My quest to find the best salon in Paris for women of colour

After exiting the métro in Paris at Boulevard Strasbourg and climbing the stairs to street level, you’re accosted – not by two but 20 screaming men, all trying to take you someplace against your will. No, they are not terrorists, kidnappers or gang members, but hair salon employees who have been entrusted with one responsibility: to seek out women of colour and persuade them to enter salons as walk-in clients.  

I first experienced this bizarre practice in 2002 when I moved to Paris from Chicago. I was trying to find an upscale hair salon that catered to women of colour. Since Paris is the beauty capital of the world, I naturally assumed that it wouldn’t be very difficult to find a salon… wrong. According to PagesJaunes.fr, there are 2,412 beauty salons listed throughout the Paris metropolitan area, but only three percent of them cater specifically to women of colour from the Americas, Africa or the Caribbean. Only eight percent of those salons use familiar styling products or practice styling techniques commonly used in upscale black salons.

So why is this information so important? Because hair textures, especially among black women, varies greatly (from kinky curly to silky straight). Serious and sometimes irreversible mistakes are made if a hairdresser doesn’t have a lot of experience in dealing with black hair. Not the type of lesson the average client wants to learn the hard way.

My quest to find the best salon in Paris for women of colour ended in January 2007 when I met Nicole Pembrook, owner of Polish Hair Care Salon. Located on one of Paris’ most exclusive street addresses (avenue des Champs- Élysées), Polish Hair Care Salon opened in August 2006. The salon services the hair care needs of all women – especially women of colour. With bilingual English/French stylists and products imported from the United States, the salon specialises in cuts, colour, straightening techniques and extensions and also offers nail and makeup consultations.  

Airy with shiny hardwood floors, high ceilings, gold-gilded cornices and crystal chandeliers, the salon successfully creates a serene environment where salon support staff pampers clients from head to toe – from vibrating shampoo bowls and free round-the-clock beverages to complimentary makeovers the first Friday or every month.  Vanilla-scented votive candles lining the floorboards, smooth R&B music piping through the sound system and plasma televisions perpetually turned to the Fashion Television network complete the sophisticated ambience.  

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