What Went Wrong At The Fenty Hair Salon In London?

I can relate to Oghosa’s frustration. As a beauty journalist, I was given exclusive first dibs to try the first-ever Amazon Hair Salon in the summer of 2021, before it opened to the public. However, once I flagged that I have afro hair, my appointment was delayed for five weeks, well after the store’s opening. During my consultation, a stylist who claimed to be experienced with afro hair gaslighted me into thinking my hair would be hard to style and claimed there were limited services and treatments available for my hair texture. The salon’s general manager later admitted that stylists often exaggerated their abilities and apologised to me. Although afro hair services were offered on the salon’s website, she explained they had “struggled” to hire someone with real expertise in afro hair. Granted, once they did, the stylist I had was fantastic — but the experience leading up to it wasn’t. It took countless calls and emails for a huge brand like Amazon to finally get me into the salon chair. It’s no wonder Black women feel jaded by the in-salon experience.