As Governor Tom Wolf orders restrictions on non-essential businesses to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, some with professions within the beauty industry are taking a hard hit.
Bretina Greiman who is a hairstylist at Salon Blu in York County is one of those people being cut off from their only source of income.
“It kind of went from oh it’s not that big of a deal to oh wow this is getting real now,” said Bretina Greiman.
Greiman says the mandate to close all non-essential businesses, including the salon she works at, is taking a financial toll.
“My heart went into my stomach I went into full blown panic,” she added.
While some businesses offer paid time off or the ability to work from home, Greiman says hairstylists don’t exactly have that option.
“You know we are on a commission base so if nobody comes in or we are not at work we don’t make any money,” she said.
Many haristylists are filing for unemployment in turn and leaning on each other for answers through social media.
“In the back of your head you are thinking how am I going to save the money that I have in my bank account? It’s not going to ask me forever and there is a chance I could lose my health insurance at the end of this,” Greiman added.
David Groupe who is also a hairstylist rents a chair at Meta Hair Studio in York and says he is also taking a direct hit.
“This is a big time of year for us because people who typically don’t get their hair done they have income tax checks and come in and spend that extra money,” said Groupe. “It’s definitely going to have some long term replications for us as an industry,” he added.
“It’s kind of one of those things where to me it’s the greatest career ever, but there’s a lot of stipulations and a lot of sacrifices you have to make,” said Greiman. “I never thought it would get to this point where I am like where am i going to go, what am I going to do?”