Salon experts share their advice about ethnic hair
Here are some tips about ethnic hair that you can keep in mind when you go to the salon for your nest colour and cut. The most important piece of advice is to find a stylist who knows how to work with your type of hair.
African-American Hair
According to Anna Pacitto Merlo, co-owner of Pure in Montreal and 1999 Contessa Multicultural Hairstylist of the Year, this type of hair is much longer when wet. “I take very little off when wet then do finishing cuts when dry.” Also, because hair is so porous, she prefers using semi-permanent hair color. “Andnever blow-dry when soaking wet. I like to use a roller set when drying to give sleek look with a light bounce.” Colomer’s Arosci products on African-American hair provide excellent results.
Asian hair
Chris Baran and Kris Sorbie—both from Redken—have a favorite product to use with Asian hair. It’s All-Soft (by Redken naturally) and softens hair and adds volume. As for the cut, here are their words of wisdom. “Because Asian hair is so strong even shorter looks need to have a bit of length in order for the weight to pull it downwards.”
Latin American Hair
“It’s unusual to find the same texture on the same head of hair but it’s generally wavy to curly,” says Sam Brocato, President of Brocato America. “With its multiporosity, sharp bends in the hair can make the shaft weak. Brocato’s Latina product line deals with hair affected by humidity. The products must be able to self-adjust against the environment.”