Sitting in a salon chair — draped in black capes with fluorescent lights beaming down —
hits differently these days. Pandemic experiments lie exposed as stylists peer down into scalps, examining how their clients have tended to their own hair in lockdown.
Some thrived during this time, perfecting their wash routines and attempting their own trims. Many embraced gray strands and outgrown hair, even celebrating it with Instagram hashtags and challenges on social media.
But for many others, the pandemic brought on depression, anxiety and exacerbated deep-rooted insecurities and trauma, said Donna Oriowo, a licensed independent clinical social worker and founder of Cocoa Butter & Hair Grease, a skin- and hair-care resource for women of color. “Basic hygiene can suffer when you are in the thick of it.”