Curly Hair Salons in Cairo are Paving the Way for a Nascent Natural Hair Revolution
Since 2018, some Egyptian women have divested from expensive keratin treatment and begun a journey towards healthy natural hair and, by extension, a healthier society that appreciates Egyptian beauty.
The Abdeen sisters run one of the most successful and beloved curly hair salons in Cairo’s El Maadi. Their mission is to empower women who want to embrace their natural hair.
Like many Black and brown girls, I grew up wishing my hair was straight. Neither my German mother nor my Sudanese aunts knew how to treat my curls. It wasn’t until my friend returned to Europe from a semester abroad in the U.S., where her African American roommate had introduced her to Black haircare, that I learned to proudly embrace my natural hair.
Moving to Egypt shortly thereafter, I could not have been more disappointed to continuously fight hairdressers who insisted on straightening my hair every time I needed a cut. My Egyptian friends wore their natural curls in an environment that expected them to pay for keratin treatment at excruciatingly high prices. In society, this choice marked them as radical, strong-headed women who are difficult to deal with.
At the time, I was advised to divest from regular hairdressers and seek out the curly studios popping up all over Cairo’s affluent neighborhoods. The waitlist was at least three months, and the prices were double or triple the average.
These salons were a hit or miss because their owners do not require a license. Inspired by the hype and new conversations onThe Hair Addict’s Facebook group, journalist Bahira Amin tried out three places — and had three unsatisfactory experiences. “One styled my hair, and I looked like a poodle; the next cut my hair, and it wasn’t flattering to my shape; the third cut [...] was uneven,” she says. “I think they do one thing really well and have learned to work with really textured and oily hair, but for my looser curls, they tried to do the same thing and it just doesn’t work.”
Curlique, by Yara Abdeen and her sister Rana “Lulu” Abdeen, is one studio that people with all kinds of hair swear by. The Nubian Egyptian stylists and hairdressers run this salon out of their home, where they make their products and forge long-term relationships with their clients.
Abdeen learned the intricacies of natural hair out of necessity. Growing up, she was told, “If only you had straight hair, you would have been so beautiful.” She underwent keratin treatment for years while working as a flight attendant.
On a fateful flight to Japan, she decided to cut off the long hair she had gotten bored of and unexpectedly found herself faced with natural curls and no clue how to style them. She bought hair products during another work trip to the U.S. and started her natural hair journey alongside a South African friend. “Whenever I returned to Egypt, I’d go back to straightening my hair,” Abdeen tells OkayAfrica. “It’s embedded in society that curly hair is for bad people. In Egyptian cinema, the bad character has curly hair, and if she becomes a good person by the end of the movie, she will wear her hair straight.”
Abdeen moved back to Cairo after doing a master’s degree at the London College of Make-Up in 2015. She decided to stick to her natural hair — despite her mother refusing to let her meet visitors out of embarrassment — but could not find a hairdresser who knew how to cut her hair. She took a course and eventually caved to the many requests from other women who wanted her to cut their hair.
“I was hesitant back then, but people were tolerant because there was only one curly studio,” she recalls. She shares a story of a woman who cried the first time she saw herself as beautiful after Abdeen cut and styled her natural hair. “All of my clients say that whenever they go to a regular hairdresser, the people working there ask them how they plan to get married wearing their hair like this,” says Abdeen. “I remember worrying about this when I was only five years old.”
The obstacles to embracing natural hair in Egypt are manifold: it requires a shift in perspective of what is considered beautiful and strength to defy societal shame and ridicule. “Many women took the veil off after learning how to deal with their hair,” says Abdeen. “A big part of wearing their veil was thinking their hair looks ugly.”
Abdeen agrees with Amin that the “curly hair studio” or “natural products” badge does not necessarily promise good service or treatment. “Egypt is underserved with good products,” Abdeen says. According to her, a good product keeps natural hair as it is by hydrating it enough to be frizz-free. “With our many devaluations, we cannot buy the expensive foreign products we used before and cannot recommend them to our clients,” she says. “But there isn’t one local product I’d say is good, so we had to make our own.”
The rise of curly hair salons in Cairo has changed Rasha El-Shirbini’s life as a woman and mother of two multiracial sons. “I spend a ridiculous amount of money on haircare products,” says the former head of strategic marketing who lives between Egypt and the U.K.
El-Shirbini recommendsThe Curly Studio, Cairo’s first hair salon for curly hair and the first hairdresser she can relax with. “Growing up was very difficult,” she says. “It’s been a real evolution. The younger generation doesn’t know the pain and the experimentation we went through.”
Brushing her hair and going to regular salons used to be a traumatic experience that she did not want to subject her children to. “The Curly Studio was an amazing experience for my son,” she says. “I’m happy for this movement. The younger generation is becoming proud of the unique hair and skin color that go hand in hand.”
“For women who wear curly hair, it’s more than just hair,” says Abdeen. “It’s who they are and what they want, and how they put their foot on the ground after being bullied.”
While curly hair is becoming a trend in affluent Cairene neighborhoods and amongst a few brave people in places like Alexandria and the Delta, most Egyptian women still live under the grip of expensive keratin treatment. The curly hair movement is advancing slowly, and the Egyptian market is far from saturated. “We should be dominating the market and exporting the products,” says El-Shirbini. “We have so many ancient Egyptian beauty secrets. It’s a market that savvy Egyptians know they must cater to.”
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