Sophia Ederaine wanted one thing from a hair appointment, and a discount was not it. “There are so few people who specialize in Black hair and can do it well,” said Ederaine, a 33-year-old dermatologist in Houston. She described years of settling. “We were just like taking these poor treatments,” she said. What she wants now is to “just go somewhere that respects us, respects our money.”
Ulta Beauty’s salons have started taking textured hair appointments, and Black women are booking them. Keira Bruce, a 27-year-old actress and entrepreneur in Atlanta, said she almost did not. “I was a bit nervous and apprehensive, I won’t lie to you, just because I had never gotten styling at Ulta,” she said. “I had always seen the salon back there and just assumed that they really didn’t do Black hair.”
The chain is not winning on price. Pearl Foreman, a 35-year-old healthcare information technology worker in Houston, said flatly, “It’s not cheap.” She was not sold on the result either. “I’ve had a silkier silk press before,” she said. “It’s not going to last.”
Weena Jerome, who owns the independent Harlem salon Renaissance Curls, is not treating any of it as a threat. “I think there’s space for everyone,” she said.
