HEALTH, BEAUTY & FITNESS
Hair Today P HOTO GRAPHY – AD RIAN MAL LO C H
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Top New Zealand stylist Danny Pato talks to Virginia Larson about desperate hair-days and leaving Covid-19 lockdown.
Hairdresser Danny Pato loves dressing up. One of the joys of the job, he says, is being able to turn up to work in a bowler hat or a baseball cap – or like now, a black trench coat over trousers tucked into long socks in a dashing update on knickerbockers. One accessory he never imagined wearing at his Ponsonby hair salon, however, was a hospital-blue, elasticised face mask. But protocols at salons under Covid-19 alert level 2 were strict: clients had to be separated, numbers limited, and track and trace records kept. The close contact of stylist and client also called for masks and industrial quantities of sanitiser for the regular cleaning of seats, bench-tops, basins and tools, and there was no complimentary coffee or wine, while magazines were BYO. Masks and sanitiser aside, D+M Hair Design quickly recaptured its cheerful buzz while following health department rules to the letter. Well, not exactly to the letter. D+M’s online health and safety message to clients had touches of Danny’s sass and humour: “We’ve missed you, but sorry, no hugs, kisses and handshakes.” And fair to say, between the “be clean” and “be cashless” instructions, the government’s guidelines for salons did not demand: “Be honest. If you’ve succumbed to colouring your own hair during lockdown, please let us know...so we can make sure we allocate you enough time to correct any mishaps.”
VERVEMAGAZINE.CO.NZ
