Barbers and hairstylists in New York state are calling for their own eligibility for the COVID vaccine.

Dan Woycik owner of the Center Square Barber Shop on Lark Street in Albany NY.  

He says: “We think about the fact that we are, at a minimum, at close contact with somebody, in their personal space for 20 minutes at a time,” he said. “And if we’re shaving somebody or doing a beard trim, they have their mask off.” 

Dan Woycik added that he, and each barber at his shop sees roughly 15-20 clients every day.

During the pandemic, they shut down for three months. Woycik saw how happy his customers were to return. 

“When we first opened back up, for people to be able to do one normal thing again, to come into the barbershop and get a haircut, it was a big thing for a lot of people to be able to come back.”

He cleans the shop, gets tested regularly, and cuts down on the number of barbers who can work at the same time.  Each customer gets fresh smocks and towels, as well as the usual new razor blade. 

Many people are puzzled about why this industry hasn’t been added to the eligible list, including County Executive Dan McCoy, who spoke about it Monday. 

“The fact that they’re not on that list, they should be, because I’ve learned that people want their nail salons, their hairdressers and their barbershops, but they’re not on there,” said McCoy. 

The governor just lowered the age to 50, but Woycik says there are a lot of young people in this profession. 

“We take all the precautions we have to take, and we do our best to make sure everything is clean and sanitized, but we really feel that we’re being potentially exposed. Not being able to get the vaccine, and not being eligible for it at this point is — we feel like we’re being left out.”

After the pandemic left married couple, Becky Rawlinson and Chris Mooney, and their new-born baby without financial support, the couple decided to take the leap and create their dream business.

Becky’s job in the third sector got defunded and as a barber, Chris was left without income too.

With Chris taking over childcare for their now one-year-old daughter, Becky dedicated herself to her plant delivery business Little Wilderness.

Becky added “I had already developed my business before Covid into doing doorstep deliveries because I didn’t have a shop.

“So as soon as we went into lockdown, I was ready to bring people the things they wanted to their door.”

Now, they are set to open a store, Tenement, inspired by the idea of tenements serving as “multiple dwellings for lots of different people”.

“We thought the Tenement is a shop which is home to more than one project – it is home to a plant shop, a barber shop and we wanted for people in the community to be able to use it as well.

“We didn’t want too much of a barbershop name or too much of a plant shop name.”

Not wanting to prioritise one of their businesses over the other, they thought up a concept that works for both of them.

The store on Battlefield Avenue 11 will be home to Chris’ barbershop on weekdays and will completely transform to accommodate a plant shop on Sundays.

Custom-build shelving will allow them to create walls and easily pack away the barbershop when needed.

Becky added: “You can browse and shop if you are getting a haircut but the plant shop will not open for the general public to buy plants at the time.

“One of the things Chris really cares about is that his barbershop clients get a bit of privacy when they are getting a haircut. He wants the focus to be on them getting a haircut without people walking in and out.”

The space will also be available for hire in the evenings and will create a fresh community space for the area.

The duo are currently in the process of renovating the unit and ensuring it lives up to their unique vision. However, the recent announcement that hairdressers can reopen from April 5 has pushed them to speed up their work.

The plant store will officially open later in the month in line with the Scottish Government’s coronavirus guidance.

JPMS^™ has announced Michaeline DeJoria has been named Chief Executive Officer and Jason Yates to President of the company.

Michaeline began working at JPMS in 2007, starting on the production plant floor and following in nearly every department of the business. Ultimately, this led to her role as Vice Chairman, where she has directed the company’s future development for all brands.

Along with bringing extensive experience and expertise to her new role, DeJoria also brings a millennial edge as one of the industry’s youngest CEOs. Jason has been with JPMS since 2012 when he served as the Vice President of Marketing and later expanded his leadership role to include the sales department. In 2018, he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer.

In their new roles, Michaeline will be responsible for driving and directing overarching brand strategies across product, marketing and digital to usher in a new era of innovation, while Jason is continuing the work of operational efficiencies worldwide.

As of today, 15^th of March, hair and barbering services can resume practicing throughout Wales. Hairdressers and barbershops have been allowed to reopen strictly on an appointment basis, and only for ‘services that relate to cutting or treating hair on the head.’ Other barbering services such as shaving, waxing, threading etc, are still restricted as they fall under the ‘high risk zone.’ Other beauty services are projected to not reopen until the 12^th of April.

Mobile services can also resume from Monday 15 March, but only if there is not a ‘reasonable practical alternative to a home appointment,’ such as if the client is unable to physically leave their home, or if leaving their home might have significant detrimental effect on the wellbeing of the client.

