Salon owner shines light on the everchanging beauty shop industry
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- According to Salon Today, 18 percent of African American women spend more than 3 hours in the beauty salon, whereas 46 percent of Caucasian women spend less than 1 hour at hair salon appointments.
Our Rosalyn Freeman was able to speak with a local stylist and hair salon owner about the changes in the beauty shop industry and how she is aiming to change the statistics.
Local owner of the Blend Bar and hair stylist Latisha Mitchell says she remembers too well the daunting yet necessary experience of going to the beauty shop as a kid.
“Back then, beauty shops were a long process. Like you were there from sun up to sun down,” Mitchell said.
The culture of the beauty salon has had a major shift to keep up with the demand of the busy client, and it was all started…
During the pandemic is when it really started like, we got to get in and out because, you know, you couldn’t have people sitting around; only a certain amount of people could be in your salons, so that really helped with time management making sure people are in and out I am getting one out the chair the next one is coming in,” Mitchell said.
Not only has time management shifted in the hair salon but also in hairstyles.
“Within the past ten years, a lot of people have been transitioning to natural hair to stop from doing relaxers,” Mitchell said.
And one of those people is Rashada Murray, who says going natural was helpful to her lifestyle.
“So I didn’t have time to go and get my hair done, so I said, let’s just chop it off because it’s going to break off anyway because I am going to be stressed out with school and working two full-time jobs and working on my masters full time,” Murray said,
Hairstylist Brandy Avery says her move to Mississippi prompted her to step outside what she learned and become more versatile to keep up with the shifting industry.
“When I went to school, we were pretty much taught to do Caucasian hair white people’s hair, and then once I moved to Mississippi, it was like you are going to have to learn how to do it, and I was like, alright let’s do it,” Avery said.
And both Mitchell and Avery say one thing at the Blend Bar they know well is..
“Hair is hair.”
