Turkish coiffeurs: Don’t take quarantine boredom out on your hair!

As hundreds of millions of people live in total or partial lockdown around the world, personal grooming has become a problematic issue for both men and women.

In many countries, barbers, beauty salons or hairdressers have been forbidden from operating until lockdown restrictions are eased.

What this means, of course, is that many people have been forced into self-grooming and personal care at home.

Grooming is a huge industry in Turkey, and in 2012 alone women spent over two billion dollars on self-grooming.

Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, is home to at least 20,000 men’s and women’s hairdressers. Each one employs at least three staff on average.

Yusuf Yalmanci, the owner of Turkey’s famous SAN Coiffure chain, spoke to TRT World about how people care for their hair at their homes during the pandemic.

For SAN Kuafor, the pandemic has hit his company hard. The company employs 350 people, and all of them are still being paid at a cost of more than a million Turkish lira ($145,000) per month.

His company is also losing more than two million Turkish lira ($290,000) in revenue per month.

Yalmanci asked people to remain calm and not take their boredom out on their hair. 

During this lockdown, people tend to fiddle with their hair, but Yalmanci recommends that they should engage with other things, and not their hair.

Yalmanci suggests women strengthen their hair through its own natural oil which comes from the nutrients they eat daily. 

“In fact, this process is considered as an opportunity for people's hair health, in terms of a natural cure,” Yalmanci said.

However, Yalmanci adds, there are too many people who will refuse to leave their hair alone.

For that reason, his company shares some affordable home hair care remedies and suggestions from their social media accounts both on YouTube and Instagram.

“If a woman's hair is straight and needs to be dyed, she can easily dye it,” Yalmanci explained. 

However, that is a lot harder for women with lighter coloured hair or blonde hair.

“I recommend that they never apply chemicals to their hair at home, because they can face problems such as hair burning, breaking and stretching,” he added.

Yalmanci warned women that any hair missteps may result in greater costs, and they could even lose hair. He recommends not using any hair care creams on their hair higher than 7 cm from the bottom, because it may cause hair loss.

“In summary, we recommend you not attempt any professional applications on your hair,” he said.

On the other hand, Yalmanci shares some practical haircuts and natural hair care tips with customers and followers to help people through the quarantine.

He recommends an affordable and easy mixture which can help with split ends that includes cow bone marrow, Vitamin E pharmaceutical vial (Evigen oil) and Bepanthen oil.

After boiling marrow in half a glass of water (a traditional Turkish tea glass) it should be left to cool, then you add the two oils and mix and let each rest for five minutes. 

You should then divide their hair into four sections and apply the mixture to the ends of your hair before bed. In the morning wash your hair with water.

For men, it’s slightly easier than for women.

The head of the Ankara Barbers Chamber of Merchants and Craftsmen, Sezayi Kara, explained that men who could not go to the barbershop can continue their daily routines.

Kara, who advises men to grow their hair during the time they stay at home, said that they should stick to cutting the sides of their hair and above the ears to stay trimmed and give a clean look.

“The length of the hair does not make any sense any longer. But let them grow their hair outside of it. All barbers in Turkey will be waiting for them,” he added.