The New Man Cave: Men at the Spa

Once considered primarily for women, men are finally figuring out what they’ve been missing at the spa.

By Irene Macabante, VP Branding & Marketing at Identity Hospitality

While women all over the world have been staring and their hands and feet wondering when they’ll ever get a mani-pedi again, nail salon owners have been anxiously awaiting word from local officials when it will be safe enough to reopen and serve their clients. By now, most know that it won’t be business as usual, and many changes must be made to ensure the health and safety of not just guests and staff, but of society at large. If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that we all need to take science-based safety measures to prevent infection transmission. In the business of nails, it was important to have medical-grade sterilization before and now it's absolutely essential.

Bare minimums are a thing of the past.

For the salon owners who previously only carried out the state- and board-mandated minimum requirements for disinfection – this isn’t going to cut it any longer. It wasn’t good enough for your guests before, and it won’t be safe enough for them now. We have witnessed poor hygiene practices so many times in the past, even in high end nail salons, during audits (also known as mystery shopping) and as guests. Just one look at a jetted foot bath or a Barbicide jar was enough to stop us dead in our tracks from getting a service at that particular establishment.

As we continue to measured reopening Nail Salons, it’s critical we provide evidence-based guidance to businesses so they can keep their employees and customers safe. It was important before to have medical-grade sterilization and now it's essential.

We have gone as far as certifying one of our team members, which has undertaken training for infection prevention and control in professional beauty salons and spas to properly carry out disinfection practices that keep clients and staff from germs and infection. The products are odor-free, non-irritating and environmentally-friendly making them safer for users and the planet.

Business Process Adaptations

• Limit the number of customers to 50% of fire code capacity, and practice strict social distancing between customers

• Services will be offered by appointment only; no walk-ins