This July saw 50 Shades, Stirling’s first afro hair salon, open on the high street.
Ade Dare, owner of 50 Shades, moved from London to Stirling five years ago and was surprised that there wasn’t a single salon catering to afro hair.
He notes how he was frustrated that the nearest services were in Glasgow and Edinburgh, so he decided to do something about it.
University of Stirling alumni, Daisy Aiken, grew up in Stirling and reflects on how caring for her hair has changed over the years.
Half-joking, she says, “Getting a good hairdresser in Stirling has been treacherous for the most part.”
As a teenager she says, “Stirling was a lot more white and straight hair was really the thing.”
She describes how her mom would bulk buy hair products when visiting family in other cities as they were not available in Stirling.
As far as actually having her hair braided, she reminisces on how she would have to travel to Glasgow or have her hair done in a friend of a friend’s kitchen.
Eventually she resorted to having her hair chemically relaxed between the ages of nine and 15 as it was easier to care for.
But the desire for a pink streak in her hair changed everything. She started to grow out her natural hair as she “knew it wouldn’t be able to withstand being dyed and relaxed”.
Reflecting on this decision, she said, “Black hair is political, though, so I think eventually it became a big identity thing and a way for me to resist the beauty standards that didn’t fit me anyway.”
Today she says she has “quite a relaxed attitude” with her hair. She is excited about the salon on the high, and a general improvement in access to curly hair products in drugstores in the last five years.
Third year student, Laila Hisham Anter Faried, spent her Sundays as a preteen having her thick curly hair straightened by her mum.
As she puts it her mum thought it would make her more “presentable”.
She’s frustrated as she said: “For any important event my mum and my nan would tell me I should straighten my hair because then I’ll look well kept.”
She notes how she struggled to feel as though she fit in in her high school that echoed these thoughts on her hair and “presentability”.
She wears her curly hair proudly today, though.
It came about accidentally.
“I was spending the weekend at my dad’s house and didn’t have a straightener, I had to leave my hair natural and realized I quite liked the look of it,” she said.
Coming to Stirling from Rotterdam, a multicultural city, she said one her main considerations was whether she would have access to her haircare products and was relieved to discover that Boots carried them.
Even though she does find them to generally be more expensive than products for straight hair, she has been glad to see the curly hair section in different drugstores expand and is excited to try out the new salon.
Italian fourth year student, Brenda Lekoundat, notes how she has always had a hard time with the notion of afro hair growing up in predominantly white spaces.
She is sincere as she said: “I’ve never been ashamed of my hair, but I’ve never liked people touching it or asking obnoxious questions.”
One thing she has noticed being in Scotland is how people have generally been quite respectful of her boundaries.
As she’s often struggled to find hair products, she was one of the first to try the new salon and says she’s excited about the opening and to see it grow.
Dare said that so far the response to the salon has been great, and that he’s hoping to attract more students to the salon.
Featured Image Credit: Daisy Aiken
South African student journalist in my second year of doing my Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Journalism Studies.
Instagram: @x_.lin_x
