot of colour product – so it will be expensive – which no-one wants just before the Christmas period.

2. Keep your colour. To help keep the colour in your hair we suggest you wash it twice a week or three times tops. Dry shampoo is an option too. Keep the heat off it – allow your hair to air dry as much possible.

3. Treat your hair. If you have conditioning treatments you can apply to your hair, it will love you for it.

4. Experiment. Times like these can also be a time to try something new. Consider putting your hair up or in a plait to give yourself a new look while also helping to look after it. That would be much better than using heat tools on it while this lockdown is in force. This may also be a time to experiment with cute hats.

5. Tricks of the trade. If you have grey hair showing, embrace it for a short period. Or many colours can be camouflaged with eyeshadow.

6. Finally. Above all, be patient and wait until you can see your stylist.