FINALLY!
The information we’ve all been waiting for….
Thank you for being patient as we learn to navigate these choppy waters. I appreciate the kind and supportive emails and phone calls. The kindness of others encourages me to press on, despite the challenges we are facing.

As many of you know, I have been a one-man band since March.
Wednesday, I got most of my front desk back. We are working hard to get the schedule sorted- thank you for your patience. We will begin answering phones on Saturday; until then we are making outgoing calls only. If we do not answer the phone when you call, please leave a message; we anticipate our new protocols will keep us engaged with what is required in house.
We will return all calls by the end of each day. You can also email us at essencebeautyretreat@gmail.com

Essence will re-open on Saturday, May 9. Our life at the salon is going to look vastly different for the coming weeks and months due to strict rules and regulations designed to protect clients and stylists alike.
We are all working hard to learn and implement new requirements and protocols so that we can safely and lawfully open our doors. As a
licensed personal service establishment, we are governed by DORA and CDHPE and will follow their regulations unless the state or county puts
forth a more restrictive regulation, in which case we will follow that.

Please read this entire message and follow
our new (and hopefully temporary) protocol.

Arrival
·   All clients will have their temperature taken before entering the building. Per CDC guideline, if you have a temperature of 100.4 or higher, we will have to reschedule. We will also be monitoring our temperatures daily for your safety and ours.

· Additionally, all clients will be screened for symptoms before entering the building. If you have 2 of any of the following symptoms, please reschedule. Dry cough -Sore throat -Shortness of breath -Loss of taste or smell
If you are experiencing 2 of these symptoms upon arrival you will be rescheduled. We will also be monitoring our symptoms daily. To protect the health of everyone, no exceptions will be made.

· Per order, we will be limiting the number of people in the salon to 10. Please do not bring anyone to your appointment. We cannot permit them inside the building.

· When you arrive for your appointment, we ask you to kindly wait in your car or practice social distancing outside.

Please text your first and last name to
303-345-5176
to alert the front desk you have arrived.
You will receive a text response when we are
ready for you to come to the front door.
 
·   If you do not have a cell phone, knock on the door. Per regulation, you will not be welcomed inside until your stylist is ready and the number of people in the building allows.

·   We ask you to please be on time and be patient with us if we are running a little behind, due to added cleaning and sanitation set up. While much of this is old hat for us, enough has changed that we need a little time to get into our new groove.

Required PPE and Social Distancing

·   Clients must wear a mask at all times- no exceptions. Please wear a mask that loops behind the ears; we cannot do our job if your mask has a strap around the back of your head. We have a limited supply of disposable masks for anyone who does not have an appropriate mask for their service. Disposable masks are in high demand right now; if we run out and cannot get more we will have to reschedule anyone arriving without an appropriate face covering.

· No snacks or beverages will be available or allowed in the salon due to the mandate of everyone being in a mask at all times. Please be prepared for this with something in your car for just before/after your appointment. Sorry for the inconvenience.

· Staff will wear a mask at all times. You may notice some staff wearing face shields. This is not required but considered to be a good practice during certain services. Any staff member that chooses to go beyond required PPE is welcome to do so.

· Service providers will always wear gloves when feasible. One exception will be when we are cutting hair. In this case, we will wash our hands meticulously before and after.

· There will be food grade gloves available at the entrance of the salon for client use- this is not required. However, we ask that you use hand sanitizer, or wash your hands in the restroom upon entering the building.

· You will notice stickers on the floor throughout the salon. These stickers indicate 6-foot social distancing measures. Please respect social distancing protocol. The only person you should be less than 6 feet from is your service provider when they are working on you.

· There will be a maximum of 3 stylists working at any time. Work areas will be staggered which means you may be in a different chair than normal. This is by design to keep everyone at a safe distance from each other.

· Our shampoo bowls are not six feet apart. We have built temporary dividers in between them to increase your comfort level.

Retail and Checkout
·   We are happy to get you set up with all your home-care needs. We ask that you please do not touch any of the retail without assistance. Your stylist or the receptionist will be happy to grab what you need. This will help us limit and keep track of what is being touched in the salon for cleaning.

· Per the CDHPE order, we are expediting checkout by making it as touch free as possible. We are asking clients to put their credit card on file before their appointment. Our software system encrypts your card number immediately, ensuring a safe transaction.

· We will still accept checks from established clients.

· We are STRONGLY discouraging cash right now.

·     There will be a plexi-glass sneeze guard at the front desk. When
approaching the desk, please position yourself so that you are on the opposite side of the shield from the receptionist.

Sanitation and Disinfection

·   We will all be working together to continuously clean and disinfect the facility throughout the day.

· All equipment and tools will be disinfected between clients. Please note, we all have multiple tools. If we are running behind and do not have time to disinfect a tool right away, you can rest assured we are using an alternate tool that is clean and ready for use.

· There will be disinfecting wipes available at all entry and bathroom doors. Feel free to wipe down the handle (or anything else you may have concerns about) if you feel inclined. We will be cleaning them regularly as well.
 
Scheduling- fees and options

There are many challenges to this new way of operating. One of the biggest is scheduling. With limited occupancy and increased cleaning time, in addition to the cost of PPE equipment and extra cleaning supplies we will be adding a “safe service” fee of $5.00 to every appointment.

If you choose one of the express scheduling options listed below at the time of booking, this fee will be waived. However, if we supply a disposable mask for your service, we will charge a “safe service” fee regardless of express service.

COVID-19 Express Scheduling Options

1.         No wash - If you would like to forego a wash with your haircut (men, women, & teens), please arrive with clean hair (preferably damp) and we will use a spray bottle as necessary to re-wet it.
2.        No blow dry - If you would like to forgo a blow dry and leave wet (men and teen boys excluded), we will happily oblige. This option is not ideal for haircuts requiring a lot of texturizing or thining, or for clients having a big change.
3.        Apply and fly- If you are an established client and are having an all over color or touch up only (no foils and no big changes to your formula), we may be able to apply your color and send you home to rinse your own hair. If you need a haircut, please arrive with clean hair and we will cut first, apply your color and send you on your way.
** If this service interests you, please ask about it when scheduling as it requires a different booking time-frame and will not work for every client or every color service. If you schedule this service, please wear an appropriate top for rinsing at home and bring something to protect the headrest of your car seat; we cannot be responsible for hair color stains.
Lastly, we have a scheduling protocol available for high risk clients. If you are part of the vulnerable population, please inform the front desk upon scheduling. We cannot guarantee 100% safety and isolation, however we have given this great thought and effort. The front desk will be happy to explain this protocol to help determine if it feels safe enough for you prior to scheduling your appointment.

Thank you for taking the time to read this entire email. I know this is a lot of information to process (it is for us, too!). Please let us know if you have specific questions about anything we are doing to keep everyone as safe as possible. We look forward to seeing you and are profoundly grateful for your loyalty and trust.

Kim Taylor