The COVID-19 pandemic has put beauty professionals in a difficult position. Stylists, nail techs, and estheticians have lost their jobs or income and are now facing unprecedented uncertainty. However, through these difficult times, there have been some beacons of hope.
In recent weeks, beauty businesses have banded together at the national level to lend a hand to beauty pros, offering voucher programs, continuing education opportunities, and more. Modern Salon, American Spa, and PopSugar shared some of their efforts:
- Free online education: Bellami has created a free online education program for beauty professionals to develop their skills throughout the shutdown. Bellami stylists host 30-minute Zoom sessions covering topics like pricing, marketing and hair tips. Moroccanoil Pro is also holding free digital classes for beauty professionals on their Instagram page, highlighting popular styling and cutting techniques as well as business tips. Sam Villa is providing styling classes and access to free educational resources, such as the Aspire Tour DVD Series on YouTube, which teaches viewers cutting techniques.
- Affiliate programs: Amika is among the salon product brands running an affiliate program for hairstylists. Stylists that register receive 40 percent commission from the orders their clients place. Celeb Luxury also launched an affiliate program which earns stylists 35 percent commission on every sale to their clients through the site.
- “Help Your Local Hairdresser”: Hairdreams USA launched this program, which offers 25 percent discounted vouchers to salon clients. The hairdressers then can redeem the discounted vouchers with Hairdreams USA at full value, providing them with a way to generate revenue post COVID-19.
- “The Big Give-Back”: JOICO is running this sweepstakes, a weekly sweepstakes that provides a beauty industry professional up to $1,000 to cover salon expenses. Every week from April 30 until the end of the year, a random winner will be announced.
- Support Creatives: This new nonprofit was created in response to the pandemic. They offer grants, mentorship programs, free classes, supplies, and much more to beauty workers.
We can always depend on the beauty industry to get creative — even when the going gets tough. Industry associations and businesses have been stepping up to help beauty professionals weather the crisis, and even come out of this with a few new skills. Like everyone, we’re looking forward to when salons can safely reopen.