Hairdressers/barbers also must wear a Type II mask and face visor for the entire time they are in a client’s home, and salons and barbershops must comply with Coronavirus Regulations set, such as maintaining physical distancing when possible, and using PPE properly and consistently.

For more information see the Welsh Government Guidelines for Hairdressing  and Barbering

The First Minister for Wales, Mark Drakeford, has today announced that hair and barbering businesses, including mobile, will reopen from Monday 15 March. The decision means that beauty businesses (that is close contact services, which includes nail salons and eyebrow bars) must remain closed until 12^th April, in line with England’s re-opening of non-essential businesses. The current measures are reviewed in three weeks’ time.

While pleased that those in hair and barbering can begin trading again from Monday, the NHBF is deeply disappointed with the Welsh Government’s decision to stagger the reopening of the sector without providing any scientific evidence to support the move.

The NHBF has stressed the damage that such a move will do to public confidence in the beauty sector and is continuing to make the case for the whole personal care sector to be reopened as soon as possible.

• What Welsh hair and barber businesses need to know:
• Services that relate to cutting or treating hair on the head can be provided. 
• Trimming or shaving facial hair (for example beards, moustaches or eyebrows) is not permitted. 
• ALL other close contact services will remain closed in Wales until further notice. 
• Staff should wear a Type II mask and a clear visor that covers the forehead, extends below the chin and wraps around the face.  
• The mask and visor are in addition to the PPE you normally wear when carrying out treatments, for example gloves or aprons.  The government guidelines also state that the most effective methods of preventing transmission of the virus are still social distancing and regular handwashing.  
• All hair and barbering businesses in Wales, whether premises based or mobile, must operate on a strict appointment-only basis. The guidance for Wales states that you should ask clients for each client’s contact details on the day of their appointment to help with the government’s ‘Test, Trace, Protect’ service. 

Financial Support

• The business rates holiday has been extended for the rest of the financial year.
• Personal care businesses that pay business rates and have to remain closed will be able to claim for a third grant of between £4-5,000.
• Those who have previously received a grant from the Business Restrictions Fund will receive the payment in March.
• Any business which has not previously claimed can register with their local authority from Monday 15 March until 5.00pm on 31 March.

The NHBF is pushing for further financial support for businesses which remain closed, those who either will face a significant shortfall or for whom it is not financially viable to reopen if they cannot offer full services.

Richard Lambert, NHBF Chief Executive said “The fact that hair salons and barbershops, as well as mobile stylists, can get back to work is good news, but we are baffled by the decision to phase the reopening of our whole sector.  There seems to be no clear explanation or evidence for delaying the beauty sector re-opening.  It’s like allowing bookshops to re-open but keeping the non-fiction section closed.”

“These businesses are literally on the brink.  We know that financial support from the Welsh Government, whilst welcome, is just not meeting the fixed costs businesses have going out each month. We have lost ten per cent of the industry already, with more to follow unless we can get doors open and money coming in. If the Welsh Government is adamant that this is not yet possible, then they must ensure that financial support gets through to these businesses in dire need before more go under.”

The NHBF is pushing for further financial support for businesses which either will face a significant shortfall or for whom it is not financially viable to reopen if they cannot offer full services.

Hair and barbering businesses must follow the Welsh Government’s updated guidance which is available at https://gov.wales/covid-19-alert-levels and as previously, are legally required to carry out a COVID-19 risk assessment.

More information on the latest announcement can be found via the NHBF Coronavirus Hub at www.nhbf.co.uk/coronavirus.

The Hair and Barber Council have just announced the following regarding their collaboration with Salon Owners United:

The Hair & Barber Council (HBC) together with Salon Owners United (SOU) are forming a collaboration to further strengthen and amplify the voice of Hair Professionals and Barber Professionals throughout the United Kingdom.

As the ONLY Statutory Authority for the sector, campaigning amongst other things for mandatory registration of the industry, the Hair & Barber Council continues it’s work with industry and the Government representing it’s 10,500 registered members, Associate and Corporate members, and together with Salon Owners United 5,500 members, will work closely together to ensure the voice of our sector is heard.

Keith Conniford, Registrar and CEO of the Hair & Barber Council said: “We are delighted to be working closely with Collette Osborne and the members of Salon Owners United who share the same passion and mission to ensure our sector attains the professional status it both needs and deserves. We greatly admire Collette’s huge commitment and energy she has for our industry, together with the knowledge and experience she brings, together with her members, to this collaboration.

