Styling hair requires a great deal of knowledge and expertise. Still, those with highly textured hair don’t always find stylists who know how to care for their hair type. Not all hair types are the same, after all. Those who have this sort of hair — usually those who are Black or Brown — have run into negative experiences when it comes to styling. It’s either the stylist wouldn’t get the technique right, or they would refuse to even try to style the textured hair. Even finding products — from cruelty-free hair products to trendy ones — can be tough.
So with all this, is it worth studying the ways to style Black hair?
1. You’ll make someone’s day.
Getting your hair styled is more than just improving your outer appearance. It also gives a much-needed boost, especially for women who may not be feeling their best. Because from the usual skin concerns to a bad hair day, everyone can have their own set of insecurities. And not being styled right can further drag it all down.
Hairstylists have more power than they might know. There’s a specific energy that someone gets from looking in the mirror and feeling like they’re on top of the world. As a hairstylist, you would have the chance to make someone’s day. You’ll get to be the reason for their good mood. And in turn, you’ll eventually be someone they can turn to and trust their hair with.
2. You get more styling opportunities.
From a more business-oriented perspective, turning away customers wouldn’t be practical. There are a lot of styling opportunities that you can have if you learn how to do Black hair properly. After all, you can turn any challenge into an opportunity only if you try. Whether it’s something as ambitious as achieving net zero emissions from the hair treatments you give or serving a new customer segment, there is always something to learn.
3. It’s a competitive advantage.
Knowing how to style black hair gives you an edge over other salons that haven’t bothered to learn about all hair types. If others would be the ones turning away customers, you can be the ones serving them. Their niche would be fairly limited compared to yours if they can’t style highly textured hair properly. Training to understand the techniques for this hair type ensures growth in terms of how a salon operates. So it’s definitely worth considering if you’re in a business rut.
4. It serves a strong segment.
Those with textured hair are not too few and far between. You would be expanding the market you serve if can figure out the right way to style Black hair. It’s not like this segment is completely invisible. In fact, if you’re able to do well, these customers are likely to come back.
After all, finding a salon that knows how to style textured hair is already hard enough. So you would be able to get a lot of regular customers this way.
5. It’s a good investment.
Educating yourself — or your staff — about textured hair can be expensive. Beauty school and professional advice certainly don’t come cheap. But with all the possible returns, it’s all worth it. You may need to save up for this, though. Or at least make sure that you have enough to afford any courses that may help.
6. You’ll get to expand your knowledge.
Who doesn’t want to push their boundaries? While trying to figure out how to style Black hair may seem like a challenging task, it’s also a way to improve your skills as a stylist. After all, styling hair requires some creativity.
If you find yourself bored while reusing the same hair techniques on the same type of hair, then this must mean you’re meant to learn something new. It simply requires the right care and dedication. You may find that you’ll learn something new about hair in general when touching on this new hair type. The possibilities are endless, but they can only start when you decide to try.
7. You’ll be part of the change.
You would be bringing more to the table — more than you know. More and more salons are aiming to learn about all sorts of hair types to serve the general public better.
Being a little too exclusive to a certain hair type can actually alienate other customers. It may even appear unwelcoming or divisive. And so, by at least trying to learn how to style Black hair, you would be part of a change that encourages inclusivity. Or really, just an all-around more welcoming environment.
Learning new things is always good for business. But it’s even better when you help with a problem or need that’s been an issue for quite some time. There’s merit in trying to improve your business, for sure. But it’s a whole other idea to do it for the good of others. Because at the end of the day, as a stylist, you have the power to make someone feel better about themself.
Featured image via Rafael Sanfilippo on Unsplash
