Should All Natural Hair Salon Stylists & Hair Braiders Be Licensed? | ESSENCE Now

ESSENCE Now panelists Monae Everett, Susy and Antonia Opiah discuss the fight between Tennessee and natural hair stylists and braiders and whether all salon stylists should be licensed.

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41 Comments

  1. Esse Bailey on November 29, 2018 at 6:00 pm

    I’ve had a liscenced white hair stylist for my fashion college spray and soak my twist out, then take out a curling iron to give it curls…No offense to her, but I didn’t say anything because my fashion board ordered models to let these women style our hair. My designer stopped her from trying to curl it and styled it herself.



  2. Empress Jones on November 29, 2018 at 6:00 pm

    Only if u r in a business



  3. Roxanne Sophia on November 29, 2018 at 6:01 pm

    Yes, every stylist should be licensed to work on the public. This ensures proper care of the client hair and protects the client.



  4. Sisda Gad on November 29, 2018 at 6:01 pm

    Fingers, comb and hair. What do need a license for?????



  5. Aisha Kiara on November 29, 2018 at 6:06 pm

    Yes



  6. Cali green on November 29, 2018 at 6:07 pm

    No



  7. Gwendolyn Ellis on November 29, 2018 at 6:07 pm

    A yes essence



  8. Tia J on November 29, 2018 at 6:09 pm

    Absolutely. Anyone providing a (legal) personal service to a customer for pay should be licensed. You have to understand the science of hair and scalp, and you also have to understand the hygiene of working on multiple heads with fingers or tools. There are a lot of crazy information and practices involving our hair based on what I’ve seen on youtube that I hope no professional is advocating.



  9. Amma Appiah on November 29, 2018 at 6:11 pm

    I vote no.



  10. Seaux Southern on November 29, 2018 at 6:11 pm

    I don’t think it’s mandatory, however, if you’re going to have your own business and make your own prices, then sure. It’s good to have. That’s my opinion.



  11. Erie B on November 29, 2018 at 6:12 pm

    Yes



  12. Esse Bailey on November 29, 2018 at 6:12 pm

    Susy looks AWESOME



  13. Nakia Dillard on November 29, 2018 at 6:12 pm

    If there was a Natural Hair/Braiding focused license or school than yes but why get a license in something completely opposite to what you do. You don’t learn about natural hair or braiding skills which is a waste of time… So its really just about the piece of paper that makes people feel comfortable even though that license doesn’t guarantee that you will have a better experience with a stylist or not.



  14. Mashinda on November 29, 2018 at 6:13 pm

    I think yes. People who handled natural hair should know at the very least the composition of the hair and the impact of manipulating hair on the scalp. I have had my hair braided and had to take them down the next day because she pulled so tight that it caused blisters on my scalp and incurred breakage. I have seen people with disappearing hair lines and suffering from traction alopecia because hair has been pulled to tight.



  15. Sisda Gad on November 29, 2018 at 6:16 pm

    License is just another word for tax. To line thpockets of those who have no interest in you or your natural hair.



  16. ghebreluel on November 29, 2018 at 6:16 pm

    NO



  17. naturallymenow on November 29, 2018 at 6:18 pm

    Yes most definitely



  18. Ms.sweetea E on November 29, 2018 at 6:19 pm

    I’ve been braiding hair since I was 12 years old so I am in between yes in a shop, but no at home.



  19. blackamethyst923 on November 29, 2018 at 6:19 pm

    As a black woman with natural hair who lives in a small town; I don’t have enough words to explain why it is so important that some basics be taught about taking care of natural hair. Personally, I don’t think this is FULLY a govt trying to keep the black woman down/govt in my bank acct issue. I think it’s a cosmetology school issue. Cosmetology schools should have already done this and need to expand their curriculum to include a natural hair certification. I have had really bad experience with black hairstylist who don’t care or have the desire to understand why I want my type 4 hair natural especially since I’m growing it long. I need someone who will treat it with care. I see natural and protective hairstyles on youtube that I wish I could do, but I don’t have the talent or patience for some of them. Within my lifetime I have had both relaxed hair styles and press and curl styles and endured both because women suffer for beauty and straight hair=beautiful right? Not to mentions having to deal with old school and new school thinking in hair management: Mom vs me. Especially when old school natural hair management include grease and a hot comb and new school methods are complex, sometimes time consuming, and sometimes expensive. Unfortunately, when I wore protective styles I couldn’t find someone a) I could afford (the good naturalist hairstylist are not cheap), b) some are not aware of multiple methods to do hair c) finding natural hairstylist who are truly educated about managing natural hair and properly installing protective styles. So I think there needs to be a board of black cosmetologist who help determine license and certification guidelines that everyone abides by.



