Hair is not just hair anymore. It can be an expression of who you are, a symbol of community or even a socio-political statement. In conversation with four female entrepreneurs who trade in the local natural hair care field, Nicole Nasson sat down to talk about what it’s like to be a woman of colour operating in a topical, and sometimes controversial, industry.
In just a few short years, South Africa’s natural hair movement went from a small-scale initiative imported from the United States to a shared African epiphany – rethinking how we think about hair.
Road to embracement
Owner of Zola, a hair accessories business, Zulca Fortuin credits her business for helping her embrace her natural hair and to not be ashamed of it.
“People [of colour] were bullied because of their hair. They would use the kroes word and be so offended. I know I was one of them.”
Call Me for Curls founder, Rifa Blake-Petersen believes that these bullies are insecure and take it out on those who have move passed their insecurities.
“Not all natural women are actually comfortable with their hair because they take offense [to cirtiticism]. If someone [tells] me now I have a kroes kop, I would probably just laugh in their face because that shouldn’t be insulting,” says Blake-Petersen.
Furthermore, Blake-Petersen blames communities of colour for their own insecurities and ridicule. “I have never had a white person ask me ‘When are you blowing out your hair? When are you straightening your hair? You don’t brush your hair. You never do this. You never do that’,”
Selling hair care products and services, Marley Grey founder Marion Hermans said that she tired of talking about hair. “Honestly, I wish that hair would no longer be a conversation. Just as much as we don’t speak about people’s big toes, is it necessary to speak about people’s hair?”
That Clicks ad
In September, pharmacy giant Clicks received major backlash for an advertisement campaign that labelled black natural hair “damaged” and “dry”. Blake-Petersen says that only women of colour were upset by the Clicks ad, not only because it was directed at them, but because many women are not secure in their hair.
“I’m the borderline [about the advert] actually, because they did say in the one ad that the white lady’s hair is flat. And believe you me, most white women with hair, they don’t want it flat. But they didn’t say ‘Oh, that’s insulting!’,” she says.
Nonetheless, Blake-Petersen says that she understands the outrage. “It’s only the women of colour that went on about it. But I do understand why. It’s because it is our own people that judge us,” she says.
“We have been indoctrinated by the Western culture to not be ourselves.”
Rifa Blake-Petersen
Helping others
“I want to give back,” says Fortuin. Upon request, Zola sells scrunchies in bulk to those who wish to resell the popular tie. This is not a sentiment experienced by Fortuin alone.
Along with Blake-Petersen, Laetitia Piers, owner of Shea By Design, a hair care business, recognises the importance of helping those in the community in any way they can. Both Call Me for Curls and Shea by Design makes use of an agent-distribution business model where representatives sell the products in exchange for a commission.
“I have people who were customers for a long time and I just asked them [to be agents] or some would contact me and ask to be a rep. If they are in a very remote town, I would do it,” says Piers
Wanting to help people learn about their hair and have access to the right products and tools to care for it, Hermans started her business.
“If I can provide sleep caps even just for 10 people, that would make it better. I actually just wanted people to join me on this journey. It something that all [women of colour] go through or have gone through, in regards to hair,” Hermans says.
“You can say that’s what gave me the audacity to start a business. That’s what motivated me.”
Marion Hermans
Business is booming
While business is going very well for all these women, caution is adhered to. Piers says that your communities are colour are quick to judge small business owners from their own communities.
“People are sometimes very critical of you if you have a business. I don’t think they would say the same thing to a big company or [someone outside their community]. They wouldn’t say that about someone who started a business and went big immediately,” Piers says.
While there is “cattiness” within the community, Blake-Petersen says seeing people embracing their hair is a beautiful thing to see.
“A lot of women, specifically black women, are embracing the natural hair. I don’t see them anymore with the weaves and the wig style. And when I see a black woman with her natural hair, I actually make a point of [telling her] ‘I love you way you look absolutely beautiful,” says Petersen.
