Relax. Easier said than done, right? Wrong. While quarantine and chill may seem more like a prison sentence with toilet paper wars being the only sport worth betting on, this unprecedented time in our history can be made stress-free, enjoyable — even beneficial for your hair, skin and mind — with a few spahhh-ctacular tips to take from local beauty and relaxation experts in the biz.
Solaya Spa & Salon by The Houstonian Experts at Solaya Spa & Salon, the chic new Highland Village day spa and sister concept to The Houstonian’s Trellis Spa, suggest turning your daily skincare routine into a self-care ritual. Recommending luxury skincare line Natura Bissé, they advise taking steps at the end of the day to unwind, letting go of the day’s worries and taking a moment to focus on yourself, as in with the Inhibit Tensolift Neck Cream which assists with finer muscles and the fragile skin of the neck.
Pro tip: When moisturizing your face and neck, don’t forget about the back of your neck and ears too.
Over the last week, states, including California and New York, have required all barbershops, beauty and nail salons, and tattoo parlors to close, while nonessential services and elective procedures—meaning everything from balayage and Botox to brow lifts—are on hold for the foreseeable future. Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo put out an official call to the apparel industry to start making masks and gowns—but the beauty services industry has many of those supplies on hand already. So the nation’s nail salons, spa providers, and cosmetic surgeons have been raiding their stocks of protective masks and gloves, tapping into their distribution networks, and getting creative about ways to contribute during the current crisis.
“We made the decision to shut down all of our locations on March 17,” says Tran Wills, co-owner of the nontoxic chain of nail salons Base Coat Nails, which has locations in in Denver and Los Angeles, as well at Nordstroms in L.A., Seattle, Chicago, and Newport Beach, California. “You just can’t stay six feet away from someone doing manicures and pedicures, so we knew couldn’t operate safely.” With the salons closed, Wills gathered all the company’s supply of sterile nitrile gloves, isopropyl alcohol, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant, then started looking into ways to ferry them to health care workers on the front lines. “I was feeling really helpless and wanted to do as much as I could to help the communities Base Coat is in,” she says.
In Denver, where Wills is based, supplies were directed to the Denver Health Medical Center, which focuses on the needs of special populations, while in Los Angeles stock was sent to the Adventist White Memorial general hospital, one of the city’s leading not-for-profit hospitals. “We wanted to donate to the most in-need city hospitals in low-income areas,” says Wills, who has been reaching out to her network of nail professionals to follow suit via social media using the tagline #allhandsondeck. Tenoverten nail salon cofounders Nadine Abramcyk, Adair Ilyinsky, and Jaclyn Ferber, who have locations in New York City, Austin, and Los Angeles, made the decision to close on March 13. “We don’t know how long we will be closed for,” says Abramcyk, who donated their store of masks and nitrile gloves to Mount Sinai in New York and Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles. “As a high-touch business, it’s not just about when the government says we can reopen but when people will feel comfortable coming back in again.”
Hello friends in foot care!After the phenomenal response that we received for our Infection Prevention class, we are pleased to announce our next set of educational webinars. Footlogix® and The North American School of Podology have partnered to present you a complimentary 7-week series of free education! This is a great time to enrich your knowledge on foot care to lay the groundwork for future success. Our 7-week series will involve conversations around the skin, nails and conditions of the skin and nails of the feet followed by a series of conversations around serving specialty audiences like Senior/Geriatric Clients, Diabetic Clients, and Male Clients. What are you waiting for? Sign up today!
Many areas of the U.S. are under mandated shut down of non-essential retail businesses due to the COVID-19 / Coronavirus. This covers spas, salons, medical spas, nail salons, massage studios, yoga studios and many other wellness based businesses.
This all came on the heels of the NYC IECSC having to be cancelled due to the global pandemic. It was during that situation that we [Jenni and Barry] committed to doing whatever we could do in order to be a source of support to the entire professional skin care industry.
We have been speaking to skin care professionals and CEOs of major U.S. based skin care companies and asked for feedback as to how we could help.
Our answer……
L+A Virtual Skin Care Festival
What Is a Virtual Skin Care Festival?
