Thinking about dyeing your hair in quarantine? A Bloomington salon owner says to steer clear of store-bought box dyes.
(Emma Atkinson, WFIU/WTIU News)
Businesses across the state will now keep their doors closed even longer with the extension of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s “stay-at-home” order.
One industry that people will not have access to is salons, barbershops and other beauty service businesses. Without access to salons, some people may be looking to take their beauty services into their own hands.
Leslie Knox is the co-owner of The BeeHive salon in Bloomington. Knox and her business partner, Hannah Shrum, have had to close their salon because of Holcomb's directive.
WFIU/WTIU reporter Matt Rasnic spoke with Knox, who shared tips for those attempting to take one's beauty into one's own hands during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Rasnic: What kind of tips do you have for people who may need to do a little trim or more while they're at home?
Knox: I would say for women, if your hair is long enough, try to wear it up as much as possible so you can avoid having to get it cut or doing it yourself. A good way to help the haircut you have last longer is to do conditioning treatments on it. It smooths ends down on the bottom, and that prevents it from splitting as badly. We are firm believers in coconut oil for the hair. So we've told many clients to do some coconut oil treatments. It'll get you through until we can see them [stylists] in May.
For men, I would say have somebody trim up around your ears and your neckline just slightly and try to maintain it that way. We don't really recommend cutting your own hair. If you're going to have to do that then you need to have a person on standby to give you some feedback on what you're doing.
Rasnic: What advice would you offer people who may be thinking about using a box, at-home hair dying kits?
Knox: Stay away from the at-home dye kits, try to only stick with the temporary shampoos and conditioners or sprays only because box coloring is made cheaply because they want to get as much of it out on the shelves as they can.
So it's more damaging on the hair and they use things like metallic salts in them. And also what's more damaging is that whenever you do get yourself back into the salon and you've been using a permanent box color, the stylist is going to have to deal with blending that color with the professional brand. Or even if you've done it too much even trying to lift it out, removing it and going back and you're going to cause a lot more damage doing it that way.
Rasnic: How should people go about keeping up their nails while salons are closed?
Knox: If someone who's having to get nails filled or work with acrylics or gels and they can't get in to get that done, we do not recommend peeling them off themselves or anything like that. They can soak them in warm water with a soap base or Epsom salt base first and then try to remove them by soaking them in nail polish remover. If they can't wait the full amount of time, they could simply buzz them down as they grow. And we recommend coconut oil on nails too. That helps prevent them from getting damaged when you're removing them.
Rasnic: What would you recommend to clients looking to possibly taking on their own waxing treatments?
Knox: I would say if you're going to do an at-home wax the pre-made strips are the best way to go. You can follow the line that you already have previously. You just simply put the wax pre-wax strips on and you heat them with your hand. So you move it along and warm them up and then you can pull it right off.
Rasnic: What should clients do if they normally use salon products they cannot find at the supermarkets that are open?
Knox: If you have to use an off the store brand just off that's not professional, the only one that we really like is Dove. We've found that it works pretty well with everybody's pH in their system. So even if you have fine hair, it's not quite as heavy. Or if you have coarse hair, it does provide enough moisture.
My advice would be to contact your stylist if you have a regular stylist and see if they can order those products for you. They're going to get them at a lesser price than ordering them through Amazon as well.
Rasnic: Do you have any other tips for people at home?
Knox: Dry shampoos that are tinted are really great products to use. They have conditioning ones too, Watercolors is one of our favorites.
Not Your Mother's dry shampoo. It's not a professional brand, it's right off the shelf. I know that Kroger carries it and they still had it in stock the last time a client told me. They have three or four different tented ones like a red and a purple and a brown just like a basic and you can use those as well.