  20. mz.Bossy C on November 29, 2018 at 6:21 pm

    B no coming from a licensed cosmetologist of over a decade absolutely not this is a cultural part of the hair community that belong strictly and holy to African people. No one can tell us how to do this particular part of hair but us and this is cultural this is something that we learn at 5 to 6 years old so absolutely not now I can see them forcing natural hair stylist is to take a sanitation course of about 50 hours absolutely but having a license to do something that comes naturally to us and that belongs to our cultural of African people absolutely not I’m against itπŸ™ŒπŸΏπŸ™ŒπŸΏπŸ™ŒπŸΏ is strictly about money that’s it that’s all cosmetology schools don’t know anything about natural hair styling i e African American hair this is why young hair stylists come out of school not knowing the things that they need to know to really make money and that’s a fact and I’m saying most schools not all the most



  21. Taheerah Chestnut on November 29, 2018 at 6:21 pm

    Glad my Dad taught me how to manage my natural hair and made me practice braiding daily, because of this process I am able to do my hair and others. Thanks DaddyπŸ’—



  22. Xzodia Yin Zero on November 29, 2018 at 6:24 pm

    No. Licenses are scams.



  23. kaoru747 on November 29, 2018 at 6:25 pm

    Yes



  24. Sweet Sam on November 29, 2018 at 6:26 pm

    I think all braiders should have a license!!!! I bet you at least 90% of the hair braiders in NYC/Harlem/Bronx/Brooklyn are not licensed. There charging $120-$180 per hair do and I have a funny feeling they’re not paying taxes!! I just got my hair braided last week and a client had the nerve to come to the shop without her hair being WASHED. I got so turned off. She had so much dandruff in her hair and was arguing with shop owner to braid her even though it was filthy!! That’s why I bring my own brush and combs when I get my hair braided. Some women are no nasty!!



  25. Angie WS on November 29, 2018 at 6:26 pm

    I agree, but that’s why we have to educate ourselves to become a better stylist or an instructor. When I was in the Natural Hair Program I didn’t have a teacher. I think if they are going to continue with this program they should at least have people who understand our hair. Natural hair isn’t just about braiding, locs and twisting. It drives me crazy because I can’t flat iron or trim their ends because its not part of our licenses. They need to do more research when it comes to natural hair.



  26. Priscilla Crosby on November 29, 2018 at 6:26 pm

    You can lose edges with a stylist who has a license and many have lost not only their edges but their hair going to these "stylists" with "licenses"; therefore a license does not mean anything!



  27. Elsa Maria on November 29, 2018 at 6:27 pm

    No



  28. kenny k. on November 29, 2018 at 6:27 pm

    B



  29. mz.Bossy C on November 29, 2018 at 6:32 pm

    Omg look at the cosmetology school book the chapter on natural hair is like 2 Pages Maybe the people that are teaching Us in cosmetology school do not look like us they don’t do our hair they have no knowledge on it that’s why a lot of African American women feel like cosmetology school is a waste



  30. Kiya & Diamond on November 29, 2018 at 6:34 pm

    Cosmetology Licence is nun but paper it not even worth getting a licence.



  31. Talkindurinthemovie on November 29, 2018 at 6:39 pm

    Just some racism



  32. joe williams-nelson on November 29, 2018 at 6:39 pm

    Excellent discussion.



  33. LiveUnited Tucson on November 29, 2018 at 6:40 pm

    Yassss



  34. romy luck luck on November 29, 2018 at 6:43 pm

    YES!!! Because some of these braiders don’t be knowing what they be doing when it comes to protecting natural hair. You’ll come out the shop with a facelift and edges snatched because they braid to damn tight!!



  35. Kimberly Bell on November 29, 2018 at 6:46 pm

    I vote yes



  36. Linda Mouton on November 29, 2018 at 6:47 pm

    NO BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE ITS THE MOST NATURAL THING WE CAN DO TO OUR HAIR. NO CHEMICALS ARE BEING USED. SO THERE IS NO PROBLEM.THEY JUST FOUND A WAY TO SCREW BLACKS OUT OF MONEY. SOME IF THESE STATES ARE PREJUDICE AS FUCK.



  37. Erie B on November 29, 2018 at 6:49 pm

    A



  38. Stephanie Jordan on November 29, 2018 at 6:49 pm

    πŸ‘πŸ˜‰πŸš¨πŸ—³πŸ’‡πŸ’Œ πŸ—³ πŸ’‡πŸ’­πŸ—³ πŸ’‡πŸ’¬πŸ—³ πŸ’‡πŸ˜‘πŸ’ŒπŸ˜³πŸŒ½πŸ˜¬.



  39. Chad Cooper on November 29, 2018 at 6:49 pm

    Wow



  40. Tanika I. on November 29, 2018 at 6:50 pm

    I’m a hairdresser. I don’t think its fair that I have to go to school and get a license, and pay renewal fees every two years. A Braider gets to CLEAN HOUSE on the money they make from braiding, etc, and not pay for a license, school. It really doesn’t seem like much to ask to go for 300 hours of instruction. I had to go 1600 hours!



  41. ArAβ™₯ on November 29, 2018 at 6:53 pm

    Why get a license from folks who dont know US?, let alone our culture?? This clearly about $$ They Do Not teach about afro-hair. This what our great-grand-mothers have naturally been doing for centries. I only agree salon-owners should take course in hygene, biology of afro-hair,