How To Prepare for Holiday Season as a Health & Beauty PRO

Each professional will have busier seasons than others. If you’re a hairstylist, you’ll probably be busy around the wedding season, for example. The same goes for makeup artists.

Holidays are a busy season because there are several events to attend.

This season will look a little different for a lot of professionals. The holidays may be slower than they normally would be because there won’t be many parties or events to attend because of COVID-19. That’s not to say you shouldn’t prepare to take on clients if you feel comfortable and confident that you will take every precaution necessary to work on clients during this pandemic.

I spoke with 2 professionals in the Los Angeles area that gave some insight on the steps to take when preparing to take on clients during this holiday season.

Biaina Dalirian, a freelance makeup artist in the LA area, whose clients include Keyisha Cole and Claudia Jordan, says, “if clients reach out to get their makeup done I only have one client in the room at a time.” Biaina says she lets her clients know what procedures to take before the appointment begins. These safety measures are to keep everyone as safe as possible.

A makeup artist should know how to properly sanitize and clean their makeup kit. COVID-19 has amplified the need to keep everything as clean as humanly possible.

Other tips you should consider are a video consultation with your client to discuss logistics. Make sure they have an adequate space for you to set up your makeup kit before you get there. It might be awkward to ask, but if you’ve built a rapport with your client, you might need to ask him/her to take a covid test, and do the same to make sure you’re both taking every precaution necessary.

Makeup artists have a unique problem, they’re job is to be in the client’s face at all times, and the clients can’t have a mask on while getting their makeup done. So don’t feel bad about asking them to take a test prior to your arrival.

Makeup artists aren’t the only professionals taking clients during the holiday season. Since some salons are closed, hairdressers are also making house-calls to service their clients. Bonnie Mendez of Elle Reve Ave Salon in Glendale, CA talked to me about the challenges she faced when her salon temporarily closed. She said that services like haircuts took double the time when doing them at the client’s home instead of in the salon.

In the beginning, it was hard for everyone to navigate the unknown, but after a few months, Bonnie learned that setting clear expectations before arriving at the appointment is key. She said that at first, clients didn’t want to wear masks because they were in the comfort of their home but now, before she takes on house calls, she lets the client know that they both will need to wear a mask while she’s doing their hair. She also requires any add-ons to be discussed prior to the service because she needs to prep her kit and time accordingly.

These are tricky and uncertain times for freelance professionals. On one hand, you want to make sure you’re practicing all the social distancing guidelines that have been put out. On the other hand, you need to make a living. Experts have said that wearing a mask and practicing proper hygiene help mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus.