When the Fenty Hair salon pop-up opened its doors in the Selfridges department store in London earlier this month, the girlies didn’t hesitate to get their bookings in. Located inside Selfridges’ Corner Shop activation from 3rd to 28th September, all you needed to secure an appointment was freshly washed hair and £35 (approx $45, which you could redeem against any Fenty products). According to my Girl Math calculations, the service worked out to be free (or at least on Rihanna’s tab).
This salon experience was an exciting extension of Fenty Hair by Rihanna, the haircare line launched by the Bajan superstar and multi-hyphenate in June of this year. Fenty Beauty is known as the brand that helped to revolutionize inclusivity in the makeup industry by celebrating diversity, heritage, and authenticity, holding its competitors (including the big beauty conglomerates) to account on why they couldn’t (or didn’t care to) get shade matching right for all. The “Fenty effect” sparked a cultural reset in the industry, proving to many that visibility sells. Women with dark complexions, like me, started seeing themselves featured in campaigns more often and finding beauty products on the high street more easily as brands scrambled to keep up with the shade-inclusivity conversation. Naturally then, expectations for the Fenty Hair salon pop-up were high. As far as we’re all concerned, Rihanna knows how to build a brand that feels like it’s truly for everybody.
The pop-up salon positioned itself as an in-person experience for inclusive haircare, where all textures and curl patterns could receive premium treatment, especially those of us who have long been underserved in mainstream haircare. Customers of any hair type could pick a style from the Fenty Hair lookbook and then be guided to choose the right product line-up for their hair type that will repair, strengthen, hydrate, smooth and protect. Despite these intentions, the Fenty Hair salon prompted backlash from some Black women with 4C hair who felt their needs weren’t properly met. The salon’s claim of inclusivity clashed with reality for some, including content creator @sincerelyoghosa, who shared her experience on TikTok.
Oghosa, a fashion and beauty influencer, took to social media to share her frustration with the Fenty Hair salon after what she described as inadequate service and an overall disappointing experience with her 4C hair. In her video, Oghosa expressed that she was left feeling that her hair was manhandled and treated as an inconvenience. “I believe that from the moment I showed up in front of [the stylist], she was just annoyed at the prospect of having to do my hair,” she said. “I have never felt like such an inconvenience just because my hair is natural,” she added, in a TikTok video that has amassed 3.4 million views to date. “I felt like, Oh you ugly nappy-headed girl, why did you think you’re gonna come here and get a nice style? That is literally what it was giving,” she explained.
The comments section on her two-part storytime …read more
Source:: Refinery29
