Beauty business yet to recover from COVID-19

Hyderabad: There has been a huge plunge in the business of beauticians due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though other businesses are finding ways to make a comeback after Unlock 5.0, beauty parlours in the city are yet to recover because their job involves being in close proximity with their customers.

"I've been in this business for almost all 20 years now and have never seen such a fall in business, especially during this period which is the month of Sravan. If it were better times we would have seen a rush of customers during this time. We had to shut the parlour for two months straight but it didn’t get better even after the lockdown period as the number of women coming for facial, manicure, pedicure and spa has dropped by 80 per cent,” said Archana Patel a beautician from Hyderabad.

“By this time of the year, we would have done good business since it is the wedding season. We have already lost one wedding season during the month of March and now during Sravan also we have had few customers. We are hardly able to make enough to pay the rent of the parlour. If I was earning Rs 70,000 a month earlier now I am making just Rs 10,000. The costs have also gone up because now we need safety gear and sanitisers. I hardly keep the parlour open for two hours every day and that too only when a customer calls me," added Archana Patel.

Prathima, who used to visit beauty parlours frequently, said, “I am afraid of contracting coronavirus and in parlours, all the procedures involve direct contact hence it is not safe. So it’s okay not to go to parlour until it is safe outside.”

"There has been no business for the past five months. Only one or two women come to get their eyebrows done. I am a single mother and this is my only source of livelihood. The costs have only gone up as we have to take precautions like wearing disposable gloves and masks, disposing used towels, and providing safety kits to the customers," said Anuradha, another beautician in Hyderabad.