On Wednesday when President Cyril Ramaphosa announced lift on restrictions for all personal care services including hairdressers, both owners and all women rejoiced.
Salons have had their doors closed since the beginning of the lockdown in March. Suffering major loss of income as well as loss of employment.
We spoke to Phiwe Mngadi, owner of Plush Art Studio.
32-year-old Mngadi's salon, Plush Art Studio, focuses on permanent makeup, lasering of tattoos, permanent lip colour, and eyeliner.
She's always wanted to be a businesswoman in the beauty industry, making a difference for black women. She started little by little and never had major capital for her business.
The business owner answer's a few questions on how the lockdown affected her business and how she now intends to rebuild.
Phiwe Mngadi. Picture: Supplied
How did the lockdown affect your business?
It really affected us immensely, not being able to serve clients, and they were begging us to open and just do a quick eyebrow, but we were unable to and were also scared to do so, at the same time, there was no income for the business as we were not receiving grants from the government like other sectors. it affected us more financially than any other way.
How did you cope during the lockdown?
Luckily I am a good saver, so I saved a lot of money during the good times. I used to have a lot of employees also, but managed to cut down and ended up almost working alone. I also made arrangements with my landlord in terms of payments.
How did you feel when you heard the news about the restrictions being lifted?
I was thrilled, I still am. It's like a dog that's been let out to play after it had been on a leash for months. I feel very excited, that means we can carry on with the plans we had for the year, that were put on hold for those couples of months.
It's a great feeling to have to go back to work full time and make women look and feel beautiful again. there's also the education element of it, where I teach the women to do permanent eyebrows and how to use the equipment, I'm excited to host those classes again, equipping women with the skills they can use to make their own money, take charge of their own independence.
What measurement do you intend to put in place when you reopen your business?
We have always had measures put into the practice of permanent make up, but they became more stringent when the virus started spreading before the lockdown. The spraying or usage of sanitisers at the entrance will now be a common practice, they also need to come in with their masks.
The good thing about it is that working with permanent makeup, you look at one client at a time, so it's just me and the client. we will also be sanitizing and disinfecting chairs after each client.