Barbers, beauticians wait for the day their shops can open

Morgan City hairstylist Bobbie Jo Scully said she never pictured the day when she wouldn’t be allowed to work.
“I’ve always been a worker,” said Scully, who owns A Cheveux Salon in Morgan City.
As of right now, she and other beauticians and barbers statewide have been sidelined for over a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are hoping to return to work soon.
Isiah Skinner Jr., owner of Skinner’s Barbershop in Morgan City, agreed that the time off has been miserable and a period of worrying.
Amelia Benavides, owner of Amelia’s for Hair in Bayou Vista, also offers nail services, and has had that part of her business closed, too.
“I got a lot of things accomplished that I needed to do, but that doesn’t bring in any money,” she said.
As of now, Scully said she has been ordering supplies in preparation for when hair salons and barber shops are allowed to reopen.
“It’s going to be crazy in the beginning,” she said of the rush for supplies.
She and Skinner said they haven’t received any guidance yet from industry governing bodies about what things will be like when they reopen, but Skinner has ordered a thermometer and Scully is ordering disposable capes for customers and making changes to her attire in anticipation for the changes.
Skinner said he has been watching the news and basing things off what he hears from others in the hair industry being interviewed.
“It’s hard to picture, but I believe it’s going to be difficult on us,” Scully said of what things will be like when they reopen. “I hear a lot of speculations on how we’re going to have to change up things. "
While he is hopeful his customers will wear a mask, Skinner said, “It’s going to be hard to cut someone’s hair with a mask on their face.”
Benavides said a customer couldn’t wear a mask if hair had to be dyed.
Local hair industry personnel also addressed expected scenarios of limiting clients, something that Scully said would mean less money brought in.
“It’s going to be pretty difficult and a lot of getting used to, but unfortunately, it is what it is,” she said of life after reopening.