Beauty care professionals offer at-home tips during COVID-19 pandemic
LOS ANGELES - Nail, hair and skincare shops across Southern California closed their doors as part of the statewide order to close "non-essential businesses."
Now, people who regularly go to the shops for services are asking stylists and estheticians for tips on how to maintain their looks.
Paula Mauter, the owner of Skin Studio Los Angeles" on N. La Cienega Boulevard, is selling skincare peel kits and offering video tutorials for her clients.
"I do some more aggressive peels where there is some downtime so because everyone's home and have a lot of downtime, people are calling and saying 'can I do this to myself at home?'" Mauter said.
Mauter would normally recommend clients come into her salon for the peels, but decided to make do-it-yourself kits.
"They can either do it with me, or I can just walk them through or give them the instructions to do it themselves," said Mauter.
Caroline Moreno, an esthetician at The Craft Beauty Bar in Brea is also selling products to customers to keep business going.
"Just to help them out with their skincare, giving them tips, texting them, social media is really helpful too," said Moreno.
Moreno's clients are used to going to her for care every month.
"There's nothing I can do about it at this time because I'm not in business, but I'm feeling like oh gosh their [clients] eyebrows are outgrown, or they need a facial," said Moreno.
The coronavirus closures are also impacting hair stylists.
"I know it's tough across the industry because for a lot of us, it's our only source of income," said Renia Green-Edittorio, the owner of Odessa Renia Salon.
Green-Edittorio has been a salon owner for 20 years and built a strong clientele over the years who regularly attend her salon on S. La Cienega Boulevard.
"Hair salons play a very big role in the lives of women with textured hair because so much is based on your appearance. I've been giving advice on what types of products you should use, how often you should shampoo, what tools you need to use and it's been a lot of fun," said Edittorio.
Annamarie Hinostroza is also trying to stay positive. She's a hairstylist at Sassy Do's on Foothill Blvd. in Rancho Cucamonga with faithful clients.
"I do miss doing hair and it feels so weird not working every day and making people feel beautiful," said Hinostroza.
Hinostroza's clients have been asking her for advice on maintaining their hair.
"I've been asked if I can do at home calls, but I told them as of right now I'm not going to because we need to keep each other safe," said Hinostroza.
Hinostroza also does hair for weddings, and because many weddings are being postponed, it's lost income for her.
"I feel like I'm trying to stay more on the positive side, but it's very unsure as far as if we're going to be able to come back to work," said Hinostroza.
Though it's a difficult time for people working in the beauty industry, they are coming up with as many tools and ways to continue serving their clients while preventing the spread of coronavirus.