The beauty industry has taken a huge hit since government officials have ordered all non-essential businesses across the country to close to combat the COVID-19 outbreak.

Hair salons and nail salons have halted their services to the public leaving many of them without income and business altogether. Both beauty professionals and the public were quickly hit with the reality that social distancing leaves many without beauty care and others without jobs.

However, beauty app Cherie is showing their dedication to the beauty community by providing funding through the Future Beauty Fund Initiative for small beauty businesses and local beauty professionals based in Los Angeles.

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“Our vision with Cherie is to build a community around beauty lovers. Like every industry, our community has been affected by COVID-19 and we just want to play our part in supporting them during this difficult time,” said Kelly Chen, co-founder of Cherie.

Cherie is a new beauty app that provides a platform for beauty, skincare, and wellness enthusiasts as well as business owners and beauty professionals to connect and exchange meaningful dialogue about the beauty industry.

Cherie’s new initiative wants to provide relief for those beauty professionals and businesses who struggle to move forward in the midst of the global pandemic.

“Many businesses have had to rely on e-commerce to stay afloat since their offline shops cannot open due to the shelter-at-home order in California,” Chen shared. “Business owners are struggling to keep up with rent and getting their supplies.

Salih Watts, the owner of Loc Lov, shared his sentiments on how COVID-19 has affected his business.

“Majority of the burden from COVID-19 has been financial, but the most significant problem we’ve faced is the closure of both our salons,” he said. “Without having a physical location to provide services out of, Loc Lov’s Salon has had to lay off stylists and assistants.”

Shandilin King, owner of Beauty by Shandilin, also had to shut her business down due to COVID-19, which was her only source of income as a self-employed beautician.

“At this point, the only way to withstand the effects of COVID-19 is to comply with the shut down until businesses, like mine, are able to open,” she said.

As stylists and beauty professionals find ways to pivot in this crisis, many must rely on funding to help keep them afloat.

Many beauty professionals fear how the industry will change in the wake of social distancing rules.

“I’m afraid we will lose so many events and gatherings stylists rely on for inspiration like hair and fashion shows, seminars, events, classes, parties, etc., shared Shai Amiel, owner of CAPELLA Salon. “We’re so used to interacting with other stylists to share our passion that we crave to continue our growth through education.”

Nayamka Roberts-Smith, better known as the LABeautyologist, predicts that beauty businesses will have to take extra precautions with their services ultimately raising prices.

“Clients will definitely have to pay for the risk beauty professionals take with our lives in order to maintain a living,” Roberts-Smith said.

To give these beauty businesses a fighting chance to rebuild ahead of stay-at-home orders expiring, Cherie is donating $5,000 to ten different beauty businesses to go toward their organization.

The public can vote for their favorite beautician, including those listed above, to win every day on Cherie’s website until Sunday, May 10.

Also, Cherie is pledging $50,000 to go toward hiring 50 displaced beauty professionals to create original content on their app so they can share their skills and expertise with the larger beauty community.

Thankfully, Cherie isn’t the only organization providing local support to the beauty community. Mayor of Atlanta Keisha Lance Bottoms announced applications for the Strength in Beauty Fund, a new relief effort to support Atlanta’s cosmetology industry workers affected by the pandemic.

Beauty organizations like Cherie show that if the community comes together we can make it through this difficult time.

Cherie plans to announce the winners within a week of the voting platform’s end.

Visit https://www.cherie.com/ or follow Cherie on Instagram for more information.

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