After months of uncertainty, stylists and clients of Bliss Aveda Salon in Virgil are happy to reintroduce a sense of normality to their routine.

“It was great to see some of the faces back in and seeing the salon full again,” said  Sandra Cocetti, master stylist and owner of Bliss.

Salons like hers across Niagara have been permitted to reopen in stage 2 of the pandemic recovery.

Clients on the first day of reopening on June 23 included Ruth Denyer, a Niagara-on-the Lake resident, who said, “I could hardly wait. It was like coming back home when I came back in here again.”

“This is normal and that’s what we want is normal, right?” she said. “As normal as it can be.”

“I think I’m one of Sandra’s original 10 clients,” Denyer said.

“So I’ve been here for probably about 20 years. You don’t give up that kind of relationship,” she said, “I completely trust them.”

Coccetti said the first client she had in her chair literally burst into tears and, “she said you know now it just feels that bit of normality coming back into her every day.”

“It just puts a smile on everyone’s face when they get their hair taken care of, they feel complete,” she said. “It’s a really good rejuvenating, revitalizing experience for them.”

With proper procedures in place, like masks, face shields and spacing out appointments, it hasn’t been too challenging adjusting to the new normal,  she said.

“We’ve always been a by-appointment salon,” she said, “so we really just communicated individually with the client and just ask what their needs and wants were.”

Full services are available to clients at Bliss and stylists are making an effort to personalize each appointment so that everyone is comfortable, Cocetti said.

“Some clients will have to wait a little longer, but at least if they wait longer, they’ll get the full service and it’ll be worth the wait,” she said.

“A lot of clients were quite happy with that.”

“I’m sure people are happy to get back in the salon chair and even just the sense of normality that comes with it,” Cocetti said.

As operations at the salon resume, the focus is on trying to keep everyone safe. “For ourselves, my team and for the guests,” Cocetti said, “and to make it that clients feel comfortable coming in with our new norm.”