Local beautician shares industry tips to help residents cope with COVID-19 depression

By Esther Durand, BVI News Staff

In a bid to give local women an escape from onsets of depression caused by the coronavirus crisis, well-known beautician Felicia Tonge-Fenton volunteered herself by offering free online tutorials in her craft.

The owner of the Long Swamp-based Evolution Hair & Nail Salon told BVI News she came to realize that a number of persons were increasingly becoming dispirited since being under lockdown and being unable to earn a living.

So with the closure of local businesses and schools because of the ongoing curfew, Tonge-Fenton decided to “keep persons from going insane or from being idle and lazy by doing social media live streams”.

 “There are a lot of people who go through depression and all these other mental issues since the situation with COVID-19 began. Persons would message me and say, ‘girl, this is the best thing you could’ve ever do because I was so tired of being in my bed. I just could not take it anymore, every minute I just be angry’,” Tonge-Fenton told BVI News.

Capitalizing on social media 

With more time on her hands since the lockdown, the local beautician said she uses her “live streams to show different [beauty-related] techniques”.

She stated that she now has plans to launch her own YouTube channel, which has been requested by her large base of online followers.

“I decided to do it because there are a lot of hairdressers and persons who are interested in doing hair who don’t have the opportunity that I have had. I was able to go away to classes abroad to learn different techniques and to keep up with the trends when it comes to hair,” Tonge-Fenton explained.

Tonge-Fenton is a wife and mother who resides in Greenland with her family. She has been an entrepreneur for six years and is also a candidate in this year’s Mrs BVI pageant which has been postponed indefinitely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.