We know that many businesses and skin care professionals are socially distancing. We wanted to provide a chance to create community – at least virtually.
Connection – Advice – Education – Empathy
This will be your opportunity to connect with 18 of the top U.S. skin care brands. Connect with CEOs, Company Founders, Industry Experts, and Respected Educators. They will be sharing their experiences, offering advice, offering free education, and just letting you all know that you’re not alone and that we’re in this together.
A message from the Spa Industry Association President Allan Share…
Allan here with a timely personal message and invite.
This is truly unprecedented. But, so is COVID-19.
And the way the new $2 TRILLION STIMULUS CARES Act government bill works, just passed Friday. This will be MASSIVE.
The CARES (the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act was passed unanimously by the Senate and is currently awaiting approval in the House of Representatives
This is a MUST attend emergency event for ALL businesses.That’s YOU!
This SUNDAY at 2.00pm EST (that’s 11.00am pacific for us on the west coast).
I will keep it brief…
What’s going on?
A good friend of mine Craig has assembled a top team of Specialist Accountant Advisors who are working 24/7 to figure this out and make sure small businesses get what they deserve from this $2trillion CARE ACT bill.
This is not just another webinar. This is an educational Q&A emergency meeting event.
The problem is …
It WILL NOT be just as simple as going to the bank.
The forms are currently and will be confusing.
You need to make sure you take advantage of EVERY SINGLE piece of this bill
Everybody’s circumstances are different. Get the maximum.
When: This Sunday 29th March LIVE What Time: 2.00pm EST (11.00am Pacific) Where: Zoom call online
Title: How To Get Your Rightful Share of the $2T CARES ACT. How To Register: (500 only) Click Here to Register https://rainwatertaxcpa.com/register
What You Will Learn:
There are various loans you need to apply for, even some that you don’t have to pay back if they are used for Payroll, Rent, Mortgage Interest.
Here are the highlights of what you will learn.
Loans You Don’t Have To Pay Back – Up to $10,000,000 For Payroll, Rent, Mortgage Interest
Disaster Loans For Other Business Expenses You Can Cover
Defer 100% Of Your Payroll Taxes For 2 Years
Get A $2,400/$1,200 Cash-Back Rebate On Your Taxes (Sec 2201)
Had Losses In ‘18, ‘19? Get Cash Back By Amending Your Tax Return
Business Went Down? Get A Payroll Tax Credit Up To $10,000 Per Employee
SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans – Up To $25,000 Unsecured
And Plenty More…
Make sure you come with your questions. This is a LIVE open Q&A emergency event with Expert Financial Advisors.
P.S Do yourself and your business a favor. Make sure to write down the emergency event date and time, or set a reminder on your calendar, so you don’t miss the event. And show up!
When: This Sunday 29th March What Time: 2.00pm EST (11.00am Pacific) Where: Video Zoom call.
Title: How To Get Your Rightful Share of the $2T CARE ACT. How To Register: (500 only) Click Here to Register https://rainwatertaxcpa.com/register
Disclaimer:Disclaimer:The bill has just passed the Senate and we are learning more every single hour about how this bill will be implemented and the interpretations of each component. For the most up to date information join us this Sunday.
As the trade association for the salt therapy industry, the Salt Therapy Association has requested that Congress include salt therapy facilities and providers in the economic stimulus package.
The wellness industry is vital to the economy. According to the Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness economy is a growing industry that just reported that in the last year the Spa Economy was at $119 billion. Thousands of jobs are at risk. As a result, the STA, along with other industry associations, is fighting to ensure the inclusion of salt therapy facilities and wellness facilities of all types and industry suppliers in any relief package.
When the U.S. Congress indicated that it would be working on some type of economic stimulus response for businesses and industries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the STA along with others have been communicating with local, state, and federal agencies and Washington, D.C.-based lobbyists.
Every day we hear about more cases domestically and abroad about the spread of COVID-19 also known as Corona Virus. While this article will not go into what this virus is and what it can do health-wise as there are already enough commentary on these topics in the news, we will highlight some of the ways you can survive and thrive during this outbreak and beyond.
