Under Stay-at-Home Orders, Bay Area Takes Hair Maintenance Into Own Hands

We’re more than a month into the stay-at-home orders. All the hair salons shut down weeks ago, and people across the Bay Area are starting to feel shaggy.

Even San Francisco Mayor London Breed has taken to social media to share hair maintenance tips.

Some of you might be so desperate for a bang trim or a root touch-up at this point, that listener Marcus Adams' question for KQED’s Bay Curious podcast may have also crossed your mind.

"Can hair stylists do home visits if they and their clients wear protective gear?" Adams asked. "If they do, are they subject to prosecution?"

The short answer to this question is: No. Hair stylists cannot do home visits during the pandemic.

"Violations of the health order can mean fines of up to one thousand dollars, and, in rare cases, time in county jail," said Sergeant Ray Kelly, spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, one of a number of Bay Area law enforcement agencies responsible for ensuring non-essential businesses remain shut during the pandemic.

California has more than 33,000 hair stylists, the highest number of any state, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The state does not deem people who work in the haircare industry as "essential workers" — businesses allowed to remain open during the pandemic. So the stay-at-home orders have put the vast majority of stylists out of work.

“Workers supporting the entertainment industries, studios and other related establishments, provided they follow COVID-19 public health guidance around social distancing," are listed in the essential category. However, many major talk shows like The Ellen DeGeneres Show do not appear to be employing styling services during the stay-at-home orders. (KQED Newsroom is also not employing stylists right now.)

Hair professionals are taking the orders seriously.

"One of my clients offered to come to my home," said Nicky Lynch, the owner of Fern and Cedar hair salon in San Francisco. "And I had to be, like, no."

Lynch said many of her clients have bought gift cards to pay for future haircuts now. She's applied for small business grants, and is using the time off to attend nutrition school online, but she is also offering to help clients out virtually.

"I'm just meeting clients via Zoom, showing them how to do bang trims and other stuff" she said.

With the next available salon appointment looking to be at least a month out, what is one to do to keep from being mistaken for a household pet?

Some of the more daring among us, like KQED science reporter Kevin Stark, are attempting home haircuts.

"My hair has gotten into this kind of Wolverine phase," said Stark before embarking on his very first DIY 'do. "It's just very, very puffy."

He undertook the feat in front of the bathroom mirror with the aid of his trusty beard trimmer. "Right now, I'm just trying to get around my ears, and just took a big swatch off," he said as he did the job.

Selfie haircuts are hard. But coloring your own hair can be even harder, as Trisha McFadden found out.

The Monterey County resident has been traveling to Bleu Champu Hair Salon and Spa in Oakland every four weeks for the past 20 years, where her stylist cuts, perms and — most importantly — dyes her hair.

"Red is my color," McFadden said.

McFadden is a Monterey County public health worker and church pastor who’s going into her office regularly as part of the effort to combat the virus. She said looking good has never felt more important.

"So much change happening," McFadden said. "I wanted something to be somewhat normal, which is my hair color."

McFadden’s stylist, Madrid Johnson, obligingly mixed and mailed over her ruby red color combination. He also provided advice over the phone, like suggesting she enlist some help.

Johnson's stylist told her to have her husband paint her hair everywhere that is white.

McFadden was grateful for the pointers. Except the husband part.

"Oh no," she said. "He's OCD. No way. We were going to have a fight."

McFadden said it took more than two hours to get the job done, after covering her white tiled bathroom with old sheets and adorning herself in a garbage bag cape.

"It was pretty intense," she said.

McFadden’s glad she now knows how to color her own hair. But she’s looking forward to getting back to the salon.

Meanwhile, KQED’s Kevin Stark said he plans to keep cutting his own hair, even after the salons reopen. He proudly revealed his new quarantine cut to his partner, Anna.

“OK. What do you think?” Stark said, after emerging from the bathroom.

“Looks pretty good," said Anna.

“Yeah," said Stark. "I think so, too.”