Before the rise of Glasgow’s afro hair salons available today, many black women went
through the trauma of having their hair done in non-professional spaces, mostly by a family
member or relative.
Afro-Scots and migrants found it difficult to get protective hair styling at professional mainstream salons due to the lack of knowledge on treating afro-textured hair, which deprived them of the tender and pampering experience.
Many childhood memories with hair are associated with the excruciating pain you’re left with,
after long hours of braiding you’re thick textured afro hair.
Nigerian-born hair dresser, Ivy MacNeill moved to Glasgow when she was four years old and
immediately became a victim of such practices.
Now 43, and recalling her trauma, she said: ‘’ When I was young, I was getting my hair done
at very uncomfortable places like local African food stores, behind the counter, with the shop
owner trying to make an extra side hustle.
‘’With no hair hygiene, privacy or professionalism, you weren’t pampered like a professional
salon would do.
”It was painful when other people did my hair as a child, but my mum was very gentle, she
only did it during weekends because she had to work.
”So all my friends will be out playing during the weekend but I would have to stay home to
get my hair done.
‘’When I grew older I used to go to London just to get my hair done.”
‘Scotland’s first Afro-Caribbean hairdressers.’
The urge to cater to people like Ivy’s needs started 42 years ago.
‘Hair Lynks’ was the first black barbering and hairdressing salon in Glasgow.
Opened in 1982, on Great Western Road, the business was launched by Jamaican national,
Jerry Ferguson and Segun Thomas, from Nigeria.
Enthusiastic about the historic venture, the signboard of the salon boldly wrote ‘Scotland’s
first Afro-Caribbean hairdressers.’
In 1985, the duo sold the business to 24-year-old Leo Sho-Silva, three years after its
opening.
Jerry moved on and opened ‘Ultra Care’, his new Afro-Caribbean hair salon.
Leo is a barber by profession but hires women to do the hair-dressing jobs for him, when he has clients for it.
‘Henrik Larsson’s dread locks really influenced our business’
Born in Glasgow, to Nigerian parents, Leo, now 63, said: ‘’We were busy every weekend and
many black people even travelled from the north of England to come do their hair with us.
”Swedish and Celtic footballer Henrik Larsson’s dread locks really influenced our business. I
used to order dreadlock kits from America which came with the comb, shampoo and wax,
and it was bought by both blacks and whites.
”The 1979 movie ’10’ starring Bo derrick with her corn rolls also pushed traffic our way.
White girls used to come and say I want the Bo Derrick.
”Those were the great times, we did TV stars, actors and musicians. I even did Maceo
Parker, James Brown’s saxophonist. I was shocked when he walked in for a haircut” he
added.
”I won’t stop until the phone stops ringing.”
Glasgow’s Cambridge Street saw the second opening of an afro hair salon.
In 1988 Ghanaian hairdresser, Kate Macloud opened ‘Kate Hair and beauty’, but this salon
was also short-lived.
Segun, co-founder of Hair Links and Kate have all retired and returned to their countries of
origin, except for Jerry who still lives in Glasgow. While Leo runs ‘International Beauty Care’
on Mary Hill Road.
Leo is edging close to retirement age but says ”I won’t stop until the phone stops ringing.”
‘No hairdressing courses in Scotland catering for black hair’
With just under a dozen of Afro-hair salons in Glasgow the new generation of hairdressers
like Ivy are taking up the baton from the likes of Leo and keeping it trendy with the ever-
evolving hairstyles.
Ivy has grown to become a professional hair stylist, working on all textures of hair for the
past 13 years.
She said: ” I always loved doing hair but I grew up in a very Nigerian household and being a
hairdresser wasn’t seen as a job or career, you had to be a lawyer, doctor or engineer, so I
studied consumer management.
.
”It wasn’t until I was made redundant by an IT firm in 2010 that I finally made up my mind to
study hairdressing and get professional training on Afro-textured hair.
‘’ Unfortunately, there were no hairdressing courses in Scotland catering for black hair, so I
had to go to England.”
Ivy says a ‘unique experience’ black hairdressers go through is that you can hire a hair stylist
to work for you and when a black customer walks in , the stylist says ‘I was never trained on
this hair texture’ or ‘I am not confident working on that kind of hair.’
”And you paying her a wage” she added.
HairDreams Glasgow opens as a social enterprise
Ivy opened ‘HairDreams Glasgow’ in 2020 as a salon and social enterprise to train young
black women on protective hair styling.
The social enterprise targets young unemployed women of colour who want to learn
professional protective hair styling on both black and European textured hair in a 12-week
boot camp.
25 students will be given free courses on salon etiquette, floor management, health and
safety, professional braiding and customer service.
”We’ve gradually become therapists”
‘’We want to create a sense of community for all black women who struggled to get
professional and protective hair treatment, train them to do their own hair at home and also
earn a living by taking up clients.
”We’ve gradually become therapists, a hairdresser is like a confidant, so we try to create that
safe space where you can come in at your most vulnerable and leave at your best” said Ivy.
Almost dozing off on the salon chair was Sera Koukpaki, one of Ivy’s newest clients, which
was also her first time at the salon.
She said ‘’I haven’t been to a hair salon in four years because I have had many experiences
of walking into a salon and saying what I want but walking out with a totally different
hairstyle.
‘’I started watching YouTube videos on how to style my hair at home.’’
Enaz Magzoub is a Scottish Sudanese girl who is participating in the boot camp, she said ‘’ I
found out about the programme on the Volunteer Scotland page and since I have always
been interested in Afro hair I have never had the confidence and skills to put it into practice.
The Braidy Gang
‘’This programme has allowed me to go into that journey and learn the sciences, and It will
surely empower a lot of people to know how to take care of afro hair.’’
The salon also has three community groups.
The Braidy Gang is for 16 to 25-year-olds who train on each other’s hair, while The Parent &
Child Group allows parents to learn how to style and maintain a child’s hair.
The Ladies Group is where women learn how to maintain each other’s protective hair styling.
A source of pride and cultural identity
”A hairdresser is like a confidant, so we try to create that safe space where you can come in
at your most vulnerable and leave at your best,” says Ivy.
“For others, it’s the only place where you can interact with people who look like you, and
others see it as a place where they can just relax and take the load off their heads while
someone else do their hair.
“Afro hair skills have been so undervalued and it is time we change that narrative and
professionalise it for mainstream consumption.
“We are reclaiming our natural hair texture as a source of pride and cultural identity.’’
