The Salon Sorceress

A year ago today I made a post to say I wasn’t opening back up with the rest of the salons as I feared I would put my children at risk. I’m now making a post to tell everyone that I’ve made the difficult decision to fully close The Salon Sorceress from this point forward.

Unfortunately after over a year of being so cautious that I barely even see anyone outside of my household I contracted Coronavirus last week. One by one my family are starting to test positive and they are very unwell. To say I am devastated and terrified would be a huge understatement. This has been incredibly triggering and traumatising after what our family has already experienced due to this virus.

The pandemic affected my businesses in a really negative way throughout the lockdowns but also when restrictions were lifted I just wasn’t in a position to work like everyone else I know. It seems silly to try to cling on to something that was quite clearly over at the very first hurdle with this awful virus. Not only that, I’ve gained some perspective of what’s important and it certainly isn’t working myself into the ground!

The Salon Sorceress has been one of my babies for such a long time and I am sad to say goodbye but it’s for the best, for my family and for me. Thank you for all of your support, custom, love, friendship and for making my life even more rainbow filled. None of you were just clients to me, you’ve always been more than that.

Anyway, I am boring myself now!

Stay colourful you beautiful humans ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍💗

Since the salons across the uk have reopened I’m hearing more and more about people having new allergic reactions to hair dye and other chemicals involved in beauty treatments so I decided to do some research. As a rule most salons perform skin tests every 3 months if you have not been in during that period, and every 6 months regardless of how many times you’ve had a treatment carried out during that period. I know occasionally we cut corners with regular clients, mostly because they ask us to, but it is imperative we explain the risks to them at this time.

Coronavirus attacks the nervous system, even in those who are asymptomatic. This can leave lasting affects that you might not even know about. Especially if you are one of those people who did not have any symptoms or suspicions that you had COVID in the first place. This change to the nervous system can cause new mild or extreme allergic reactions.

Every single client should be required to take a new skin test. Not just your colour or lash clients. Take it from an anaphylaxis sufferer, airborne reactions can be just as serious.

Spread the message if you work in the industry.

If you’re a client and you aren’t told a skin test is required then demand one!

Hi everyone!

Very long post here, grab a cuppa before you sit down to read my Sunday morning novel!

Firstly, I want to thank you for your patience during the last few days, while I processed the results of Ivy’s antibody test and decided what it meant for us going forward.

As some of you know her result came back as negative. I’ve mentioned before that I can’t see a way for me to safely come back to work without putting her at risk but I had thought that if she had antibodies I could possibly (with majorly reduced hours and extremely limited contact) still keep my business going and still see all of you lovely people whilst also keeping everyone safe.

I am very aware that a lot of people disagree with my outlook on this and think I’m being over cautious and I genuinely think this is because Ivy looks like such a healthy child. So I’m gonna break this down a bit for you all so you know what I’m dealing with.

Ivy has left atrial enlargement, meaning her heart has increased pressure through the left side. This causes tachycardia, exhaustion, pain, sometimes affects her oxygen levels in her blood and hypertension. As of yet the cardiologist is unaware what has caused this and she is still under investigation. Her condition is listed as “cardiovascular disease” in her records.

She has reduced lung capacity in her left lung, or “restrictive lung disease”. This is something many COVID survivors are actually left with after suffering with severe symptoms of the virus, Ivy has had this since birth due to her being a pre eclampsia baby. She also suffers with chronic asthma, these two issues together could cause a lot of problems for Ivy if she ever caught a normal respiratory infection, never mind pneumonia or COVID 19.

Ivy has kidney atrophy, this in itself wouldn’t be a major issue but one of the problems that come with this is high blood pressure, which in turn can affect her heart condition. The strange thing about this for Ivy is that it’s her right kidney which is smaller, this is very unusual and can lead to further complications as she gets older or if she becomes seriously unwell. Her left kidney works much harder to account for the shortfall with the right one.

She also suffers with secondary vitamin and mineral deficiencies caused most likely by malabsorption. Again, there are still investigations to be done with this as Ivy is on a ridiculously healthy diet and a super high dose of various vitamins but no matter what the doctors do she just does not absorb the correct amount of vitamins and minerals. This indicates there could be issues with her intestines but we are waiting for further tests.

