Durban hairdresser fears for 30-year-old business as lockdown continues
|Published
Shamain Pillay at one of her first salons in Reservoir Hills. Supplied Shamain Pillay at one of her first salons in Reservoir Hills. Supplied
Durban - Shamain Pillay misses making people look and feel beautiful. She was 19 when she decided to study hairdressing, and for 30 years, she has chopped, trimmed, coloured and treated dull, dry and limp hair.
During the lockdown, the 49-year-old, like other salons and barber shops, has been unable to open.
This sector has still not been deemed an essential service under the amended and slightly relaxed lockdown regulations that came into effect on May 1.
And her salon, Hair on 555, on Mountbatten Drive in Reservoir Hills remains closed, and this has impacted her finances.
“I was 19-years-old when I started working for Shirley Naidoo, a popular Durban hairstylist, and I thereafter, worked for another hairdresser in Reservoir Hills,” said Pillay.
“During this time, I decided to study hairdressing and enrolled at eThekwini College. At 21, I opened my first salon, Salon Status, at the RB Shopping Centre in Reservoir Hills.”
She said for the next two years, she worked to build her business brand.
“At 23, I had a good clientele, and had created the brand I set out to achieve.”
For over 20 years, she worked in the Reservoir Hills community.
In July 2018, Pillay opened Hair on 555.
“Making women feel good about themselves is what I live for and not being able to do this during the lockdown, has been a struggle.
“A hair salon is not just a place to just get your hair done. It is a place where one can release pent up frustrations and unwind.
“Hairdressers wear different hats. We are stylists and therapists.
“We make people feel amazing on every level. Going to work, also made me feel good about myself, so being at home has been tough.”
But thinking about the financial implications of the lockdown, and whether the salon will be able to sustain itself, plays on her mind.
“Honestly, I don’t know what is going to happen. People everywhere are suffering. I know there will initially be a demand by customers to have their hair done.
“I have had customers call, wanting to know when I will open or if they could come to my home to have their hair done.
“I told them I can’t because it is not safe, and that they would have to
wait.
“But when life resumes, and the finances are further impacted, what happens then?”
She said the landlord at her workplace told her she did not have to pay the rental during the lockdown.
“He said he understood it would be difficult, but I wonder about his own expenses.
“I also worry about my assistant, who I am unable to pay.”
Pillay has had to use some of her savings to make ends meet.
“But, thankfully, my son, who lives with me and works at a pharmacy, pays for the groceries and the rent,
and reassures me everything will be okay.”