Can White Salons Do Black Hair?

In June 2016, New Yorker Tiffany Charles, who has been wearing her hair naturally for four years and has been making her large sideburns since 2014, visited another salon in Brooklyn, approached by a friend who assured her that there was a stylist known for working with 4C Hair. Dr. Lisa Thompson, a Black African American professor at a TGF salon in Houston, Texas, went to have her hair done by her regular stylist. The black salon where her hair was cut and dyed did a much better job, charging much less than the white salon where one of my white friends regularly went.    ^{Show Source Texts}

I suggest that white women go to a black salon to have their hair done. I lived in Atlanta, there was an upscale black salon in downtown Chicago where white and Hispanic women came all the time to get hair extensions and. I suggested white women to go to black salons to get their hair done. They had white customers, including white women who also used hair extensions.    ^{Show Source Texts}

There are many white women with thick hair who can have their strands dyed in my salon. At the beginning of my employment I was told to send black women with coarsely textured hair to less black salons on the street. Black women don't go to the next hair salon with a new blow-dry bar and trendy spa treatments.    ^{Show Source Texts}

Many stylists don't need to be trained in texture, and many salons don't employ anyone who knows how to work with wavy and textured hair. Some salon owners and stylists say black hair is uncontrollable, while others simply refuse service. I've done some footwork to get products from different salons, but most products for black women want to take your hair out of its natural state and make it something else.    ^{Show Source Texts}

While the beauty industry is committed to inclusivity, stylists are not trained in all hair types, including the texture of hair that black women share. Black stylists feel obliged to learn how to style hair types 1 to 4, and adhere to industry standards, but the same expectations don't seem to apply to their white counterparts. Salons and stylists who look after hair types should create a level playing field in the hair care industry.    ^{Show Source Texts}

As you drive through the area, you will see rows of black barber shops, black barber shops, Asian beauty salons and black barber shops on the main street. Finding a quality hair salon allows us to have fun and enjoy our hair, which many black women experience. The news that such salons exist has shocked my friends, especially if they live in a country or small town where blacks and whites do not have their hair styled.    ^{Show Source Texts}

There is a big difference between black and white hair (for lack of a better term), and I don't find it racist that we, as black / white people, tend to be segregated in hair salons and hairdressers. One of my white neighbors went there for some reason and asked why she didn't have a line for her lol There is a bigger difference between black and white, and hair for lack of a better word, but I don't find it as racist as we ourselves in hair salon and hairdresser are usually separated. His assistant washed, conditioned, and prepared my hair through various processes to work on it, and while I have seen black stylists working on Latina hair, Asian stylists tend to do white women's hairstyles.    ^{Show Source Texts}

When I moved house last year and had to find a new hairdresser, I decided to go to a nearby black women's hair salon to have my hair cut, hoping it would go well with my curly hair. The white curly hair expert who changed my hair shared that she was ashamed that I work in a mainstream salon because they don't know how to deal with curly hair and that Afro hair is not necessary. The author of these stories is not uncommon, and we urge you to ask your salon about their guidelines and demand that they ensure hair equality by hiring someone with the knowledge to work with black hair.    ^{Show Source Texts}

Dayna Goldstein, stylist at Roman K, a New York City-based salon with locations in Flatiron and Tribeca told Bustle that when she worked with mannequins at one of the hair straightening schools, she arose not like learning how to work with tangled hair. Topher Gross, another stylist in New York City called Seagull Salon, has no experience with natural hair except short sections and relaxants, she said. But Evan Joseph, owner of his eponymous salon in Columbus, Ohio, understands the fears of blacks when it comes to going to white stylists, as many of those he practices are not trained in handling natural hair, as Tiffany Charles's story shows.    ^{Show Source Texts}

In 2017, black consumers spent $473 million on their hair products and salon services, according to Nielsen. The texture of black hair is a challenge that many white stylists either don't know or don't want to know. Most of our experience visiting black hair salons has been interesting, to say the least. 

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