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Hey Capetonians, waterless grooming is the new avo toast

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Level 5 water restrictions have been effective since September in Cape Town. What this means is that the use of all municipal drinking-quality water for use outdoors and for non-essential purposes has been banned.

News24 reported in October that any domestic properties with "usage above 20 kilolitres per month will be subject to excessive water consumption fines."

More importantly, individuals shouldn't be using more than 87L per person, per day.

Read more: Cape Town's residential water restrictions explained

But what about businesses?

How will January's Level 6 water restrictions affect certain services rendered by businesses such as laundromats, beauty clinics and hair salons?

A Fin24 article confirmed that businesses have to now use 20% less water as the price of water is 25% higher than it was in 2016.

With the festive season coming up there's absolutely going to be an influx of bookings for hair, nail, and spa treatments, all of which require water.

Think 2 or 3 washes at the hair salon, times that by 20 or more per clients a day. That's a scary amount of water.

Going for a pedicure after that?

Each pedicure tub requires a fresh load of water for every new client. Water can't be reused for obvious hygiene reasons.

A nail salon in DC (United States) proudly declares that they are a 100% waterless salon for both environmental and health reasons. The owner of Varnish Lane told dcrefined.com that by doing so, they save 68L of water per pedicure.

Read more: 5 beauty routine changes that'll save Cape Town's water

So considering the fact that back here on our shores we may use no more than 87L of water per day, going for a pedicure leaves you with just 19L to use for the rest of the day. 

Of course, local nail and hair salons can't go waterless at the snap of a finger, but there are ways in which you can ensure you don't worsen the situation. 

Here are a few:

Remove your hairdresser from your speed dial

We no longer have the luxury of paying our hairdresser a visit every fortnight. Besides it just being an expensive habit, the amount of water used on our hair is concerning given the dire straits we are in.

Limit your visits to just once a month unless you're going to get braids, cornrows or a sew-in wig done - which are all dry procedures.

Washing your own hair or using a dry shampoo will go a long way.

Soak off your nails at home

You can soak off your acrylic nails or gelish at home by using acetone, cotton wool and tin foil. Don't know where to buy acetone?

Clicks has got you covered for just 30 bucks.

Discover the joys of a waterless pedicure

Before you pick your favourite nail colour, you probably want to give your feet some TLC first. And that's what they made home foot spas for.

Well they're not completely waterless, but a foot spa requires less water than the average salon pedicure tub and there's a set maximum amount of water you can use.

Gift yourself this Revlon pediprep foot spa, R449 at Clicks.

If you are unable to use a foot spa, Lush has a pretty neat foot care range you can dip your toes in.

Find an environmentally-friendly laundromat

Washing machines use an insane amount of water per wash, so it's wise to also do your laundry once a month - wash only the essentials during the month.

Alternatively, you can take your laundry (once a month) to a laundromat that doesn't use municipal water. 

Green Planet Laundry is Cape Town's first and only laundry service that uses purified borehole water to wash clothes.

Thank you @sherdavie for this recommendation

A post shared by Green Planet Laundry (@greenplanetlaundry) on

Find them here to make your booking.

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