Flair Magazine For the past three years, The Hair Addict has been all about the empowering mission to de-stigmatize natural hair and now they’re not only after women, but targeting men as well. In that spirit, they held an event at the AUC campus on March 11th to reach out to a younger audience, organized by 5 Steps Ahead. With the theme ‘Stand Your Natural Ground’, AUC Hair Addicts was launched to encourage students to embrace their natural hair and connect them with the brands that share the same vision and actually go to great lengths to provide products free of standard harsh chemicals.
Booths were set up all day in the famous Plaza area, where students were welcome to roam around and get free hair consultations and dry haircuts, in addition to many giveaways and vouchers by multinational hair and skincare brands. Joining the Hair Addict, other exhibitors included The Curly Studio, Sleep In Beauty, Bionike, Sehha Wellness, Glow, Hype, Toi Salon and Dutchie.
In the middle of the buzz, we finally caught up with Doaa Gawish, the mastermind behind The Hair Addict, and she told us, “I’m happy that we’re now much more than just a social media platform. We are going to the people where they study and where they live. It’s not even just about women anymore. Hair care is gender-neutral. There is a stigma related to males asking about hair tips and wanting to grow their hair out. We want to address that, as well.”
During assembly hour, there was a special platform for two students (one male and one female) to give speeches about their curly hair journey and get interviewed by the gorgeous beauty blogger Hadeer AlMallah. When we asked her about her natural transformation tips, she said, “Just be patient. My personal journey after almost twelve years of heat damage was patience. I know it’s annoying to hear that when you want nice, curly hair at once but it’s a gradual process and it varies from one person to another depending on how much damage has been done to your hair. Still, it will always be worth it to look into the mirror and see your natural hair glow giving you the reflection of your true self.”
Stay tuned for The Hair Addict’s second round of the Natural Hair Fest on Friday, April 12th. This time, it will take place at Meryland Park from 12 to 8pm for Hair Addicts to enjoy giveaways and fun on-ground activities in a garden-fresh atmosphere.
By Sarah Guirguis
