At a bright, palm-fringed hair salon on the corner of London’s Portobello Road, there’s a sense of calm amidst the chaos of a steady stream of clients, including literary figures, thought leaders and A-list actors, who stream through the door. To refresh your hair.
More than just new braids and coiffed bangs, they gathered at Charlotte Mensah’s Hair Lounge to catch up with Mensah and her team, make new connections, gossip, and more. They gather to learn how to care for their daughter Carl, and of course, to eat. The owner’s famous homemade cakes were flavored with customer-sourced nutmeg flown in from Grenada.
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“Living with my grandmother in Ghana, that’s what she did. Everyone who came to our house was welcomed with food. That way they felt more relaxed. ,” Mensah told me. Mensah, who grew up on a farm complex in Ghana where community was an integral part of daily life, sought to recreate that same sense of family and togetherness in her salon. This tranquil space has been a pillar of the area for the past 24 years. Favors are exchanged with the coffee shop next door and Carl’s workshops are held.
Mensah often collaborates with writers and artists-turned-clients through shopping events and poetry readings. From Zadie Smith to Erykah Badu, hair lounges are full of pioneers. “It’s a beautiful sanctuary and an elevated salon experience. It’s worth the trip just to have a slice of her cake,” says author Emma Dabiri. She stops by to remove her braids and treat her scalp to Mensah’s restorative salt scrub.
Hair salons have always played a central role in Black and brown communities. “When I return to Zimbabwe, this is a shared space where I can catch up with friends,” says CEO and co-founder of Luca Hair, which stocks high-quality wigs and has its own curl bar with trichology services in Selfridges. says Tendai Moyo. (Smell the hair perfume when you visit. It’s joy in a bottle). “My mother leaves me at the salon where she feeds me,” Moyo added. Mensah agreed, saying, “There’s a sense of caring for each other and a sense of sisterhood.” It’s where everything happens. ”
As many aspects of life become digital, beauty services are one of the final frontiers of human interaction. According to a report by the Office for National Statistics, 49.63% of adults admit to feeling lonely. This feeling of isolation is further amplified in large cities where people are often separated from their families and loved ones. In a community, small things can make a big difference. Through her salon, Ms. Mensah has provided reference materials for job applications and has mentored the next generation of hair entrepreneurs through her foundation, Love Naa Densua.
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Moyo was nine years old in Swindon when she found herself being turned away by salons that were not equipped to care for black hair. It wasn’t until she moved to London that she reconnected with the cozy atmosphere of salons, often run by “old ladies.” She co-founded Ruka Hair in 2020 and aims to combine this community spirit with innovative hair products and a science-driven approach. “When I posted a post on Instagram asking black women who wanted to change the hair industry to sign up, I received about 85 responses in 24 hours.The community, Curly Girls Club, currently has about 3,000 members. ” she says.
For £20 a month, members receive store credit, discounts and freebies, as well as the chance to connect with the rest of the world at masterclasses and pop-ups. Creating a safe space not only keeps customers coming back (Ruka Hair has clients from as far as Manchester and New York), but also encourages them to open up about more sensitive topics like hair loss and gray hair. Masu. “There’s a lot of shame[around these topics]and a lot of people don’t realize how prevalent it is. It’s natural, so it’s really important for us to talk about it.”
Speaking is a big part of the salon experience. Although not everyone has access to a therapist, most of us have sat in the hair salon chair. There’s something about the body language of the stylists themselves, they’re behind you and focused on your head. That makes baring your soul to a stylist much less intimidating than if you were sitting right in front of someone else. Hairstylist Adam Reed is a vocal advocate for mental health and has seen many clients suffer through breakdowns and rifts. His Salon Archive in Covent Garden is a cozy haven filled with knick-knacks from clients and their families. His vision is to one day build a community space focused on mental health in the countryside.
To foster community, salons need to provide great service for all hair types. While it’s natural for these spaces to develop their own identities and aesthetics, it’s important that everyone feels cared for. Whether you’re blessed with coils or poker-straight hair, everyone who visits Hair Lounge and Luca’s Curl Bar will leave with healthier hair. Want to indulge in neon hues while getting your teeth jewellery? Head to Queens Peckham where edgy stylists welcome clients of all skin tones. Whip Salon in Brighton, on the other hand, attracts a diverse clientele who come for a great haircut and stay because of the salon’s partnership with local businesses. Spaces such as London’s Not Another Salon and Manchester’s Riot Hearts each offer mirrorless, silent appointments because a hair salon should be a place where you feel safe.
“This is our hair home, and we want our guests to feel special,” Mensah says. And of course to eat cake.
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