VIDEO: Glasgow hair salon is completely transformed for Covid-19 as it prepares to reopen

Women (and men) across Scotland have been patiently waiting for 15 July, as hair salons will finally be able to sort out their lockdown mops.

While those lucky enough to have upcoming appointments have been dreaming about fresh, glossy hair, their hairdressers have been working hard behind the scenes to ensure their businesses are Covid-19 secure.

The Lunatic Fringe, a popular Glasgow salon which is nestled away on the leafy Bank Street in the West End, looks no different on the outside.

Yet, inside, it is almost unrecognisable, with screens separating the hair stations – which have been halved from eight to four for social distancing – and even covering the sinks used for hair washing.

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“We’ve also taken away the waiting area, so now people will have to wait outside until their stylist welcomes them in,” explained Liza Harper, 46, who owns the salon with her sister Shireen Inglis, 41.

“But, we want our customers to be happy and have a pleasant experience, so having a clinical screen which looks like you’re in an office was never going to work for us. That’s why we went with pretty pink ones that go with the decor and make the place look nice, and so you don’t feel like you’re not in a salon.”

Liza said transforming the salon – which has been open for 15 years – took a lot of work, but it was really important that they did “everything and anything” they could to keep both their staff and their clients safe.

When The Lunatic Fringe opens its doors from Wednesday, stylists will be wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks, visors and disposable aprons, as they tend to their clients’ hair.

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They will sanitise all equipment, like hairdryers and seats, between appointments and a single member of staff will deal with each customer throughout to limit contact.

Customers will also play their part, and as well as wearing masks for their appointments they will be instructed to use sanitiser on arrival and put their belongings such as jackets in a bag instead of hanging them up.

Liza’s other sister runs a salon in the south of France which opened up about two months ago, so she used feedback from there, along with guidelines from the Scottish and UK governments, as a basis to modify The Lunatic Fringe.

“Already on our Facebook page you can see the reaction from our clients who were nervous to come in to the salon – they’ve said they feel much better about it now. They’re excited to be coming back, so it’s really positive. That was what we were trying to achieve,” said Liza.

She said the staff are over the moon about returning to work, despite adjusting to wearing PPE and working reduced hours to accommodate for the longer appointment times caused by the extra hygiene measurements.

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Liza said: “I’m ecstatic to welcome clients back through our doors, I’m so happy. We’re a tight team and all the girls are super keen to return. Lockdown has been tough for everyone, but we have to get back to normality.

“We hope everyone will be understanding that this is a new way for us, too, and we have to work together on this. We’re very lucky that lots of our clients have been coming for a long time and know us all very well so it’s not going to be as difficult a transition.”

When the Scottish Government confirmed the date for hairdressers to reopen, The Lunatic Fringe took on the mammoth task of calling up their regular clients to book them in.

Liza likened the experience to feeling “like Santa”. She said: “Phoning up the regular clients and saying they could have an appointment, after the doom and gloom of lockdown, was so nice – it was great to be giving them such good news!”

The salon has been inundated with calls for appointments and is now booked up until mid-August.

“The demand for appointments has been unbelievable. We’ve had phone calls early Sunday morning and late Saturday night. But we’re just so happy to be coming back, so it’s been fine,” said Liza.

“I just hope that we’re not going to lose some clients as they are having to wait, as we just can’t see the same amount of people that we had before. The guidelines say you can’t have more than one person at any time in the salon with a client, when normally you would have a the receptionist, an assistant and a stylist tending to them – a bit like a conveyor belt.

“Now, your stylist’s time is taken up with things they would never normally have done. So it just means we’re doing a lot less. But, we’ve done our sums, and hopefully it should still be financially viable and we’ll still be here to tell the tale.”

Visit The Lunatic Fringe Facebook page for more information.