As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, hair stylists are cringing at pictures of home haircuts, also now known as Corona-cuts.
On March 26, the city of Edmonton closed all hair salons and barber shops because of social distancing rules.
One day later, on March 27, the province of Alberta announced restrictions and closures of some non-essential businesses.
Weeks on end at home have led inexperienced cutters to take matters into their own hands.
Seham Elkadri, owner of The One Salon in north Edmonton, said as tempting as it may be to grab the scissors (or hand them over to someone else in your home), you may regret your Corona-cut once the pandemic is over.
“Don’t cut, don’t cut. Whatever you do, don’t cut!”
Elkadri said the nine stylists at her shop are hoping the pandemic restrictions don’t last much longer and her advice, especially for women, is to put away the scissors.
“It’s going to be a lot more work for us to fix when everything resumes back to normal,” said Elkadri.
If you insist on a trim, Elkadri recommends cleaning up around the hairline, but warns to keep it to “just a little bit.”
Elkadri said despite being ordered to close her salon for in-person treatments, she has had calls from desperate clients wanting help to cover up grey roots.
The One Salon decided to do curb-side pick-ups or home deliveries of root touch-up kits.
“No toners, no bleaching, no foiling, none of that,” said Elkadri, “just strictly people who want to get by through these hard times with their grey coverage.”
Elkadri said the orders have been coming in fast and furious — she just shipped dye kits to customers in High Prairie.
“It’s very important that people still feel some kind of normalcy.”
Elkadri said she is doing video calls or leaving instructions in the pre-mixed kits on how to apply the root touch-up safely.
That being said, the owner of the salon said if you’ve always wanted to try au naturel, now is the time to “embrace” the grey.
Hair stylists across the country are heading to social media to share do’s and don’s while stuck at home.
Stylist, Janine Holmes showed how to cut your kids hair on The Morning Show, with host Carolyn MacKenzie.
Global Edmonton anchors are also contemplating what to do with their grow-in.
Elkadri only recommends cutting if you have the confidence, and said before you snip, remember this:
“Once it’s off, you can’t put it back on.”