Beauty salons in Weymouth and Dorchester were able to reopen as of Monday with regulations in place to prevent any treatments on the face from being administered.

Beauty salons were given the green light to reopen on Monday, nine days later than hairdressers despite many hair salons offering beauty treatments as well. After almost four months of being closed, beauty salon owners are pleased to get their doors open to welcome clients, however, with government guidelines preventing them from offering up to 80 per cent of their business, many are concerned for the future of the industry.

Siobhan Rhymer is the owner of a new beauty salon, Vibrant You Beauty, in Weymouth that specialises in beauty treatments and tanning. She said: "My businesses is massively impacted as the beauty treatments I offer are on the face. This means 80 per cent of my customers still aren't able to come in due to the restrictions. The sunbeds were just a little extra and it's not where I make my money.

"As a new business owner this has been very difficult. I was just finding my feet and I'm still learning many things as I go along. I can't wait until I get back at what I do best."

Mane Road Hair and Beauty in Weymouth reopened for hair appointments on July 4 and reopened for beauty treatments on Tuesday. Stylist, Jordan Mabb, said: "The reopening has gone very smoothly and the beauty therapists have adapted really well to the changes of wearing PPE and doing more cleaning.

"Clients are being really understanding about not being able to have any facial treatments. I think it is a positive thing that this has been laid out in the regulations rather than it being a personal decision as it makes people more compliant.

"The regulation has definitely affected us because a lot of people want their eyelashes and eyebrows done or facials and face waxing so they will have to wait. There is nothing we can do about it and who is to say how this will affect the business in the future."

Some business owners are less concerned about the regulations. Annie Butler, owner of the Sanctuary of Poundbury, said: "It was lovely to reopen on Monday and get back to some sort of normality. I expected the beauty industry to be the last to get back so I wasn't surprised we were closed for as long as we were.

"Not being able to do eyelashes and eyebrows is the main thing I'm noticing when I'm booking people in but, to be honest, I feel like for the sake of an eyebrow shape it is better to be safe and while the guidelines are not to do them then I am happy to accept it."