Hello everyone! We are so happy to see you all again and want to thank you guys for making this a seamless transition back into the salon. Since the state has now been in Phase 4 for a few weeks, we’ve decided it’s time to update our COVID protocol. Most of it is exactly the same as our last protocol blog post, but there are a few slightly modified parts; please take a few minutes to read it so that you know what to expect upon arrival.
When you arrive for your appointment, please wait in your car or socially distance outside of the salon. Please wait to come inside the salon until you get a text or call from us letting you know that your stylist is ready. If you are waiting in your car, please make sure to keep the air conditioning on, as we are taking temperatures using a contactless thermometer. Since we are able to have slightly more people in the salon now, if the waiting area is clear, we will allow two people in to wait socially distanced if they wish; please still follow the above protocol because that option is only a possibility if space permits at that exact moment. If we do have people in the waiting area, the waiting chairs will be fully disinfected before anyone else is allowed to sit in them. We will also be taking walk-ins again if that is your preferred method of scheduling. In order to make a walk-in appointment though, you must be wearing a face-covering before coming inside the salon.
Once coming into the salon, you will be required to either use the hand sanitizer at the front desk or visit the restroom to thoroughly wash your hands. Your stylist will be ready for you once he/she has fully disinfected the station you will be at, the chair you will sit in, the shears/cutting tools they will use on you, the brushes they will use on you, has swept up all hair, and has disinfected his/her hands. The shampoo bowls will also be disinfected as soon as you leave them; this means that you will be directed to the stylist’s station while they disinfect the shampoo bowls after and if they wash your hair, but they will be with you again shortly after that.
We will all be wearing face-coverings, and we are requiring the same for you. You all must come in wearing a face-covering that secures behind your ears to make it possible to do your hair unless you have a medical condition or disability that prevents you from doing so. If you forget your face-covering and need to purchase one, we will be selling them for $1.
Our stylists will have their temperatures read every morning. If a stylist is sick or symptomatic, they will not be allowed to work. We will also be taking all of your temperatures and will be requiring anyone to leave immediately if they have a fever. If any of you are experiencing any signs of sickness, PLEASE call ahead of time and let us know with as much notice as possible. We will be allowed to deny anyone who is sick or symptomatic service.
Doorknobs, handles, and our restroom will also be disinfected multiple times throughout the day. We’ve already situated a trash bin outside of the restroom so that you can use a paper towel to open the door and throw the paper in the trash bin right after. We are thinking of you!
Some clients are used to changing out of their clothes and into robes to receive color services. The changing room will permanently be off limits to clients, and color robes will be directly administered by the stylists. You will have to place the robe over your clothing, so please wear appropriate clothing to receive color services. We recommend older clothes without hoods. You will not be able to receive any hair services if you are wearing a hood. Please wear hoodless clothes!
Clients will also be asked to remain six feet away from other clients and stylists other than their own. There will be tape marks (six feet apart) on the floor to let you know where we would like you to stand if there happens to be a line at checkout. Tape marks will also mark six feet between stations. Please be cognizant of these.
We are still not blowdrying other than the very front of the hair to show color after a color service or to trim bangs, but we hope to be blowdrying soon. We watch the case numbers several times a day, and once we feel it is safe for your well being, our well being, and the well being of the salon, we will resume blowdrying. We will send an email specifically about blowdrying once this happens. Your safety is so important to us! Since we are not blow-drying right now, if you prefer to leave the salon with dry hair and have a dry cut, please come with it clean and blown out. Your hairdresser may also decide based on your hair and previous history that a dry cut is much more useful than a wet cut. Please understand that for many haircuts, most of the shaping is done dry and the cut of the length can be done dry as well. Needless to say, it may be wise to come in with clean and blown out hair incase this is what your stylist decides is best for you. If your hair is curly though or you are looking for it cut one uniformed length, we would definitely suggest having your hair washed here and leaving with wet hair.
We are also resuming all facial waxing services. Marline will be wearing a mask, a face shield, and glasses if she is working on your face and you are not able to wear a mask due to the type of service. We are also resuming facials, but they will only be the 30 minute express facials at this time.
As for payment of services, we are only accepting debit or credit payments. We are promoting contactless pay. Here is a video on how to use Apple Pay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXewMuRiZ3U. Our checkout system is also able to use a tap checkout method for many different cards. If you are not able to do either of these, you will be required to insert your own card into our Square device. If you choose to leave gratuity, we will still only be accepting cash tips that you will have to directly give to your stylist. The front desk will not have any cash at this time to provide you change, so please plan accordingly if you wish to provide gratuity.
When it comes to pricing for color services, we will have to charge accordingly based on how much color is used. We understand most root touch-ups come in every 4 weeks; that being said, the price may need to increase for the first root touch-up based on how much extra product needs to be used. This has always been and will always be our policy with color; there is nothing different here, it just may seem different to you, as you are most likely used to coming in more frequently and having less product used on your hair. If you have box-colored your hair, this may need to result in a color correction which would be priced as a color correction and not as a standard hair color service (We won’t know until we work with the hair; box color is VERY difficult to work with due to the varying chemicals in it.).
We did know though that we would have to raise prices somewhere due directly to COVID-19’s impact of working at a lower capacity, having to extend appointment times to properly disinfect after every client, having to pay for PPE, and for increased prices of the products we buy for the salon, so we wanted your input. After placing a survey on our Instagram of 1,532 followers, 49% of people said they would like all service prices to increase AND to be charged a COVID-19 fee to ensure the salon remain successful while 50% wanted to pay just a COVID-19 fee (1% wanted to pay for other options we had including an option for no extra charge!). We greatly appreciate so many people being understanding of this current situation and even preferring to pay a price increase for services and a COVID-19 fee. Even after seeing your strong response to this idea and being financially advised to both raise all prices and include a COVID-19 fee, we are, for the moment, just deciding to charge a COVID-19 fee that will go away once we are able to resume operations as they were prior to COVID-19. The COVID-19 fee is $3. If, after some time of being open, we do see it as necessary to increase color and waxing prices as well, we will revisit the possibility and notify you. For now though, we just ask for your support and recommendation to friends to keep our prices as mentioned. Thank you in advance for understanding.
We will also have a consent form that we will require everyone to sign if you wish to be serviced at Steven Papageorge Salon during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will hand it to you to sign before any service is done. If you do not feel comfortable signing or being serviced, we completely understand, and you will be required to leave without being serviced upon arrival with no hard feelings on our end. We do ask though that if you do see this as a possibility to please cancel your appointment/s now and wait until you feel more comfortable about being serviced.
This is uncharted territory for us, and we continue to learn what is best for all of us as we continue to move forward. Your safety and our safety are our top two priorities at this time. We thank you for your understanding, and we are so excited that we get to see you all again! Be well, and see you soon!