New Zealand Association of Registered Hairdressers chairman Niq James says the industry is excited about the prospect of heading back to work but he wanted to remind the public to be patient.

Hairdressers and barbers were preparing to be inundated with customers following the move to level 2 but restrictions might mean businesses could only fit in a limited number of people each day.

And they did not want salons to end up like fast food outlets which had people breaking level 3 restrictions as soon as they opened.

"We know that there's going to be a backlog of people to do but there's might only be a certain amount of people that we can," James said.

"We're doing everything we possibly can to get back to work ... but we're asking people to please bear with us and not put extra pressure on an already pressurised business.

"All we want to do is make people look good and feel good again and get some kind of normality."

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