Since hair and nail salons closed on March 27 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become harder and harder for Meridian area residents to get that perfect hairstyle and manicure/pedicure.

Kristi Watkins, the owner of K Salon & Spa, said this time of isolation has been “heart-wrenching” for her and her co-workers.

“Our clients are like our family, but we hope to reopen soon, pending approval from state and local officials,” Watkins said. “We will have a new normal now, but that’s OK. I firmly believe that everything falls and lands where the Lord intended.”

Watkins and her stylists, who are independent contractors, are preparing to meet high standards of health and safety for their clients.

“We have ordered masks, gloves, and plenty of hand sanitizer,” Watkins said.

“Our 2,500-square-foot building allows us to have plenty of room for social distancing as well as each stylist is divided by walls on both sides of each station.”

When they open, Watkins said, clients will be taken by appointment only, and they will wait in their vehicles to receive a text signaling they may enter the building. The reception area will be closed, so there will be no waiting.

“We are helping one another through this difficult time,” Watkins said. “We are keeping a positive attitude, and we are praying our way through this pandemic. We are so blessed to be able to lift up one another. We are happy and excited to make our clients feel beautiful again.”

Kimberly Hills and her husband, Gerard, are owners of Turning Heads Hair Stylon, and she agreed.

“This a scary time. We are a hands-on business, so I just pray for all of my clients and friends affected by this,” Hills said.

After 30 years in business, Hills said this is the first time her salon has been closed completely. She, too, intends to follow proper protocol when she is allowed to reopen.

“I was spacing out clients before the shop closed, so I will be ready to take the protective measures required by the CDC and the State Board of Cosmetology,” Hills said.

Hills recalled how she has accommodated her older, more vulnerable clients.

“We call it sick chick day,” Hills said with a laugh. “I devote a day just for my more vulnerable ladies with respiratory issues or other concerns. These folks can come without fear of contracting a cold or some other bug.

“Now, I will make the same provisions every day for everyone.”

Owner of Glitz and Glamour, Rebecca Harper has felt a “double whammy” of missing her hair clients as well as feeling the impact of not being able to open her retail store.

“I just want to be super careful and follow all of the rules, but I can’t wait to see all of my great clients and customers,” Harper said.

She has masks, gloves and hand sanitizer ready. In addition, she is taking added measures to clean and sanitize the store.

Nail salons have felt the pinch of this pandemic, too.

Jill Wilder of Park Place Salon said she is ready for the wait to be over.

“We will have to be more careful than ever,” Wilder said. “Our industry has so many regulations and requirements for operation, and we will just enhance our precautions when we are allowed to reopen.”

Cynthia Fisher-Kennedy is an instructor in the Cosmetology and Nail Technician Program at Meridian Community College, and she is also the owner of Fisher’s Beauty Salon. She said her students will be well prepared for the real world of COVID-19 as it impacts the beauty industry. 

“We always practice these standards for the health and safety of our clients in this arena,” Fisher-Kennedy said. “Our state board regulates that we must sterilize our instruments, and students will be evaluated using this important criteria.”

Masks and gloves will continue to be used when students return to class, she said.

As a business owner, she said, she will wear a mask, and she will ask her clients to wear masks.

“I am not rushing; I want to make sure we are all ready to come back into the salon,” Fisher-Kennedy said.

“I love this industry,” she said. “I think it makes me a better teacher because I am in the trenches. We will come through this, and we will be stronger because of it.”