House Calls: Hairdressers Split On How To Make Ends Meet During Coronavirus Closures
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Keeping up your appearance in self-isolation is something many have accepted to be impossible right now.
Whether it be about hair, nails or lashes, others wanting to look and feel good and are going to great lengths to make it happen. But when it comes to making house calls, some hairdressers are split on how to make ends meet.
Outside on the patio is not where J.J. Jones normally cuts hair, but for now, she said it will have to do.
"I was thinking, 'I'm toast,'" Jones said, talking about her thoughts of finding out she was being laid off for the time being.
Jones is one of the many hairdressers out of work while the country quarantines.
"It's been hard just for me to be able to keep up and pay my rent and my bills," Jones said. "I have no idea what I'm going to be getting at the end of the month."
Home calls, Jones said, is how she has to get by. Her customer Aaron Fellner said skipping out on his appearance won't cut it at his job.
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"I work for the state, so I have to meet with people," Fellner said.
Jones isn't the only one operating remotely either. Many other hairdressers are doing the same.
It's something Folsom barber Michael Perry admits he considered until he then considered the consequences.
"If we can meet at your house or by appointment only – that thought process went away very quickly," he said.
Now a number of hairdressers are turning up the volume, not on their hair, but with their voices and speaking up against these kinds of calls – hairdressers like Kasey Learn, whose Loomis salon sits empty, just the way she said it should be right now.
"It's going to take longer if people don't stop doing the home visits and coming into the salon," Learn said.
It comes down to the guidelines, like not being able to properly social distance during a cut or the question of cleanliness.
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"You can't ensure everything has been sanitized and sterilized," said Ashley Allen, who does hair in Roseville.
But back in Sacramento, Jones said she takes every precaution she can by wearing gloves and a mask, over-sanitizing all of her items and only offering cuts, not color.
"You just have to be smart and keep things really clean," Jones said.
Meanwhile, the others standby for the moment they can take clients again.
"When this is all over and the cavemen and cavewomen come out of hibernation," Perry said. "We're going to be ready."
The stay-at-home order issued last week by Governor Newsom ordered all non-essential businesses – like salons – to close.
California's cosmetology board says they don't have the authority to close establishments, but they do recommend people follow the guidance of the governor and the CDC. Those who do take house calls could still face fines.
