Image: @thecurlbarlondon
Nia Petit aka @niathelight has been recognized by her glorious curls and bright warm smile. She’s amassed over 500k+ followers on social media sharing her passion for curly hair and self-love to empower other girls to not just love their hair, but themselves from the inside out. She has starred in multiple beauty advertisements and traveled the world encouraging women to love their fro and now is the CEO and salon owner of The Curl Bar London.
“The Curl Bar London journey began in 2013 when a friend of Nia messaged her to ask for hair tips. Nia then invited her to her home where she ended up big chopping her hair to begin her natural hair journey. From then all of her friends started sharing her talents and Nia began doing hair from her Mum’s living room. Months went on and she found herself meeting women who travelled from Germany to Australia just to get their hair cut and shaped by her. Soon after, she began University and embarked on a journey as a content creator but the love of hair that she had at 16 always found its way back to her somehow. At 21, she went to view an old shop in Crouch End and the rest is history.”
Image: @niathelight
From the living room to a beautiful salon, can you share your journey of becoming a stylist and salon owner?
“I started doing hair for my friends who needed help with their hair. My journey of being passionate about hair truly began at that time as I was learning about my hair too. So seeing friends tell their friends and so on, it just became my little hustle for days I wasn’t in school. I loved every moment of it as it felt so good to make other women feel good.”
What makes The Curl Bar London unique?
“The Curl Bar London is a safe space for women with natural hair to feel embraced. We aspire for each client to feel confident when they walk out and empowered in knowing they have a stylist they can trust and feel pampered. The experience is a one of a kind from having your scalp thoroughly massaged during shampoo’ing to gentle detangling and one to one teaching so each client can maintain the same standard to themselves once they leave the space. We want you to feel at home with our refreshing teas, mellow music and a polaroid wall for each client to be a part of our family. Each client will have a consultation to learn how they want to feel when they leave the space and which service is best suited to them. We envision a community and home to be built for new customers and returning ones who will enjoy every moment of their treatment. We will also have classes with a range of topics for Mothers, students and women in the professional industry who want to learn new styles for their day to day lives. This is not just a salon, this is your home.”
Image: @thecurlbarlondon
What are the top curly hair concerns you hear from friends and clients? How do you hope to address those at the Curl Bar?
“It is always dry-ness because of the London weather and water. Styling is also a big problem as people want advice on learning that.”
From learning how to care for your own hair to helping other women love their curls, what are your top tips for curly hair?
“Detangle with your fingers from the bottom then work your way up. I find that using a brush to smooth it all in will really give you a great smoothing finish. Styling on wet hair is a great way to get the best results from styling.”
Image: @thecurlbarlondon
What advice do you have for women who are a new natural and struggling to embrace their natural hair?
“Do not compare yourself to others, enjoy your hair for what it is rather than focusing on what it can be. Treat it as a self care routine but don’t become too attached. You are not your hair!”
Image: @thecurlbarlondon
As the natural hair movement expands, what do you hope to see more of and how do you plan to shine your light in 2020?
“I hope to see more diversity in campaigns and to see more women shining their light on social media!”
Congrats again to this curly Queen on this major accomplishment! We can’t wait to see what you do next, we’re rooting for you.
