What to Expect During Your Next Visit to a Beauty Retailer Amid COVID-19

There are a number of changes you should expect during your next shopping visit post stay-at-home orders. For starters, there will be an increase in safety and health regulations that have been set by both the state and put in place by individual retailers. "Not only are we mandated by the state to have half of the allowed occupancy, but also each client will be required to wear a mask when entering the store," Jessica Richards, founder of SHEN Beauty, told POPSUGAR. "Staff will wear face shields and face masks at all times."

This goes hand-in-hand with an increase in cleaning and sanitization, contactless checkout, and daily health screenings for employees. You also shouldn't be alarmed if stores require you to have your temperature checked upon entering — it's all to help stop the spread of the virus.

In an effort to make customers as comfortable as possible, many beauty retailers created their own list of rules to put shoppers at ease. Ulta Beauty, for example, implemented the Shop Safe Standards and Sephora the Sephora Health & Hygiene Guidelines. "We spent almost 10 weeks developing our rigorous safety and client service protocols designed to protect employees and clients while safely and confidently providing support, expert advice and a welcoming experience for all," a representative at Sephora told POPSUGAR about the retailer's 48-item long list of procedures. "While the retail environment will feel different and many factors remain out of our hands, we've learned to embrace what we can't control."

Autumne West, the national beauty director for Nordstrom added: "More than anything we really want our customers and employees to feel safe in our stores." The retailer reopened its New York City Flagship on July 10 as a part of phase three in the city's reopening plan.

If you're used to going to Ulta Beauty or the Nordstrom Beauty Haven for eyebrow touch ups or hairstyling appointments, you may want to check ahead of time if that service is actually available. While beauty retail stores have been allowed to reopen, not all personal care services have.

Sephora has decided at this time to not offer in-store treatments, while Ulta Beauty and Nordstrom's Beauty Haven have resumed select services. For the Beauty Haven, this includes dry-styling Drybar blowouts, Base Coat manicures, and Anastasia Beverly Hills brow shaping. "We're only offering beauty services in our stores where it's allowed by state and local ordinances," said West. "We are so happy we can offer our New York customers this selection of beauty services and look forward to offering more services when ordinances allow."

At Ulta Beauty, hair and brow services are also available. "Our salons are currently providing hair and brow services; some are even booked weeks in advance," said Kecia Steelman, chief store operations officer and president of international at Ulta Beauty. "We look forward to resuming skin services soon."