Showing 5 results for:
Natural Hair
Popular topics
All results
Women’s History Month may have concluded, but Black Girl Magic is still alive and well. Shannon Jackson made history in the Benson neighborhood of Omaha, NE by opening Heavi Hitters – the first Black fully woman-owned and operated barbershop . “We’re all different ethnicities, and we’re all women,” said Alia Jackson, a cosmetologist and professional makeup artist. “It’s given our clients, a different perspective of life, being in a male-dominated world,” hairstylist Ayanna Carfield said. According to local news outlet , KETV 7, the full-service barbershop has seen consistent growth since opening in 2019. Because of that rapid growth, Heavi Hitters ran out of space, which led to their move to their current spot-on Maple Street in the Benson community. Jackson and her team of cosmetologists are making sure that their space is inclusive for all no matter their background. This level of inclusivity is seen even in the type of services that Heavi Hitters offers. Heavi Hitters is not your...
It’s one thing to break into the beauty industry, but another thing to come in and shift it. Founder and CEO Monique Rodriguez has built an empire within the space through Mielle Organics, an organic and natural haircare line created to produce healthier results for your hair. She is rightfully a pioneer in the haircare game, taking her line of products from being sold from her garage to barely staying on the shelves in giant retailers including Target, Walmart, CVS, and more. “My kids have been able to witness their mother, a Black woman, have a dream and go from their kitchen to big-box retailers, something that has changed my family’s life and for me that’s fulfilling,” said Rodriguez in an interview with AfroTech. To date, Mielle Organics is worth more than $100 million, drawing in a hefty $14 million in 2021, despite being in the midst of a pandemic. The company continues to soar to new heights with new products that keep the same energy that the company had when it was first...
Though natural hairstyles are more popular these days, Black women who wear styles like curly afros, twists, or braids are less likely to get job interviews, reports CNN . A study — which has yet to be published — conducted by researchers from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business reports that participants deemed natural hairstyles as unprofessional. Researchers selected hundreds of people from various racial backgrounds to score potential job candidates for competence, professionalism, among other things. As a result, the findings show that Black women with natural hair scored lower for competence and professionalism compared to Black women with straight hair. In addition, Black women donning natural coifs had lower scores than white women with straight hair and curly hair. Despite companies’ recent efforts to “eradicate racism at systemic and structural levels,” researcher Ashleigh Shelby Rosette — a management professor and a senior associate dean — noted that many biases...
As a Black woman going to the hair salon is a part of self-care. Whether you go once a week, month or year, it is an experience that has probably been ingrained into your routine since a child. For Natanya Montgomery, the first time she remembers visiting the hair salon was at seven-years-old and according to TechCrunch , she’s been going once a month for 18 years. Now, she’s the founder and CEO of Naza Beauty , what Megan Rose Dickey referred to as a “Drybar but for women of color.” The salon — which recently secured $1 million in funding backed by Alexis Ohanian’s Initialized Capital — offers 25 variations of five different protective styles including crotchet, sew-ins, twists, blowouts, and braids. Although the salon does not offer any coloring services, chemical treatments or hair cuts, they do promise to have you out of the chair in either four hours or less. Naza Beauty “More and more people are seeing that these styles are valid, real and beautiful,” she said. “A lot of...