UK reopening: beauty salons start comeback but some are excluded

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 10, 2020

In a further easing of lockdown restrictions, England is allowing beauty salons, nail bars, spas and gyms to reopen starting from Monday (gyms won’t reopen until July 25), although some key businesses have been left off the list.

The return of gyms could help boost the overall athleisure sector, while restarting beauty treatments is a key development for many professional beauty brands.

But there’s a sting in the tail and the government isn’t allowing salons to offer any treatments on the face. It means that not only will facials be off the menu for beauty salons, but the growing number of brow bars in Britain remain stuck in the lockdown limbo that has prevented them from operating for nearly four months.

Vanita Parti is founder and CEO of the Blink Brow Bar walk-in beauty bar chain, which has 11 London locations. She said she originally thought she’d be opening but was informed that she wouldn’t be able to in an email from the British Beauty Council.

“I'm furious," she told the BBC. "We can't reopen... This will kill so many businesses. I wish they'd consulted us.”

Beauty salons had expected to be included in the list of business that could reopen from July 4 but she said that in the first week of July she’d had to cancel 2,000 appointments.

It’s a further sign that concerns remain, despite the widespread easing of lockdown restrictions in Britain. While many business are working to get back on track, key parts of the economy have little clarity over how soon they will be able to bounce back.