No — stop the service and rebook. Live head lice are a contagious infestation, and continuing puts every other client in your chair that day at risk. Lice don't jump or fly, but they transfer readily through direct head-to-head contact and via shared tools: combs, brushes, clips, towels, and gowns. One missed case can quietly seed a week of complaints.
The working rules most UK salons and training bodies follow:
- Live lice or moving nits spotted mid-consultation: politely stop before any wet work begins. Explain privately — never in front of other clients — and rebook for after treatment.
- Client has finished a lice treatment: safe to proceed once there are no live lice, typically 7–10 days after the second application of an over-the-counter treatment (dimeticone or wet combing per NHS guidance). Empty egg casings glued to the shaft are not a reason to refuse.
- You already started: finish quickly, then take the station down — wash towels and gowns at 60°C, disinfect combs and clips in barbicide, and bag soft items for 48 hours.
Hair colour does not treat lice. Some owners believe peroxide kills them; it may kill some adults but not the eggs, so colouring an infested head still spreads the problem.
Handle the conversation with care — parents especially feel shamed by it. A neutral script ("I've spotted something we need to sort before we carry on") protects the relationship.
Every client, remembered — safely.
SAY-OS keeps each client's contraindications, allergies and history in one place, and flags them at booking — so the right call happens before they're in the chair.
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