Why women like male hairdresser

WHEN you think hairdressing, you naturally
think women and nothing more. But that

isn’t the case anymore as more and more
young men continue to give female
hairstylists a real run for their money. A
visit by Woman’s Own to major hairdressing
hubs around town proved this—and we’re
sure you’ve got proofs in your
neighbourhood too.
Interestingly, these men do not require
luxurious shops to steal the hearts of
customers. With a make-shift salon of any
kind, any female hairstylist who has got a
shop near one of them either folds up in no
time or branches into other trades to stay
relevant and earn a living.
It however
still
remains a
mystery
how men
would
become
better at
dressing a
woman’s
hair—a
business
that was
traditionally female, than women
themselves.
Attention to detail : But are they (men)
actually better at hair making or is it all in
the mind of women who are perhaps thrilled
about having the opposite sex touch their
hair? Why do customers swarm around them
like bees to honey? “I think they pay more
attention to detail.
That’s where they beat female hairstylists.
Women around me prefer them too. If you
go to prominent hairstylists in Surulere in
Lagos for example, you’ll find that they are
owned by men and also attract A-list artists
and celebrities from across the country. In
fact, one of the best hairstylists in Nigeria
today is Ugo Igbokwe and he is male.
“One thing you also notice when you visit
these salons owned by men is that women
would prefer to queue up and wait for their
male workers to make their hair rather than
let their female workers who are probably
less busy, make their hair,” said Christie
Anyanwu, a Lagos-based professional who
resides in Surulere, an area of Lagos
renowned for hair-making. Mubo Alade, a
front-desk officer in a telecommunication
firm in Lagos, also finds male hairdressers
very intriguing.
“Sometimes when they fix your hair, you’ll
think you’re wearing a wig because the
weavings underneath isn’t pronounced. And
then when you pack the hair upward, the
whole thing just looks real. I think these
guys have studied hair making and seen
where female hairstylists are missing it.”
To Alade, the
fact that these
stylists are also
of the opposite
sex brings in a
whole lot of
advantages
because “They
imagine you’re
a girlfriend
whom they
want to look
beautiful and
then they pick
the best style
and colour that
suits your face.
They tell you if
a centre or side
part will suit
you better or
not. In fact,
they are practically more patient than
female hairstylists.”
Like a couple of other women spoken with,
Alade confessed that she went all the way
to find a male stylist when the female stylist
making her hair just could not stop getting
on her nerves.
“People kept asking if it was a carpenter
that did my hair. Her finishing was nothing
to write home about. So, I decided to try a
male stylist I came across in my area and I
was wowed. It wasn’t just the fact that it
was a guy who did my hair; he did the
finishing in a way that by the time he was
through with the closing, you would have
thought I was wearing a wig if I didn’t tell
you it was weave-on,” Alade said.
In all fairness, while most women spoken
with spoke in favour of male stylists, we
however ran into a young lady with a
different opinion.
Thorough professional
“There’s nothing special about them,”
Margaret Odia, a banker by profession,
averred. Her verdict, we soon gathered, was
borne of the fact that she was grossly
disappointed the two times she patronized
one. Odia recounted: “This guy has a very
beautiful shop close to my area and behaves
as if he is a thorough professional. I actually
had not met any of his clients before giving
him a try.
But you need to see the hair he made for
me. The stitches were already falling out in
less than one week and the centre part was
looking very wide.” Odia’s grouse was
worsened by the fact that she had to pay
twice the amount she spends usually on
fixing her hair.
Pricing and male hairstylists: Without
denying that they indeed charge higher
service fees, Abuja-based male hairdresser,
Adebowale Babatunde, popularly known as
Wale Swagger, said that it is because
women could be very problematic.
“We generally spend more time making each
hair. Of course also, you know women will
always want to dictate until they get exactly
what they want. If we do not charge
higher, we might lose the monetary value of
hours put into making each hair. So, that’s
how we make up for the extra attention and
care we give to clients,” he told Woman’s
Own in a telephone interview.
Also, the operator of one of the most
popular hair salons in Ikotun area of Lagos,
Bright Dread Hair Salon, who simply
identified himself as Bright, attributed the
high fee to the quality of their work. “We
take our time. Beside, female hair dressers
can hardly do what we do. When you talk of
dread locks; whether natural or artificial, we
beat them to that. Talk about short hair
fixing and styling, we are by far different.
“We know what fits every face and we are
also more accommodating. Unlike most
female hairdressers who do not even care
about building good relationships with or
respecting their customers,” Bright
boasted. True to his claim, Bukola, one of
the female stylists working in Bright’s salon,
said her experience with her former boss
(female) was nothing compared with the
months spent with her current male boss.
Bukola said: “I’ve noticed that male
hairdressers strive to be trendy and perfect.
They don’t stick to old school hairstyles like
their female counterparts do.”
What makes them tick?
As Wale Swagger puts it, the ability to listen
to customers and give them what they want
is what makes him and his male colleagues
special.
“We always follow trends to know exactly
what is reigning and how to perfectly make
them. Some customers come with styles
they found on Instagram and Google, and
they are always in search of a stylist who
can give them exactly the same styles. I
always try to do my best by making sure I
follow trends as well.
Female hairstylists
“Another thing is that we tend to be more
careful than most female hairstylists. For
instance, if you come and tell me to make
you the hairstyle called Rihanna, I will sit
you down and show you the different types
of Rihanna: Take a bow, Shut up and drive,
Live your life, etc. If you are still
confused, we Google the different styles
and search until you find exactly what you
want,” he explained.
Swagger who told Woman’s Own he never
learned hair-making but only picked up the
skill when he helped to manage his sister’s
salon in Lagos, had worked in Ikeja in Lagos
before relocating his trade to the Federal
Capital Territory. Another male hairdresser
who spoke from Benin City in Edo State,
Prosper Amahwu, said he simply brings to
play his natural love for beautiful things.
“Because I am a guy, I like good things. So
when I see a girl who doesn’t look good, I
don’t like it. I want her to look good, so, I
give my best. Every day, I also try to
improve on my techniques to be able to
compete favourably in the field.
“I’m most particular about finishing. Some
people do not understand how to close
weave-ons properly. Thus, I focus on that
part because it’s what people see first. I
make sure that whenever I am closing a
parting, I give it all of my time. I look at it
as if I am the one who wants to wear that
look. As a result, even when I am not
around, you find customers waiting for me
to come back,” Amahwu.
Challenges
But things aren’t all rosy with male hair
dressers; many of them suffer sexual
harassments and are perceived as gay in
extreme cases. It’s actually very common to
hear cases of customers making sexual
advances at them. Swagger however
explained that such challenges depend
largely on the location of one’s business and
crop of customers.
“When I was in Ikeja, most of my customers
were runs girls (commercial sex workers).
Some of them can entice you when they
don’t have money to pay for their hair. But if
you have self-control, you can easily tell
them to come pay when they have the
money. Doing pedicure is even worse. You
must have self-control to be able to ignore
when a woman’s laps are exposed in the
course of you treating her feet. I cannot mix
work with pleasure. So, I just had to develop
a thick skin.