Life | London hair show offers colour and creativity |
| Written by Andy Collins |
| Saturday, 05 June 2010 22:52 |
 Although the London Afro Hair and Beauty show was in its 29th year this was my first visit to this event. The show was held at the Business Design Centre in Islington, having recently moved from its original venue at the London Alexandra Palace. The 2-day event started on Sunday 29 May and those who arrived on the bank holiday Monday afternoon would still have been greeted by a queue outside, I arrived on Monday, at 3. I will not pretend to be a hair expert but I have a keen interest and things have certainly moved on from my days of simple straight cuts and the growth of the human and synthetic hair market for woman continues to rapidly expand. Combined with extremely talented hair stylists the possibilities and creations for women seem endless. I was in the wrong place to ask for a no.1 all over! Visitors were greeted with a free serving of Supermalt. Supermalt is a non-alcoholic malt drink, which reminds me of Guinness, dark, almost black in colour but not as thick to drink. The Supermalt is actually quite sweet and available here in Sweden at selected afro-Caribbean shops. Two glasses later I finally move on.  Obviously the event is a chance for you to see and liaise with the many retailers offering products for all types of black hair. One beaming woman, Barbara Greene of JF Labs (right), proudly showed her Hawaiian Silk relaxers which she informed us, will not turn your hair brown and the end result leaves the hair silky smooth.Whilst in conversation I asked her if she was aware of the black-Swedish community in Sweden. "Yes indeed. Although I live in the US I take my products everywhere around the world and I plan to visit Sweden one day, " Barbara says while removing curlers from a volunteer model and I must admit, her hair looked silky smooth. Sensationnel, one of the main sponsors of the event naturally have a large presence with a small stage show demonstrating the ease of using their products. They had models showing wigs of all shapes and sizes. The hair quality was superb adding the bonus of the vast range of styles and colours. One stand that I was unhappy to see was one offering skin lightening products. I later read that it had also angered and shocked other visitors. The Fly Newspaper quoted one visitor who said, “As a proud African woman, who’s very proud of her culture, I’m acutely aware of the damage that this sort of product can have on young impressionable minds. We are made very aware of the damage this kind of product can have on our community and there is absolutely no excuse to allow this exhibition to showcase such products.” Visitors at the Afro Hair and Beauty Show could enjoy two stages, which entertained us with catwalk shows, music and dancers. Although the catwalk show I attended lacked a little polish with one model having to walk the runway twice as they had played the wrong music (a slight lack of professionalism is still sadly a common trait at many black events), however the creative boundaries were on full show as stylists illustrated their technical expertise and artistic flair using weaves, tresses and imaginative braids.  There was a selection of new products available such as the popular Organics Root Stimulators original Olive Oil relaxer system, designed to leave your hair looking healthy, shiny and stronger. T444z, definitely not the best name we’ve heard for a product, made its first appearance at the show. And if you were looking for a do-it all product then Mixed Chicks offered products for every hair type such as Mixed Chicks Hair Silk. Hair silk is perfect for the Swedish cold winters as it can tame static hair yet also combats summer damage. It wasn’t all hair stands as make-up was available too like FaceBaces’ offering new foundations for women of colour to achieve a natural looking skin tone.  Overall, if this were your first visit to the event you’d find it entertaining, interesting and inspiring. I enjoyed it but it was a shame I missed the men’s barber events but that’s more reason to return. I’d recommend visiting the London Afro Hair and Beauty show as well as the upcoming Swedish Afro hair show for continued inspiration. Now, where are the red wigs for men? Photographer: Andy Collins Would you like to submit a review from an Afro-Caribbean event? Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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In the same sense as the name of that old comedy "Dr Hfuhruhurrs dilemma"...
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