From Anushka Sharma giving a haircut to hubby Virat Kohli to Tapsee Pannu chopping off her own hair, we’ve seen several celebs indulging in DIY personal care as the entire grooming industry has been under lockdown for the past few weeks amid the rising number of coronavirus cases. And now even though the government has permitted the opening of standalone beauty parlours and salons, the industry is far from the road to recovery. The predicament of the industry lies in the deeprooted doubts prevailing in the customer’s mind regarding their own safety. “I know the next six months won’t be good for the industry. The client is scared and is apprehensive to come to the parlour or salon. We need to work on that first, we need to work on client confidence which can only happen through education. It will take a lot of time.
We all have to work on it creating trust,” says Jawed Habib, India’s salon czar and chairperson of Jawed Habib Hair & Beauty Limited. From basic grooming like a haircut and facial to botox, nail and hair extensions, the entire gamut of the grooming industry has changed drastically. The industry, which is pegged at crores of rupees, has been terribly hit due to Covid-19. The industry, which depends on personal touch and human interaction, is bracing for the aftermath of the lockdown. “I think the big challenge is what to do right now, and what we need to do when the lockdown is lifted. What our sanitisation needs will be? What will be nontouch makeovers? We need to think how we can bring digital and AI into all of this. The morale of the people is down which makes it very stressful,” says Sameer Modi, founder and MD of the popular cosmetic brand Colour Bar. With everything connected to our social media handles via technology, it’s not just the owners of these salons and companies who are feeling the lockdown blues but also make-up and beauty influencers, as the advertisements have reduced drastically on their platforms.
“Current situation is bad; the brand budgets have gone down. The budgets have been slashed as there are no delivery happening. Brands mainly want to collaborate for brand awareness to the audience. There won’t be an ROI as no purchase will be made. Some brands are doing online marketing so that the product is out there in the buyers’ mind,” says Shilini Samuel, a digital creator. Many digital influencers are, however, trying to stay positive during the pandemic by creating educational content online. “I have started doing online makeup classes and teaching makeup every day. That way I can help people with my skills and motivate them as much as I can. I keep interacting with my brands and team members to come up with solutions. Right now, we don’t know the situation we are in and we don’t know what’s going to happen, but we can try to do what’s best,” says Saachi Bhasin Daga, an online beauty influencer. With the government giving a green signal to standalone salons and parlours, the industry is slowly attempting to revive itself. The first and the foremost priority for the industry seems to be winning the trust of the customer back.
“We will have to work with less manpower and make sure they wear sanitised gear and are safe. We were also planning to hire people who come from non-contaminated zones. We have to work on our social media skills and make sure people coming to us know it’s a safe place,” says Dr Jamuna Pai, celebrity skincare and wellness expert and founder of Skinlabs Clinic. Dr. Blossom Kochar, chairperson, Blossom Kochar Group of Companies, also believes that the most important thing is to build the trust. “People do need these things and they will finally come out. But for that sanitisation and hygiene are going to be very important.” Though the hardesthit in the industry have been the small salons and barbers who had to keep the shutters down from weeks and are now seeing a drastic reduction is footfalls. “The beauty and the hair industry needs to come together. It is a huge industry in India and we can raise a lot of fund, which can go to people that cannot afford to even open their small salons,” suggests Sapna Bhavnani, a celebrity hairstylist.