Nail tech reveals how her salon in Austria has adapted post-lockdown

As salons open up across Austria following Covid-19 lockdown, salon owner Cait Hill gives an insight into how the new salon landscape lies & the protocols she’s installed to stay safe…

Meet Caitriona Hill, a nail tech and salon owner from Ireland, who lives and operates from her salon, The Nail Bar in Salzburg, Austria. Due to the low infection rate in the country, Austria allowed salons to open on 4 May.

“It’s a beautiful thing to see your loyal clients walking through the door again,” Cait enthuses. “They have come to treat themselves to something that makes them feel good about themselves again and it’s wonderful to share in their giddy excitement. They’ve waited patiently and are now happy to be back in the salon and of course are placing their trust in us as professionals again.

“It’s paramount that myself and staff reassure clients that they’re safe in our hands. As a team, we are experiencing a strong feeling of elation in the salon right now and it’s really exhilarating.”

Opening up the salon was not just exciting for the team at The Nail Bar, but also quite draining too, as Cait notes, she found the first week back both physically and emotionally tough.

“In order to cope with the mass communication that ensued from the 90 clients we serviced in the first week and the pain in my arm and wrist from the nail services, I now start my day with 10 minutes of yoga to stretch out the cobwebs and again in the evening to stretch back into my personal life.

“It was physical because my body had not had a ‘salon’ workout in seven weeks and it was emotional because the clients were keen to share their experiences. Every one of my senses has become slightly heightened and exaggerated and therefore it’s more demanding than I expected.”

Focusing on delivering a positive salon space, Cait has encouraged her team to use conversation starters such as, ‘How did you spend your time?’, ‘Did you rediscover an old hobby?’, ‘Did you turn into Martha Stewart?,’ ‘What did love most about your time at home?’

“I’m keen to make sure we don’t allow any negatives to creep in,” Cait reveals. “Of course, we acknowledge the extraordinary ordeal that everyone has been through, however I feel a responsibility to protect our own mental working health, too.

“We have clients who have not had much contact with others and since our job is very tactile, I feel honoured to hold someone’s hand and in some way make them feel loved. We always finish each treatment with a lovely hand massage to say ‘thank you’ as it’s the little things more than ever that count now.”

On the financial side of her business, Cait reveals, “The hours we’ve lost by not working can never be returned, including the profit that will never materialise. However, rather than focusing on this aspect, I’ve found it important to accept it and understand that I can only try and recoup losses with retail sales. So now we’re open, we are taking time to upsell.

“We offer quick nail art, an eye mask with a mani/pedi, an extended hand/foot massage and sell cuticle oils, body lotions, foot/hand creams and most importantly we re-book each client before they leave!”

Hygiene matters

Another area of the salon business that has been affected and has been successfully addressed by Cait and her team. “Since we must thoroughly disinfect after a client leaves, I have now put aside 10-15 minutes between appointments. Undoubtedly the clients are interested in the salon’s hygiene protocols and the steps we’ve taken to keep them and ourselves virus-free. So, we share our disinfection plan with them, as it has proved to be very reassuring for them.

“The only real differences that we’re experiencing in terms of introducing new measures is that I’ve placed white board partitions between the desks that are a metre apart (due to Austrian guidelines of one metre social distancing), we use one file per customer (with the cost added to the service for this) and clients must wear a mask in order to receive a treatment.

“My team and I have always worn gloves and masks; the washable N95 respirator Vogmask, but these are currently out of stock and since my skin gets terrible friction burns with paper masks, I needed to find an alternative before we opened. I got really lucky. Since ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ a client of mine who owns a small luxury fashion label, has her seamstress’ busy making functional PPE for donation to frontline workers during the shortages. It was here that the Swarovski mask was created.

“Designed with layers of sustainable materials such as bamboo, viscose, lyocell, organic cotton, these masks are then impregnated with Silvadur, an antimicrobial technology that kills or slows the spread of microbes or microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, protozoans as well as fungi, mould and mildew.

“The treatment also inhibits bacterial growth and the build up of microbes on fabric surfaces. Another great feature is that the material is non-toxic/non-sensitising and non-irritating to skin. Since I wear it all day, it needs to be safe and comfortable. It’s not a respirator and is not N95, it is however in the process of receiving official certification.

“I personally feel very protected against dust and any other nasties floating around. It’s washable at 60 degrees, so have two on the go and I alternate during the week.”

The mask is available in black, white & taupe with Swarovski crystals (£53) or without (£26.50). Scratch readers can use code CHILL10 for a 10% discount.

Cait Hill will be joining Scratch on Instagram Live on 15 May at 12pm GMT to answer any questions from fellow techs.