We’re mindful of continuing to plug the skills gap in working with very coily, Afro and black hair types. The UK hairdressing industry does seem to be waking up to the issue but there’s a way to go! We hope that soon every trainee or young stylist qualifies in all the skills needed to look after every client, whatever their hair type. Fantastic to see such initials and offerings, like ‘The Textured Hair Pro-Training Initiative’ (#CantuHairInitiative) from Cantu Beauty.
Cantu Beauty UK is an award-winning brand for textured hair and proud supporter of black owned businesses and community initiatives. It’s Cantu Beauty’s mission to celebrate every client’s unique hair texture and style. Whether it’s about rocking coils, curls, waves, or straight tresses, Cantu Beauty designs products specifically with hair’s versatility in mind. Cantu Beauty’s collection of award-winning products are inspired by beautifully textured hair to help achieve any look desired.
The brand is now launching a nationwide training initiative to educate haircare professionals through a series of virtual masterclasses.
#CantuHairInitiative is the first step to elevate the fact, that inequalities are faced by black and mixed-heritage communities daily when seeking hairstyling services. The initiative is designed to empower all stylists with tools and techniques to style and care for curly, coily and black hair. Bravo!
Precilia Zongo from Cantu Beauty says: “We created this powerful Initiative to give hairstylists’ a chance to boost their skills and confidence when it comes to afro and textured hair. We’re committed to change, and our goal is to empower budding stylists at hair and
beauty schools to help make learning how to care for and style all textured hair types the norm, so that they can better serve the black and mixed-heritage communities in the UK.”
#CantuHairInitiative will be spearheaded by Cantu Beauty’s resident Natural Hair Education Expert and Celebrity Stylist, Dionne Smith, who will be hosting a series of live online training sessions for professional hair and beauty schools across the UK from February 2021. Dionne says: “The aim is to implement systemic change by helping reduce the number of microaggressions that our communities face when going into salons and being asked to leave due to a lack of knowledge and overall experience. I’m excited to be spearheading this and feel proud to work with a brand that is committed to support change in making caring and styling afro and textured hair a wider part of the hair curriculum.”
Schools can apply for a free masterclass HERE.
We are committed to support such efforts and spread the word as much as possible. We know this gap won’t be bridged in a short time, so get going!
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Respect is a hub for UK hairdressers of all ages and stages to find out what We Love, We Hear and We See as the best product launches, styling advice, hairtools, education training and seminars and hairshows! Sign up to our newsletter which is sent fortnightly direct to your email, so you stay up-to-date with salon styling information, trends in session work, advice on presenting on stage or progress in educating – whatever your interest, whether you’re a trainee or creative director, an educator or team leader, you’ll find all the opportunities and ideas on www.respectyou.me
