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.  

I didn’t know what was more distressing: leaving my friends behind or finding a new hairdresser

So when I learned that my family would be moving, yet again, from Paris to the Lac Léman area of Switzerland in 2007, I didn’t know what was more distressing: leaving my friends behind or finding a new hairdresser.  Fortunately, Sunshine Hair Salon in Geneva came to my rescue. And to think that I discovered them after spotting a client existing the salon! Although it is not a particularly ritzy salon, it is a very homey and comfortable one with a great and talented staff.  

Specialising in relaxers, cuts and braids, the family-owned Sunshine Hair Salon opened in 1996, first on rue de Lausanne. The unisex shop moved to boulevard James Fazy in 2006 and now caters to an equal mix of male and female clients. 

“People think that doing hair is an easy job, but it’s not,” says part-time stylist, Aze Salum, an expat and MBA candidate from Tanzania. “It’s not just about hair types and products; it’s also about building relationships with your clients.” 

Salum knows from experience. When she arrived in Switzerland to attend graduate school, she found it relatively easy to convert her hairstyling “hobby” into a source of income. However, true success came once she was able to tap into her clients’ individual needs. In no time her clients became as close as family members.

“Finding the right hair care products and services can be nightmarish,” says Pembrook. “You’re already far from everything familiar, including experts who truly understand your hair.”  

Paris was also a long way from home for Pembrook as well. A winner of the prestigious 2005 Softsheen-Carson’s Golden Scissors Award – European Division, Pembrook began styling hair in her mother’s San Francisco-based salon at age 14. Desiring a change in 2001, Pembrook packed her bags for a summer-long visit to Paris with two French-speaking friends and never looked back.

Ironically by the end of the summer, only Pembrook remained in Paris as her friends returned home to the United States. Instead of taking jobs working in salons “under the table”, Pembrook opted to open her own salon in her three-bedroom apartment. She was able to purchase salon equipment and furniture with a small loan from her mother, and quickly found her first clients within the African and Caribbean immigrant communities surrounding the Château d'eau neighborhood in Paris. Yes, the very same neighborhood where one encounters the aggressive hair salon employees!

Six years later, Polished Hair Care has expanded into a 200 square meter space. Pembrook is married to her business partner and has two small children. She has maintained her original client base but now sets her sights on attracting clients from her home country – even some celebrities.  

“Recently, I had to close down the salon to accommodate a VIP client (pop superstar Justin Timberlake), but we still provide a relaxing space for all of our clients,” said Pembrook. “There are definite expansion plans, but we’ll worry about that in another six years.”

Recommended Hair Salons and Services

Switzerland

Sunshine Hair Salon
Address: 8, boulevard James Fazy, Geneva
Tram Stop: 13, 15, and 16 – Issac -Mercier
Telephone: +41 (0)22 731 7010
Hours: From Monday to Saturday, 9h00 to 19h00
Appointments: Recommended
Pricing:  CHF 45 to 150 on average (up to CHF 500 depending on hair care needs)
Languages:  English, French, Swahili

African Inside Beauty Supply
Address: place de la Gare, Lausanne
Tél: +41 (0)21 312 30 03
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9h00 to 21h00;  Saturdays, 9h00 to 20h00

 Sun Shine Salon

France

Polished Hair Care Salon
Address: 76-78 avenue des Champs Elysées (8e Arrondissement)
Metro Stop: Franklin Roosevelt or Georges V
Telephone: +33 (0)1 43 59 31 48
Email:  polishedhaircare@yahoo.com
Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesday, Fridays, 9h00 to 17h00; Thursday, 9h00 until 19h00
Pricing:  EUR 60 to 150 on average (more depending on hair care needs)
Language:  English, French, Portuguese

Laboratoire HT 26 Beauty Supply
Address: 10 Boulevard de Strasbourg (10th Arrondissement)
Tél: +33 (0)1 40 18 51 00
Website:  http://www.ht26.com (Online store ships to Switzerland)
E-mail: contact@ht26.com

Carolyn Moncel is a virtual professional and freelance writer from Chicago.  She now lives in Lausanne with her French husband and two daughters.

Text and photos by Carolyn Moncel / Expatica 2009