Weena Jerone Alexandra, 34

Founder of Renaissance Curls

2376 Adam Clayton Powell Jr blvd, Store 2, New York, NY, 10030

M: How long have you had Renaissance Curls?

W: Well, technically since 2011. I started in Montreal, but this location since 2021. I just go back and forth.

M: And how long have you been hairdressing for?

W: Since 2007

M: Did you learn how to do hair through cosmetology school?

W: In Montreal it's different. You don't have cosmetology, it's all separated. Here in the states you get your hair, nails, and makeup, but in Montreal, we separate them so I just went to hair school.

M: You grew up in Montreal. What was it like over there? Especially considering you’re Black and that experience is much different than here.

W: It was okay. My family's from Haiti. They came to Montreal back in the 70s. I went to a multicultural school in elementary school and then in high school, there weren't that many black people. And because of that when it comes to my hair, before high school, it was pretty white. But then once I started going to high school, a lot of black girls that had relaxed hair they looked at me like ‘How come you don't have a relaxer?’ Ninth grade, that's when I decided ‘Okay, I'm gonna relax my hair too,’ I did it for two years. And then went back to having natural hair. That's sort of my experience as a black person. There's definitely racism. It's just not as open.

M: You said you didn't learn how to do natural hair in hair school. How did you learn and learn how to teach others well?

W: Back in 2007. I feel like that's when YouTube came out. And then people started talking about having natural hair online. So in 2007, I was actually looking up how to take care of my relaxed hair and then I saw people talking about their natural hair. Because of that, I did my big chop in 2007, and then I started wearing my natural hair out. Every style that I would see online, I would just try it on myself. I did that for three years. Because I was doing hair already for straighter hair textures, I just applied what I had learned on straight hair to natural hair. And then I started offering my services.

M: And then you switched over to locs?

W: My hair, Yeah. I started my locs in 2011.

M: Any specific reason why?

W: I didn't want to tangle my hair. And have to detangle.

M: Most of your servicing includes like having people open themselves up to natural hair. How has that journey been for you? What have you learned from it? What have you seen others go through?

W: By the time I started doing natural hair in Montreal, it was already starting to become popular in the States. So we were starting to catch on. A lot of women were like, ‘Well, I'm gonna have natural hair. I at least want to see some curl patterns in my hair. I want that to be more enhanced.’ So I did a lot of that. I did a lot of silk presses in 2011. Before the pandemic, there was still a lot of ‘I want my curls defined’ and then around the pandemic, that's when people started, 'you know what definition is not that important. I don't mind if my hair is fried, it's windy.' I saw that transition. I would say a lot of clients throughout the years are not very comfortable with shrinkage is what I have noticed. I would say that also a lot of them don't know how to wash their own hair. We've seen a lot of transformations in our clients in terms of taking care of their hair and taking our advice.

M: Regarding products, what are you using on your clients but also what do you recommend?

W: Usually we recommend pretty much anything for hair So shampoo, conditioner, leaving conditioner, depending on if they want a twist-out or not do anything. What we recommend always depends on the client because we have different lines. We see how the hair reacts to the products that’s when we decide which product is best for the actual client.

M: It seems like most of your products are not as like, like you can't go to CVS and like go to the black section.

W: That's probably the design essentials that you could get at a beauty supply store. But a lot of our products are professional products. So it's usually you can find them in salons.

M: Is there a reason why are using those instead of like Cantu or Shea Moisture?

W: Cantu and all of those products adds on a lot of buildup to the hair. The way that it's formulated, there are so many oils and butters. If you think back to like 2007, back then the tip on YouTube was to put a lot of butters and olis. A lot of companies would watch the YouTube channels and be like, 'well a lot of people are asking for that. So let's put it in the formula.' They're pretty much using market research, but usually, a professional product they're taking into consideration like the chemistry of hair because even though our hair is curly, hair is hair at the end of the day, so you want to make sure that the cuticles are lifted. A good shampoo gets the dirt out of your hair, a good conditioner will close the cuticles to detangle the hair.

M: What is one thing you wish people knew better about Black hair?

W: To wash it regularly. A lot of the misconception is don't wash it that much. ‘If you wash it once a month it’ll be fine.’ But what we found not just us doing hair but our clients coming back, If you wash it like every seven to 10 days, because you're doing this repeatedly, then you're going to start to get more tips and tricks on how to wash it more efficiently. So it's not going to take that long and then on top of that, your hair is more hydrated.