So, you’ve been preparing to reopen your salon when lockdown is lifted, with salon PPE in place, staff shifts organised on your rota and salon hygiene procedures ready and in place.
But, have you thought about what you will be facing when clients sit down in your chair? With almost 4 months without any professional maintenance – or even DIY mistakes – you’ll need to have your full tool kit on hand to deal with your post lockdown hair clients.
Here are some of the most common hair issues we predict you will encounter, and some tips on how to deal with them…
Overgrown Roots
If you have got clients who resisted the urge to reach from the box dye during lockdown, you will firstly be thankful that you haven’t got a huge colour correction on your hands!
But, what you will have is potentially up to four months worth of root regrowth – which could translate into two inches of hair that needs to be lifted or blended in with the rest of the hair lengths.
During your virtual consultation, why not ask your client if they want to take this chance to try a new colour? A root stretch or ombre might be the low maintenance hairstyle they have been thinking of trying for a while now.
Otherwise, take a look through your client records and check you have the required hair colours, hair lighteners and foils in ready for them, as you may find yourself going through more than usual with your backlog of appointments.
Why not consider investing in the Procare 247 foil dispenser so you don’t waste too much time trimming foils when you have multiple colour appointments lined up?
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Related: Brand Spotlight with Procare
Damaged Hair
Unfortunately, you might also find some of your clients couldn’t wait for their salon visit and carried out some potentially damaging hair treatments on themselves. This might have been a botched bleach job, an attempted perm or maybe someone who’s overgrown lengths just haven’t had the TLC they were used to in the salon.
First of all, any serious hair damage should be reviewed carefully on a case-by-case basis. If bleach has been applied incorrectly, you will have to tread very carefully when evening out the colour without causing further harm to the hair. Explain to your client that this could take multiple appointments to fix to achieve the best results.
In this case, Olaplex can be a real saviour product. While it can be used during hair colour application, you can also use it before you move on to colouring as a stand alone treatment to rebuild hair strength first.
Discover: OLAPLEX Now in Stock at Salons Direct
How to Do an Olaplex Stand Alone Treatment…
1. Mix 1/2oz (15ml) OLAPLEX No.1 with 3oz (90ml) of water in a non-spraying applicator bottle. Take the client to the shampoo bowl and saturate thoroughly. Process for 5 minutes.
If your client has product build-up such as oils or silicones, shampoo first with OLAPLEX No.4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo, rinse and towel dry. Then apply to damp, towel dried hair.
2. Without rinsing out the OLAPLEX No.1 and water mixture, apply a generous amount of OLAPLEX No.2 from roots to ends and work through thoroughly. Leave for a minimum of 10 minutes. You can leave on longer if desired.
3. Rinse, lightly shampoo and if a protein treatment is needed, it should be done at this point (follow treatment directions to shampoo or rinse after), then condition and proceed as usual. It is recommend you use No.4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo and No.4 Bond Maintenance Conditioner for best results.
After the OLAPLEX stand alone treatment, clients can continue to repair their hair at home with the OLAPLEX No. 3 Hair Protector, shampoo and conditioner before returning for any further chemical or colour treatments.
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Colour Correction
It might not just be bleach that clients tried to get creative with during lockdown! Some might have dabbled with semi-permanent dye or direct dyes – having blue hair might have seemed fun while at home, but when faced with going back into work, your clients may have changed their mind!
While it might not be as damaging as permanent dyes and lifts, the pigment can sometimes become tricky to remove, especially on porous or damaged hair. Rather than using peroxide, which can further damage hair and simply drive the pigment deeper into the hair shaft, try using a colour remover such as Pulp Riot Black Canvas, Louise Galvin Hair Colour Remover Kit or Zalon Pro London Colour Remover.
If some colour still remains, you might be able to neutralise it with an opposite colour toner, or it might be best to advise your client to continue using a clarifying shampoo and deep conditioner as it fades naturally.
Fringe Cuts
As hair can grow ½ inch every month, it’s no surprise that irritatingly long fringes were among the first to get DIY chops! Instagram videos of celebs trimming their fringes seemingly with ease probably didn’t help in convincing clients to step away from the kitchen scissors.
So, as your clients return, we wouldn’t be surprised if you encountered a few fringes gone awry! While the best course of action is to wait until the hair grows back, take a look at some new fringe styles that you might be able to make use of to hide the mistakes. If they’ve been cut too blunt, see if you can soften them with some texture.
If your client has let their fringe continue to grow, perhaps you could make the most of the new length with this year’s curtain fringe style?
Find some inspiration with our blog on 2020’s Biggest New Hair Trends.
If you need professional hair supplies ready for your salon reopening, find them easily online at Salons Direct today.
More from the Salons Direct blog…
How to Reopen Your Salon or Barber Shop Post-Lockdown | A Guide to Using PPE in Your Salon | How to Use Perspex Hygiene Screens in Your Salon
