With the Conversations Series, we create a positive image for Black girls to refer to, by having conversations with different business owners, entrepreneurs and creators. Here, we are catching up with Charlotte Mensah, an award-winning British -Ghanaian hairstylist, owner of the Hair Lounge Salon and a writer, of the book Good Hair.
A full interview with Charlotte will be featured in our March 2021 issue.
Stay Tuned! Buy our latest issue here
Charlotte Mensah has won Afro Hairdresser of the Year three times, and has been inducted into The British Hairdressing Awards Hall Of Fame, in 2018. Charlotte has worked with a number of clients, including Zadie Smith, Erykah Badu, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Michaela Coel to name a few. Her work has been featured in Vogue, ELLE, Harper's Bazaar.
Charlotte career started at London College of Fashion and worked her way to the world of professional hairstyling in the 1980s. Gaining her skills at Splinters - (Afro Hair salon) as an intern, under the eye of renowned hairstylist Winston Isaacs. in 1999 Mensah was awarded funding by the Prince's Trust, where Charlotte opened the Hair Lounge based on Notting Hill's Portobello Road, London.
The Hair Lounge sounds great, sweet sounds of old school 90s R&B, with a wide range of unique treatments for Afro, Textured and Curly hair. This year, Charlotte launched her first book Good Hair: The Essential Guide to Afro, Textured and Curly Hair. This book shares some great tips like expert advice, nourishing recipes and so much more. We like the stories behind each chapter that allows us to learn something new about Charlotte's amazing hair journey!
Giving back
We talked about everything and it was refreshing to hear positive and uplifting stories about loving our hair. Charlotte talked about her charity LOVE (Ladies of Visionary Empowerment) Naa Densua which helps to educate young students through your knowledge of hairstyling techniques, how giving back to the community was important.
"Giving back to the community is very important, I went
to Tanzania and it was an eye opener, that's how the charity
was started"
Charlotte Mensah
Different Hair Types
Charlotte wanted Good Hair: The Essential Guide to Afro, Textured and Curly Hair to inspire readers to see how history and black hair can be shown in a positive light. Sadé and I love seeing and discussing all the different hair types.
"There are no positive representation of afro hair. No inspiring figures to resonate with. This book is to help to inspire readers as well as connecting with Black History"
Charlotte Mensah
Photographer: Karen Lasme - Good Hair: The Essential Guide to Afro, Textured and Curly Hair
A full interview with Charlotte will be featured in our March 2021 issue.
Stay Tuned!
Find out more about Charlotte here