Reclaiming the ethos of sisterhood

By Thandwa Dlamini

2021 has reflected failures, losses and opportunities in our lives. Failure, however has come to be understood differently in this new era, it demanded a level of unforeseen compassion amongst us. Compassion that operated on two levels, one that required us to look within ourselves, find our ‘why’, and yet maintain an ambivalence of stillness and chaos in finding it. This implied that we needed to feel, and appear lost and fearful in our attempts to find our purpose. For a moment, we could relate to the atrocities happening in the world, and we did not put pressure on ourselves to realise our full potential but to work towards it, which brought us to the second level of compassion, where in order for us to take difficult strides towards birthing our purpose as female owned enterprises, we found ourselves creating a community that is centred on love, support and sisterhood. We are Ardor by Benjy Buttn and Texture Natural hair, and this is our story.

All it takes is to start- thinking, planning and executing with the available resources. Take a leap of faith- cliche as it may sound, it sets you free from the bondage of not tapping into your aspirations. As Ardor by Benjy Buttn, we started looking around us, in our mother’s beautiful grand garden in secluded and drought stricken Gundvwini, and became more aware of mother nature’s gifts, we became more curious about the benefits of plants, flowers, salts from the earth and we remain curious of what may come out of here. In those moments we realised more than ever that we had found everlasting wealth that affords people wellness. Wellness was our first area of focus, when everyone was trying to figure out living a healthy lifestyle in the wake of COVID-19. As a result, we introduced self care packages to assist loved ones with ailments related to COVID. Closely after that, we introduced organic body products, complementing them with body beads, the finishing touch to the body selection.

WRITTEN BY THANDWA DLAMINI, WELILE DLAMINI & PATRICIA MIKANGO COURTESY OF AESTHETIKSELEKTOR VOL.3 PHOTOGRAPHS BY THANDWA DLAMINI

The birth of Texture Natural Hair Salon comes after a period of loss and grieve, of my father. I fell into depression thinking about my future plans. Trying to find a solution, I spoke to Dylan Zwane, a friend of mine and he asked me what I was passionate about, after hearing me speak out haircare he asked me “Why don’t you start?” he went on to tell me that if I have a vision for myself, I should build on what I’m passionate about and I’ll never regret it. A few months later, I started.

In the middle of a pandemic I had a mission to open a salon that would be a haven for women of all hair textures. Chasing my dreams came at a price, my family was not fully ready to let me go out into the world due to clashes between my vision and our culture and because of this I was on my own. By the time civil unrest hit, my sister had helped with enough equipment to open, I thought all my work would be in vein but we managed to open our doors in October.

In the groundworks, I had roped in Ardor’s co-founder Benjy Buttn, who offers barber services, creating a diverse array of beauty options for all kinds of women, with no room for limitation. Importantly, I following my dreams has earned the support of my family. Through this whole experience I learnt that your productivity and growth is affected by the people that surround yourself with.

That said, collectively as Texture and Ardor by Benjy Buttn, we believe we are being seen daily, we are repeating the message and we are being heard, more awareness on our products and services is being created and for us this year that all of which have been huge accomplishments, well after the profit motive of course. From where we are standing, we are revolutionising beauty, rewriting the narrative and saying black hair is beautiful, it can be nurtured, given generous amount of effort and care and therefore it is a seamlessly attainable goal. We are further saying black bodies, in the same breath, are beautiful in all its forms, shapes and sizes. In embracing multifaceted definitions of womanhood we are saying “Black womxn give yourself permission to find your inner and outer beauty, give yourself permission to define what is attractive to you” And when you do, you will fall into the arms of a community of women who will support you and when you look in the mirror you will ecstatically pleased with what you see. So we are building a foundation upon which sisterhood can be grounded and flourishes in the aspect of beauty and lifestyle. More futuristically, we hope to collaborate with other female led businesses in the beauty industry, creating an alliance that empowers black women to be themselves and express themselves, on any occasion.