A Hair Treatment with Errol Douglas

Ever since I decided to go back to my natural hair, I think I’ve only been to the hairdressers once. Mind you, it wasn’t out of choice, but simply because when I tried, most hairdressers would stare at my natural afro hair, and you would see literal expressions of panic fly across their faces as they tried to figure out how they would handle it. It was either that or they would try to convince me to relax my hair.

Fed up with the whole process, I have mainly managed and treated my hair myself for the last couple of years.

However, I recently attended an event with Phytospecific at Errol Douglas, and was invited to try out a complimentary hair treatment at the salon. When I quizzed them and was informed that yes they do offer treatments for natural afro hair, I was intrigued.

Now Errol Douglas as a salon is not new to me, I have heard many people rave their professional service and treatments for a mixture of hair types, and some of my friends go there to get their hair both relaxed and treated. But I just assumed it was restricted to relaxed hair. I love it when I stand corrected!

I arrived for my appointment a couple of weeks ago and hidden behind the hustle and bustle of Knightsbridge, is Errol Douglas. A beautiful salon, located on Motcomb Street. With a chic and spacious space, the décor is stylish and warm, inviting you to settle into one of their comfy chairs and get your hair done.

Errol Douglas himself is a legend in the industry and has won an MBE for his services to the hair industry.

On arrival I was offered a drink and a food menu, which has a selection of actual meals and juices to choose from.  Do note that there is a charge for these as they work with a private chef.

I was then led downstairs to the dedicated afro hair area. Enter in Eve, the miracle worker who is the Artistic Director and Head of the Afro hair team at Errol Douglas.

Eve is extremely experienced and knowledgeable about all things hair, having worked as a hair stylist for the last 20 years, with 11 years specifically at Errol Douglas. Sporting a very stylish natural fro hawk style herself, I knew I was in safe hands.

Let's talk about skin: What is Skin of Colour

Image Credits - Iman

One the things I love about beauty is that it isn’t a one size fits all type of world and what works for one woman, isn’t necessarily going to work for another.

Having your most amazing skin is about truly understanding your skin and what works and doesn’t work for it, be from your skin type to skin condition (more of this to come in the series) to your skin colour.

Whilst having lunch with a good friend the other day, who is on the complete opposite end of the diverse beauty spectrum to myself, with pale Caucasian skin and the straightest of hair ,we got talking on the differences in our skin tones and our beauty concerns.

This prompted her to ask me a question she said she had pondered about a couple of times having seen the term “woman of colour/ skin of colour”.

Her question was in two parts

1.         Does woman of colour only refer to black women?
2.      Does skin of colour really differ to Caucasian skin aside from the actual tone?

In the last census in 2011, 13% of the UK population identified themselves as either Asian, Black or Mixed Heritage and it’s a demographic that is experiencing the fastest growth here in the UK.

So I thought this was the perfect opportunity for a blog post to look at the definition and characteristics of skin of colour, if it differs and how this could affect your skin care routine.

First up:

What is skin of colour?

People with skin of colour are generally classified as those with non-white heritage. This includes people of Asian, Black, Mixed Heritage and Indian descent.

Does it differ from Caucasian skin?

Skin is skin so doesn’t really differ too much on an anatomical level, however there are a number of differences in the characteristics between skin of colour and Caucasian skin which can affect how your care for your skin. The most notable are: