Despite 'purple tier' designation, more personal care businesses open in Tulare County

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- It's the story of so many California businesses in 2020.

COVID-19 forced Maven Skin & Beauty, which specializes in facials and other skin care services, to close this spring.

They were allowed to reopen for a brief time in July before being shut down again.

More recently, hair salons, barbershops, and nail salons statewide were allowed to reopen indoors with modifications.

But other personal care services, like Maven, were ordered to close as long as a county was in the most restrictive tier of the state's reopening plan.

Owner Elisha Reynoso says it didn't make a lot of sense.

"It felt sort of strange for that reason to me because we were so small, and we really take one client and they don't cross each other's path," Reynoso said. "You know, we have clients that would just kind of check in outside and we'd tell them when they could come in after we finished."

But Reynoso, a licensed esthetician, played by the rules and stayed closed.

To keep her business afloat, her small team had to think outside the box - from assembling and selling at home facial kits, a major success - to bringing their waxing services to the sidewalk, which became quite the challenge.

After months of patiently waiting, Reynoso received some exciting news this week - that even though Tulare County remains in the most restrictive purple tier, she would be able to reopen indoors with modifications, along with other personal care businesses like tattoo shops and massage therapy.

"We thought it was going to keep going, so we are elated today," Reynoso said. "Yeah, we're very excited."

Reynoso says they put COVID-19 safety protocols in place during their short-lived reopening over the summer.

So they're more than prepared to return to indoor operations now.

It will just take some time to get caught up with customers.

Priority will be given to those who had to cancel earlier this year.

But Reynoso can't wait to see everyone's faces again.

"I just love taking care of people and I love inspiring people to take better care of themselves," she said.