Beauty parlours in Bahrain rejoice over mask rule change as business expected to flourish

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Staff Reporter

Management and staff at beauty parlours across Bahrain are overwhelmed following a governmental decision on Monday to make face coverings optional for citizens and residents in both indoor and outdoor areas.

They expect the beauty business to flourish in the coming days with demand for facials, anti-aging treatments and makeup services going north from the part of customers.

Speaking to The Daily Tribune, many beauty parlour owners said demand for these services were sluggish since the beginning of the pandemic season.

“We were among the most affected businesses during the pandemic season as the majority of our customers, who are, of course women, preferred to remain indoors with very less requirements for beautifying themselves,” one of the beauty salon owners said.

“Beauty is definitely a social concept and the pandemic season saw less socialisation, especially among women, leading to a huge decline in our businesses. And, on top of this, the compulsion to wear face masks made a good number of them ignore their looks.

“Now that face masks are gone and we are hopeful that the facial beauty concerns will arise among our potential customers, boosting the sector, taking it out of the acute recession it has been facing for the past two years.” Another beauty parlour owner said the fear of getting infected with Covid-19 virus kept many customers away from visiting salons.

“We can only offer our services to people if they come here. While many other sectors had the luxury of working from remote, we were the less privileged class. There were times during the pandemic period when the income levels touched zero.

“However, there were overheads as we had to pay rents and other utility bills. Paying the salaries of our staff was also a heavy burden.” She said the mask rule change is a welcome decision, “but it will take some time before the real response from the customers come”.

“Many customers are still afraid of taking their masks off fearing Covid and Omicron infections. The fear factor is still dominant although restrictions have eased.

“Many of our customers continue to work from home, and this could be extended during the Holy Month. And hence they wouldn’t require any facial services.” When contacted, a manager at Diva Beauty Salon in Zinj said despite the rule change the staff there would continue to wear face masks, strictly adhering to Covid-19 protocols in the Kingdom mentioned for salons and beauty parlours.

Management and staff of gents salons were as well excited after hearing the news yesterday. “This is welcome news as we were struggling under restrictions. The Green Shield law was earlier strictly implemented and unvaccinated customers were not allowed inside,” Shamsuddin Moli, a hair stylist at one of the gents salons in East Riffa, said.

“Beard dressing and trimming has been one of our main services. And this would almost stop with the many men hardly caring about their beards after wearing face masks. Now, we hope things will change. We are looking forward to working on many beards,” he said with a smile.