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While the beauty and wellness industry is striving towards its COVID-free vision, Priyanka Parshurami reports on how leading beauty brands and experts are initiating the free vaccination drives

The COVID waves have impacted several industries across the globe. And the beauty and wellness industry too has been reeling under its own battle of survival.

Reports from Expert Market Research indicate that the global cosmetics market, which was valued at US$ 476 billion in 2020, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6 per cent and reach a value of approximately US$ 675 billion by 2026. The Indian beauty and wellness sector has employed about 70 lakh professionals and the services that this industry provides are personal and physical in nature. The very basis of salons is touch, and owing to this, several salons and spas have witnessed a shutdown, not just owing to the lockdown, but also because they were unable to survive the impact of the pandemic.

However, amid these rough tides of the first wave followed by the second, the India beauty industry came together much stronger and began initiating steps for a successful revival. One of these initiatives has been to ensure that the community is vaccinated at minimum or no cost.

MEET THE VACCINATION DRIVERS

One of the frontrunners in this initiative has been Godrej Professional.The company has announced Suraksha Salon 2.0, a first industry initiative focussing on the health, wellness and protection of the salon community.A free-of-cost vaccination drive is being conducted across more than 30 cities including Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Vadodara, Chandigarh, and Ludhiana, and the company is aiming at vaccinating 10,000 hairstylists, beauticians and salon staff across the country on priority.

Enrich Salon too recently initiated a pan-India vaccination drive as part of the Enrich War Room, and all its team members were vaccinated in just about three weeks’ time. This drive was further extended to other beauty professionals as well as their dependents. Till date, Enrich has vaccinated 1,449 beauty professionals.A few members who are in the waiting period of COVID or have medical reasons will also be vaccinated soon on priority.

Along with leading brands, there have been industry experts as well who have stepped forward to help with the vaccination. On such doyen is Kiran Bawa, Managing Director, IOSIS Wellness. She recently conducted a twoday vaccination drive at Khalsa College in Mumbai. “It is extremely important for all beauty professionals to be absolutely safe as we are in close proximity with our guests,” says Bawa. “We being vaccinated gives our guest the assurance that we are most careful about their safety. After all, beauty should go hand in hand with safety.”This drive succeeded in vaccinating 450 beauty professionals in just one day.

HOW DOES ONE REACH OUT?

Amid these announcements, the question remains: How can a beauty professional benefit from these drives?

Suraksha Salon 2.0 programme – driven by Godrej Professional – is open for hairstylists and beauty professionals across styling salons and parlours. The registration process is simple: The professionals need to register on www.cowin.gov.in,andfollow the Godrej Professional Instagram handle to get updates about the drive in their respective cities. The Instagram handle also shares city specific links to sign up. Once the registration details are received by the team at Godrej Professional, they contact the person to verify and share the vaccination slots. In addition to the vaccination, Sunil Kataria, CEO, India & SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products, says, “Suraksha Salon 2.0 programme is also providing the necessary guidance, resources and updates to salon owners to ensure safety and well-being of their staff and customers. We have also partnered with Fortis Hospitals Mumbai for a dedicated helpline where the entire process is explained to the staff in a simplified manner to avoid any sort of anxiety and confusion.” He adds that the brand has also tied up with Mindhouse, who are building the world’s largest wellness platform, to conduct a mental wellness programme for the salon professionals. In its quest to help the industry revive from the impact of the pandemic, Godrej Professional has managed the entire Suraksha Salon 2.0 by its own, emerging as among the true industry leaders.

ENSURING WELLNESS!

“‘Beauty with Safety’ should be our motto,” says Bawa. She emphasises on the need for India to set the best example to the world on how the beauty and wellness industry has taken all the hardships on themselves and have been wearing a mask through the toughest times. “The beauty and wellness industry has only and only given back relaxation, and not COVID. And, if you are not yet vaccinated then go and get your jab now.”

On similar lines, Binoli Patel, HR Head, Enrich, says, “As an integral part of the beauty industry, we have to ensure that not only our employees but our customers are safe too. We at Enrich believe that only if the staff is safe, we can cater to our customers’ beauty needs at every step.”

In addition to the vaccination drive, Godrej Professional is also conducting live sessions by Dr Manjeet Singh Arora, Consultant-General Medicine & Community Health Expert, Fortis Hospital, Mulund; Dr Rajesh Parikh, neuropsychiatrist and the author of the first book on vaccine ‘The Vaccine Book‘; & Director of Medical Research, Jaslok Hospital on myth busting, guide to vaccination and other COVID-19 related issues to spread awareness and curb misinformation. Kataria informs, “The only way to navigate through this pandemic is by supporting each other. The Suraksha Salon Programme is committed to empower and uplift India’s salon industry.”

Undeniably, this is critical as salons have opened up or are in the process of opening up and the professionals associated with these will need to be protected against the virus. Hence it is paramount that the industry acts responsibly, adheres to guidelines, take all the required precautions, and on priority, get vaccinated!

Know more about the Godrej Professional Suraksha Salon 2.0 programme.