What Went Wrong At The Fenty Hair Salon?

When the Fenty Hair salon pop-up opened its doors in Selfridges, 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 (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 revolutionise 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 video has since been turned off but her experience reflects a broader issue that Black women with 4C hair often face in salons: texturism — discrimination towards those with coarser and more afro-textured hair.

After Oghosa posted her video, Fenty Hair salon issued an apology, acknowledged her experience and expressed regret that it did not meet the high standard they aimed for. Refinery29 Unbothered also reached out directly to Fenty Beauty for comment. The brand’s representative said: “Oghosa’s experience at our styling pop-up does not align with the core brand values and standards of beauty for all that our brand has stood for since 2017. We take this feedback very seriously and took immediate action to ensure that it will not happen again. We have worked diligently to ensure that every person working with our brand is fully educated, trained and given the resources to provide an experience where all people are celebrated, feel seen, and ultimately, well cared-for by us.”

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. 

While Oghosa’s experience sparked conversation, it wasn’t the only one. Reviews of the Fenty Hair salon from other customers with 4C hair have been mixed, with dozens of creators praising the salon’s efforts and feeling elated with the service, while a few echoed Oghosa’s concerns. One user wrote, “I had high hopes, but I felt like they didn’t know what to do with my hair. It took longer than expected, and the stylist seemed frustrated.” Another user claimed that even though cornrows were a style option, not all stylists could braid afro hair.

This is not just a Fenty Hair salon issue. Just recently, Black influencer Kristen Mariella shared a bad silk press experience at the renowned Hershesons salon, another establishment known for high-end services. Kristen detailed how her hair was left damaged and the stylist struggled to manage her texture. At the time of writing, Hershesons has not publically responded. Unbothered has reached out for comment.

I can relate to Mariella’s experience, too. I once attended an event with another well-known high street hair brand and their celebrity stylist ambassador. Upon seeing my natural hair, he panicked and said, “Oh, what happened to your long, luscious hair?” — likely referring to one of my wigs. He added, “The team showed me pictures of you, and it didn’t look like this.” I had assumed that with 20 years of experience (allegedly) across all hair types, this stylist would know how to style my natural hair. Instead, he used a fine-tooth comb to “brush out” my coils and secured a loose and lifeless French braid with a rubber band. What was meant to be a 45-minute appointment ended in 15. I felt so degraded that I shed a tear. It was deeply triggering to watch my colleagues leave with beautiful, shiny styles while I looked dishevelled and like I had been dragged through a bush by a fox. 

Then there was the time my silk press from another world-renowned salon only lasted the 10-minute walk to the Tube station. By the time I arrived home, 35 minutes later, my hair was a fuzzy triangle. Like many Black women, my in-salon experiences have more often than not been sub-par, to say the least. In fact, we’re a demographic often lacking loyalty to the in-salon experience in the UK. Finding a salon that can cater to the needs of our curls and coils outside of the big cities can feel pretty laborious, meaning we’re often forced out of necessity into being our own hairdressers. 

Growing up, the closest I ever got to a “professional” hair experience was the local aunty who did braids in her kitchen in between cooking dinner for her family and scolding her kids. Somehow, the more chaotic the environment, the better the hair, so I never complained. However, Black women are as deserving as anyone else of a luxurious hair appointment experience. We spend six times more on hair than any other demographic in the UK so the least brands could do is think of us when devising their services. Why, in 2024, are we still dealing with stylists who are ill-equipped to handle afro hair, particularly 4C? 

In 2021, the British Beauty Council successfully pushed for the cutting and styling of afro and textured hair to become a compulsory requirement within the NOS (National Occupational Standards) hairdressing qualification. Sure, it’s unrealistic to expect every stylist in the country to be an expert in afro hair. I’m not going to my dentist expecting him to fix my headaches so visiting Eurocentric salons may not be the solution to elevating the in-salon experience for Black women. However, if a brand claims to be inclusive, they must deliver on that promise — or expect to be held to account. 

Sherrille Riley is the founder of Beauty Edit Mayfair and has over 20 years experience in hair styling. She shared some insight: “If you’re going to promote yourself as diverse, you need to make sure your workforce is trained and able to deliver. Do not use us as a marketing tool to raise your profile.”

“In order to specialise in afro hair, you need extensive training, passion and knowledge, and you need to be in an area where you can practise it regularly,” Riley adds. “So the way to tackle this gap is to be more proactive in the recruitment process from inception with stylists and also with the staff coordinating the activations so that the best people are on the job.”

It’s likely that Oghosa’s negative experience at the Fenty Hair salon was a case of “one bad stylist” and the backlash doesn’t take away from Fenty’s efforts in prioritising Black women’s beauty needs since its inception. However, it’s fair to highlight that at some point during the preparation for this activation, something went wrong. Black women’s feelings should always be validated as historically we’ve been gaslit into thinking that we’re the problem. 

Demanding proper care and respect for 4C hair in mainstream salons isn’t too much to ask. Black women are tired of hearing that their afro hair is unruly and hard to deal with (it’s not; you just have to know what to do with it). And even though experiences shared by influencers like Oghosa and Mariella may be rare occurrences for the brands that are putting in the work, they are not isolated in the industry as a whole and highlight how far we still need to go. They also emphasise the importance of holding salons accountable. If salons wish to call themselves inclusive, they must invest in training their staff to treat every customer’s hair with the care and expertise it deserves. They must offer a consultation to discuss your hair type, concerns and expectations before any treatment begins. They must be transparent about the products and techniques they plan to use on your hair, as well as their experience with afro hair. Anything less isn’t inclusivity — it’s just marketing.