“Based upon mutual aims and trust, with no agenda other than the betterment of our great industry, our joint aim is this collaboration will grow and become more formal in the months to come. Our industry has been hugely impacted by Coronavirus, and never before has the industry needed a more united voice for Hair Professionals and Barber Professionals!”

Collette Osborne of Salon Owners United said: “If the pandemic has done anything it has exposed the fault lines and weaknesses in our industry, so I believe if we are to recover stronger, we need to have one collective voice, which we can use to invoke the change much needed to provide us with a sustainable future.

“The Hair & Barber Council and Keith Conniford have been a tower of strength to Salon Owners United throughout this crisis being my one trusted source of support and guidance for our members when they needed it most for which I will be forever grateful.

“I am delighted to be working alongside Keith Conniford for whom I have the utmost respect both personally and professionally and through our collaboration I can honestly say we will work tirelessly for the hair and barbering industry just as Keith has done for many years.”

The Hair and Barber Councils strapline is ‘Shaping the Future Together’

Together we are stronger – One mission – One voice!

Following the budget announcement, the recognised official charity of the professional hair and beauty industry, Hair & Beauty Charity, has released its current support figures, “Since the third lockdown this January, we have seen a worrying 227% increase in requests for financial support during January and February, based year on year.  Even after today’s announcement and the 12^th April opening date in the roadmap, we know that our support will be required for months to come,” explains Hair & Beauty President Samantha Grocutt.

Hair & Beauty Charity was first established in 1836 as the Hairdresser’s Orphan Fund and has continued to support hair and beauty professionals who have been affected by illness, disability, bereavement, homelessness, domestic violence, or financial hardship.  During 2020, the charity saw an extraordinary 148% increase in requests for help and increased the financial contributions to those in the hair and beauty industry by 70%. 

“Today’s budget announcement has some positive news for our beneficiaries – especially those who were self-employed in 2019 and have been part of the three million who have fallen through the net of government financial support to date.  Approximately 62.5%* of the professional industry is working in a self-employed capacity. Our charity has been vital to support for them, so we’re pleased that there is now financial support available for those who need it and who meet the requirements for qualifying.  However, we also know that many of the beneficiaries we are helping with financial support still may not qualify for the new self-employed support as many were self-employed in July 2020 either by losing their jobs or having their employment status altered.  We have ring-fenced funds to continue supporting them.

“Further, the news that the sector’s lobbying for a VAT reduction to 5% has not been accepted will also affect salon owners who have been significantly impacted with almostnine months of salon closure.  This cut was previously awarded to the hospitality sector and has now been extended, despite the hair and beauty industry being 1/3 of the size and VAT paying salons employing half of all those people working in the sector.  The charity is still very much a life-line for our industry and will continue to help those in financial need as we have for more than 180 years,” concludes Samantha.

*From Office of National Statistics July 2019-June 2020.  Hair & Barbering is 60% and Beauty 65%

To donate visit: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/relieffund

The NHBF has released a statement welcoming the support for the hair & beauty sector in Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget as a success for its lobbying efforts over the past year.

Personal Care is one of the only sectors due to re-open in Step 2 (currently expected from 12^th April) where businesses will be eligible to receive a one-off cash grant of up to £18,000. Details on how to apply will be announced in the next week.

Salon owners will also be supported by:

• Furlough (Coronavirus Job Support Scheme) being extended to September 2021 across the UK. 
• A new UK-wide Recovery Loan Scheme to make available loans between £25,001 and £10 million to help businesses of all sizes through the next stage of recovery.
• Small and medium-sized employers in the UK will continue to be able to reclaim up to two weeks of eligible Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) costs per employee from the Government.
• In England, business rates relief of 100% until the end of June and then a discount of two-thirds until the end of the year.
• Corporation Tax will remain at 19% until 2023, staying at this level for those with profits of £50,000 or less. It will then be tapered, with only those generating £250,000 or more in profit being charged 25%.

For self-employed hair & beauty professionals:

• The UK-wide Self Employment Income Support scheme is being extended to September 2021, and everyone who filed a tax return in 2019-20 is now able to claim for the first time. 
• Those whose turnover has fallen by over 30% can claim 80% back and those who have lost less than 30% of turnover can claim 30%.

Local authorities in England will also be given an additional £425m to support businesses who have fallen through the gaps in support and may not be eligible for restart grants.

Richard Lambert, Chief Executive, National Hair & Beauty Federation says, 

“We welcome this budget. We’ve worked hard to inform and educate the government about our sector, particularly through our recent report, An Industry at The Sharp End.  Their improved understanding is reflected in the whole package – above all, in securing the higher grants for Personal Care.