People keep telling me that most children don’t get it as bad and asthmatics aren’t in the high risk category and I appreciate that all they are trying to do is make me feel safe but it’s just not that simple.

I hope this gives people some insight as to why I have such concerns about this virus making its way through my family. Along with this, the nightmare of actually losing two people I loved dearly, one of whom was extremely healthy and fit, at the beginning of lockdown really gave me a sense of how serious this is.

It is with an extremely heavy heart that I make this post, I just don’t see any way around this.

I definitely will not be reopening on the 4th July with my fellow hairdressers, I’m sorry to everyone this will disappoint. Trust me, I am just as gutted that this situation has not been resolved yet. I can definitely recommend loads of amazing stylists to you all, you’ll already know who I mean as I’m always celebrating many people in my industry and I’m a one woman cheerleader for certain stylists! These ladies will have waiting lists though and their regulars will be top of it so please be patient with them and kind when trying to book an appointment, just as you all would be with me. Please be aware that everything will look so differently for the stylists and things may take more time due to extra cleaning etc so some may be very stressed and tired and probably a little anxious.

Good luck to all businesses due to open, stay safe to everyone coming out of lockdown and please all be careful 🖤

A little update as I’ve had a lot of messages since the government announced the reopening of salons.

I have Ivy booked in for an antibody test tomorrow afternoon, depending on her results I will update you all again in a few days.

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding at this time, as always, I appreciate you. Hope you are all safe and well and I really can’t wait to get back to hair sorcery with you all 🧙‍♀️

This is my COVID 19 quarantine challenge For all of my clients. I am offering 2 £75 gift cards at the end of isolation. You will get entries for each task that you complete during the lockdown. Once this is lifted and we are able to get back into the great outdoors, I will leave the entries open for 1 month while I start taking appointments again. Then I will draw at the end of that month for the gift cards. I miss you all immensely and I am eager to get my hands through your gorgeous heads of hair! Hope you are all doing well and staying healthy. Please stay home as much as possible. The more everyone stays home, the sooner we “non essentials” can get back to work. This is crucial for us.

*csd= covid shut down

1. 1 entry for every appt that you had scheduled and had to be canceled during csd

2. 1 entry if you never touch your hair with scissors during csd

3. 3 entries if your color appt was canceled during csd and you stuck it out and didn’t resort to putting any color on your hair (exception is color spray or powder to cover roots)

4. 5 entries for every gift card you purchase for future services during csd (message me privately and we can make arrangements and I will mail you your card)

5. 1 entry for commenting on and/or sharing this post

6. 1 entry for sharing a picture of your COVID19 hair on your page and tagging me

7. 2 entries for every person that asks to be added to my waiting list for appointments

8. 5 entries for paying in full now for your next appointment

I reserve the right to add more entry reasons as csd continues. Check back in periodically for updates!
Good luck in my quarantine challenge. May the odds be ever in your favor

PS. If you are not one of my clients, I encourage you to reach out to your stylist. Show them some love. We miss you all as much as you miss us!

The winner of the Mother’s Day competition is Tasha Lynne and her wonderful Mum Dawn! Ivy drew the competition and I did record it but for some reason it won’t load.

Thank you to everyone that purchased vouchers and entered the competition, you were all deserving and I hope everyone had a lovely Mother’s Day despite the circumstances ❤️

Although I am out of action, stylist wise, for 12 weeks, I am still taking bookings for after this period. Diary is open from 12th June 2020, hit me with your requests, send me some rainbow hair photos to brighten my isolation, give me a challenge to work out over the next three months, buy yourself or someone you love a gift voucher!

**Public notice**

I urge anyone who is ill/ showing symptoms, no matter how mild, to call to reschedule your appointment.

There are people in my family that fall in the “vulnerable” category and I cannot risk passing this on as it could be fatal.

If I become unwell I will contact any clients booked in.

Thank you for your consideration at this time.

If there’s anyone I didn’t get around to messaging yesterday can you please get in touch again today. I took very poorly suddenly yesterday lunch time and I’m not sure if I got through all of my replies

🌈🌈🌈