Is COVID-19 Still Impacting the Beauty Industry?
What the Beauty Pros Say About the Pandemic's Lasting Effects
This year–2022–is over halfway over. At the time of this published post, it is mid-September–which means we’re nearing 2023 pretty soon (you know how time flies in the blink of an eye).
Though COVID is still a lingering concern, it’s nowhere near as daunting as it was in 2020-early 2022. Why? Because vaccinations, natural immunity, and an abundance of caution have empowered us to return to our lives as usual (in most cases).
Salons are open. Masks are off and mostly forgotten. And most people are hustling and bustling as they normally would. If all has actually returned to normal, does that include the cosmetology industry?
In a recent survey conducted among hundreds of beauty pros, we asked several questions–one of them was specifically aimed at evaluating each person’s experience with the industry in a “post-COVID” era. When we asked the question, “are you still combatting the effects of COVID-19?” to a group of more than 300 cosmetologists, we ended up with something shocking–a fairly divided answer.
About 48.71 percent of cosmetologists said yes–they are still combatting the effects of COVID-19. The other half–51.29 percent–said no, they were not still combatting the effects of COVID-19.
Data like this is so interesting to dive into–which is why we took that question a step further. For the cosmetologists and beauty pros that answered yes, we asked them a follow-up question. Yes, COVID-19 remains a lingering issue for them–but why?
This blog dives into the top ways that these cosmetologists believe COVID-19 has impacted their industry even still–and potentially in the grander scheme of things.
The Major Ways Covid Has Impacted the Beauty Industry
It’s likely everyone has a unique answer to this question–but we found in our survey that many beauty professionals experienced a lot of overlap when it came to recurring or leftover issues from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Do any of these common impacts sound familiar to you?
Financial Repercussions Are Still a Problem
Even if you found ways to pivot and refine your income streams in the heat of the pandemic, there’s no denying that it was a stressful financial burden for almost all cosmetologists. Think about it–you were closed down for how long?
Not being able to provide services to your clients while having to maintain your costs (we’re talkin’ supplies, rent, product, salaries, etc.) was likely an enormous financial burden.
And for some, they’re still trying to figure out how to bounce back and refill those coffers. This was one of the most repeated answers we received when we asked how and why cosmetologists were still being impacted by COVID-19, even in 2022.
Last-Minute Cancellations Abound
Even though the pandemic era is technically in the past, COVID-19 still exists, people are still catching it, and it’s still contagious. That means that last-minute cancellations due to COVID are still a problem.
As empathetic people, you absolutely understand that if someone catches COVID last minute, it’s not their fault–things happen. As a professional cosmetologist, you know what kind of troublesome implications that can have on your day, your income stream, and your bottom line.
Lingering Symptoms & Impacts for Cosmetologists
You already know this, but cosmetologists aren’t superhumans–you get sick. And many of you likely caught COVID–either during the heat of the pandemic, after it, or both.
Many people–cosmetologists included–aren’t just dealing with COVID from the client side of things but also from the personal and personnel side of things. Whether it’s lasting complications from the illness, consistently re-catching COVID from continuous interaction with clients, or dealing with staff shortages because of illness.
Building Back Client Base
COVID took away a lot of cosmetologists’ regulars and thinned out their client base. Whether they were closed for too long so clients found other stylists or clients were too nervous about coming back when salons opened up, the reality is that many client bases were impacted. Many cosmetologists who answered our survey mentioned that they felt this was one of the biggest remaining impacts of COVID-19.
Leftover Covid Caution, Fear, & Anxiety
Whether this is impacting because you’re experiencing caution, fear, and anxiety, or your clients are, it’s a tough battle.
The reality is that even though the height of the pandemic is technically over and vaccinations are readily available, COVID is still frightening. Whether this impacts your customer base, traffic, or mental health, this is a recurring issue for many people in the industry.
How did you feel reading that data? Do any of these impacts or effects resonate with you? Do you have different feelings about how COVID-19 has impacted the industry, your career, or your personal experience as a beauty pro?
Drop a comment in the reply section below and share your insight.
Remember, we’re a community–we’re all here to share our experiences to help each other learn.
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Check out our regularly updated Elite Beauty Society blog here and now to take a peek at what we’ve already got on the table.
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