“We were worried that the most vulnerable in our sector would find it hard to survive to re-open, but both the Restart Grant and further funding for the self-employed have thrown a lifeline to struggling businesses and professionals.

“We will continue to press the case for a short-term reduction in VAT to help the hardest-hit hair & beauty businesses to recover.”

BABTAC, British Beauty Council, NHBF and UK Spa Association have been working as part of a COVID Coalition to make a case to Government for the need for targeted support for our sector. This has included formulating a robust and fully costed proposal for an immediate recovery fund for the personal care sector and a cut in VAT to five per cent once reopened in order to counter the effects of working at reduced capacity due to social distancing requirements. The Coalition continues to work together for the good of the sector to campaign for improvements in recognition and support for our sector now and going forward.

Full details of the budget can be found on the Government website.

HQ A trend offering that takes old-school barber techniques to new heights

American Crew®, the Official Supplier to Men, introduces The 2021 Collection: HQ, a new collection of techniques that fuse clean editorial silhouettes with dramatic, exaggerated shapes. HQ, short for Height Quotient, is inspired by the military crew cut while paying homage to the nineties film and music eras.

 Embodying the perfect harmony between austere aesthetics and solid fundamentals, the curated program consists of six cuts and offers styling options for various hair densities and textures. With a focus on tapered barbered fades, HQ capitalizes on height as a level for disciplines and diverse creative expressions.

 “Men’s style is constantly evolving. By taking a step back from the meticulously groomed look, we are seeing a resurgence of dynamic shapes and texture—and our HQ Collection celebrates just that,” said American Crew Founder David Raccuglia, “HQ is a bold barber-centric collection that allows stylists to adapt any texture or type of hair to achieve the style their client desires. I absolutely love the fact that the shape of a haircut can cross into so many cultures.”

YAH YAH

Highlighting Yah Yah’s incredible texture, this cut features a strong square and tall technical shape throughout the front whilst focusing on a curved silhouette and a blown out, non-textured finish. The razor fade exaggerates a clean blend of skin to hair in the perimeter for strength and scalp exposure.

Product used: American Crew® Ultra Gliding Shave Oil, Lather Shave Cream, Revitalizing Toner and Prep & Prime Tonic

 ANDREI

Andrei’s silhouette driven cut is a 90’s movies styling journey. Inspired by iconic looks featured in Rocky and Top Gun, and utilizing American Crew Boost Powder for extra volume, the hair is styled using an upward momentum to create the dramatic shape.

Products used: American Crew® Prep & Prime Tonic and Boost Powder

VIN

Vin’s structure contains a concave interior to recreate an editorial version of the traditional 50’s flat top. The strong silhouette helps build the exterior, exaggerating the clipper over comb enhanced interior, while the texture and separation results in a structured yet broken finish.

Products used: American Crew® Prep & Prime Tonic, Firm Hold Gel and Molding Clay

To learn more about the looks from the HQ Collection tune in to the digital launch on March 1st, 2021. Details to be released on @AmericanCrew on Instagram and Facebook, and www.americancrew.com

American Crew is also hosting a Facebook event HQ Collection / 2021 Trend Collection Launch at 4pm UTC www.facebook.com/events/168410511587858/)

The historic Italian shaving brand Proraso launches social media videos in the United States to capture and celebrate the authenticity of the barber-client relationship and establish leadership on the US market.

‘What’s Next’ is the new US social campaign by the Italian shave brand Proraso, intent on attaining a leadership position in the US market and the world.
Proraso was founded on core brand values based on tradition, loyalty, respect, comfort and trust… synonymous with the relationship individual clients have with their barber. Like an artist’s brushstrokes, the barber’s every gesture is precise and methodical, almost rhythmic – establishing much more than a mere routine, but rather a grooming ritual, the steps of which the client then comes to expect in same order every time, always knowing what’s next.
For the initial launch, some of the best barbers and barbershops – not actors or studio sets – in Boston, Los Angeles, New York and Salk Lake City were selected to be featured in the videos. Even their “co-stars” were chosen from among they loyal clientele. Moreover, all the barbers involved were already enthusiastic about using Proraso shaving products in their trade on a daily basis.
These stories are intended to remind us that barbers are the heart and soul of the shaving industry. Real people, real products, real feelings… dedicated to making men look their best and feel good about themselves, restoring self-confidence and re-energizing them for a day’s work, a special occasion, an important business trip, a vacation, or just a relaxing day at home. After a perfect shave, you’re always ready for What’s next….

proraso-usa.com/new-york-city
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proraso-usa.com/salt-lake-city
proraso-usa.com/boston
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