I guess it’s come to this? I by no means am a “blogger” (although I kinda used to always want to be one to be honest…) I have been at such a standstill the last month and I feel like I have so much to say, but also have no words at the same time.

For those of you that don’t know what’s going on in regards to salons in most of California, I’m here to fill you in. We were allowed to be open for SIX WEEKS after the initial 3.5 month shut down. Within that time frame, we upheld excessive safety protocol and new procedures and standards. Clients and service providers wore masks the duration of the service, double booking was no longer permitted, temperatures taken for stylist and clients, screening forms, plexiglass, no extra people, no beverages, you name it, we did it.

After months of being out of work with no or little income, we spent thousands of dollars on PPE and altered the way we do business to make our spaces safe for guests.

WITHIN THAT SIX WEEKS, SALONS DID NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE SPREAD OF COVID BUT WE GOT SHUT DOWN AGAIN.

Sounds crazy right? Yeah, because we are indoors, we had to close. But wait- it gets better! The state then turned around and said we could operate outdoors, sounds good right? At least we “get the option” to make it work… Wrong. WIth this new “option” they’ve given us, we are only permitted to do dry hair cuts outside, no chemical services, no shampooing, etc etc. Clients and stylist still required to wear masks, lots of other requirements as well (how many sides on your pop up tent allowed, how to handle vacuuming up hair, extension cords etc.) I know what you’re thinking, “But Zoie! Strip clubs are open, and THEY are indoors!!” or “But people can dine in public with no masks-if you have a mask on, what’s the problem?” Trust me, I get it, it makes no sense.

We were told we would get an update in three weeks so they could monitor the numbers, but here we are FOUR weeks later, with no updates; not even a mention of what to expect for a timeline. ***I’m finally getting to finish this blog and we are now passed four weeks with no answers. About a week or so we officially were off the watchlist in San Diego county for 3 days- which we thought was a good thing, but it wasn’t addressed by our governor until 2 days later, so 5 days passed with numbers below the watch count. Once it finally was addressed, we were told we have to remain closed for 14 days, for further monitoring.

I just really cant wrap my head around the fact that the last time we got the okay to open up it was literally like 36 hours in advance.

It feels like they’re making up the rules as they go.

I guess this all bothers me so much because we, as an industry, have been left in the dust, forgotten, ignored. It makes no sense to me how you can have 600,000 pissed off individuals literally begging to be able to work and that goes ignored. Usually the argument is that you can’t get people off unemployment and they’re milking the system. Yet here we are asking to work. Our industry has been criminalized; we have been forced to prohibition style operations or just straight up black market house calls and the ever hilarious “I know a guy” referrals.

In the grand scheme of things, I am fully aware that salons being closed is such a small problem compared to the ravaging fires engulfing basically all of California, Breonna Taylor’s murderers still not being arrested, our environment crumbling and our options for president are like bad and worse…But it is a problem that deserves attention and it is a very real issue. We are talking about people’s livelihoods here. We are rent paying, tax payers that abide by the rules and are held to such high standards when it comes to health and safety on a regular basis, all of which has completely been ignored.

It blows my mind that someone who doesn’t hold a license to do hair can operate in their garage or “at home salon” using over the counter products, advertising on FB marketplace doing kitchen haircuts can do as they please, but me, a dual licensed professional who’s held a license for almost 10 years would put my licenses and career in jeopardy while also facing CRIMINAL charges for doing so.

I honestly have no idea what the F*CK is going on and why a teenager can wear a cow suit and go promote a fast food chicken restaurant on the side of the road and be considered essential, but I can’t do my damn professional career in my place of business.

MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.

Stay rad, stay hydrated

Zoie Rose