Whether your business has already been impacted or not, it’s important to review our suggestions and see how they can be applied to your business. Doing so will help you mitigate the negative effects COVID-19 can have on your business. You may even develop some good practices that will keep your business profitable and thrive to reach your maximum potential when the current outbreak is over.
Some of your clients may cancel appointments for fear that they might somehow catch this virus at your spa. These fears are real and cannot be discounted because people actually feel this way. In many cases, the fear may not be warranted. Your clients need to hear from you. If they are going to continue to see you, they need to feel safe and know that you understand the risks at hand, are trained in sanitation and disease prevention, and are doing something about mitigating them. Explain some of the things you do to keep them safe such as but not limited to: you disinfect all surfaces, product containers, testers, surfaces, faucets, door handles etc. before and after each client; you wear gloves and a mask during services; you space appointments as to avoid having several clients in your waiting/retail area; you personally avoid exposure/public places as much as possible outside of your spa. Please review our suggestions below and apply them to your spa. We are here to help.
Communicate with Your Clients
In any crisis and especially with the current one, COVID-19, communication with your clients becomes even more important to your business. This may be the difference between surviving this outbreak or not. Here are some tips.
Don’t just rely on emails as many of your clients may not read emails regularly.
Call them personally as clients tend to value the personal touch even more in times of uncertainty. Ask them if they have read your message about what you do to protect their health. Ask them if they have questions, and reassure them.
Use text messages for shorter communication and follow ups
What to communicate
Let your clients know what steps you are taking to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19. Let them know that you understand the severity of the outbreak and their concerns. Many of your clients may not even know what you do to keep your spa clean and safe. Now is the time to let them know and make sure they know. This is very important as your success depends on it. This would include how you were cleaning before the outbreak and the extra cleaning during the outbreak after each client and what extra precautions you are taking with you and your staff. You need to get across that while the risks cannot be reduced to zero, you are doing everything possible to reduce the chance of transmission at your spa.
Focus more on retailing
If retailing has not been a big focus for your spa, now is the time to reconsider. It’s critical to find ways to sell products to your client base. Any shortfall in services revenue can be made up with retail sales. If your clients are not coming in for services as often, products can be shipped to them. Be flexible on different ways your clients can buy and receive products from you. Having inventory on hand is important as clients will want products quickly like they do when they come in for services and buy products when they leave. Offer to mail the products to them free of shipping and handling or allow them to pick up orders at your spa. You can pick up boxes at the post office to further reduce costs.
Discounting services to fill your schedule
Before you consider such an action, ask yourself this question. If you were afraid to get on a plane because you think it will put you at a much higher risk of getting the virus, would you get on the flight now if the ticket prices were 30% or 40% cheaper. For most people the answer is no. So the solution is not to discount your services but to address and mitigate the real fear your clients may have. If they feel safe and trust that you have taken the necessary precautions, they will come to your spa at your regular prices. This is not to say you don’t discount at all. Just make sure you discount for the right reasons. Discounting will not overcome fear.
Like many outbreaks before, this too will pass. Hopefully the above suggestions will make a meaningful impact on your business and the well-being of your clients.
We appreciate our partnership with you, care about your success and wellbeing, and commit to ship your orders even if the virus situation gets worse. We are taking measures to continue to do business as usual while keeping our team safe and healthy.
We’re all facing unique challenges right now, and for business owners, the stakes are particularly high. We want to offer support and help in the ways we can.
Now more than ever, we recognize that business owners may need a space to communicate and learn from one another. Over the next few weeks, Square will be hosting Town Hall, a series of webinars to help you rethink your business and access tools to better connect with your customer base.
We’re kicking it off with verticalized, virtual conversations hosted by experts and business owners in the following industries:
Food and Beverage: Wednesday March 25 at 2:00PM PST
Retail: Thursday, March 26 at 2:00PM PST
Services: Tuesday, March 31 at 2:00PM PST
Services panel: Additional panelists to be announced soon!
Jesse Lopez, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Square
If you’re unable to join us for a live panel, we’ll have a recorded version available to view here.
Our hope is that these sessions help you through these uncertain times. You can find the latest information and tools to support you and your business in our dedicated Resource Hub.
