Life & Style BEAUTY
By Tanaka Sotinwa
A Natural Fit I was eight years old the first time I walked into a hair salon. It was a busy Saturday morning and my aunt had taken us to “tame” our hair. Sizzling our hair for church with a stovetop-heated stretching comb or thread plaiting for a week of school was par for the course, until it was decided natural hair was too much stress. My sister and I walked in excitedly, our senses bombarded by the smell of chemicals, the steady whirring of the hood dryers, and the bus-
life-changing power of relaxers surrounded us and I pointed to a photo of Diana Ross, her curly hair flying behind her – I wanted that look. I left the salon with a curly, dripping perm that did anything but fly….or make me look fly. Fast-forward to adulthood, adding a move from the UK to Rhode Island and nothing much changed. Instead of fourhour flights to London, I was doing roundtrips to Boston to relax my hair. The times
relying on YouTube evangelists to show me the way. Pregnancy in 2020 saw me abandon relaxers completely, and as my natural hair grew, so did my desperation for a hairdresser who could “cut it kinky” without being New York-based. Alas, I fell prey to a local “Edward Scissorhands” who botched my postpartum hair (insert tears). After lamenting the state of Afro hair care in Rhody, someone recommended The LOFT in East Providence and my life was
tling conversation. Alluring images of the
I had embraced my natural hair, I was left
forever changed!
Sharita Payton assessing shape at The LOFT
26
The Bay • March 2022
Photos courtesy of The LOFT
The life-changing experience of finding a curly hair-exclusive salon close to home
