Tasha, it’s great to have this conversation with you. Tell me what started your hair braiding journey, right from the very beginning
At the age of seven, my mother moved to a different parish in Jamaica for a better life, leaving me in the care of my grandmother, who was blind and quite incapable of looking after me. She would, however, try her best to look after me. For example, she would braid my hair for school – although she couldn’t see how she was parting my hair, she could feel enough to braid it.
I was bullied at school for having ‘granny plaits’ with horrible partings, so I practised combing my hair by myself to avoid the shame. The bullying continued, unfortunately. It spurred me on to take charge of my hair, though, and by the time I was nine years old, I had already mastered the skill of braiding to extent that I was the one braiding my grandmother’s hair! I would practise different styles on her– remember that as she couldn’t see what I was doing – and, before long, I was the youngest, best hairstylist in our community, Portland Jamaica.
How old were you when you started?
I was only nine years old when people started to recognise my braiding skills and, although I didn’t see what they saw as a miracle, I was laser-focused in achieving perfection each time I braided the hair of members of my community.
Your styles are astonishing, and you are known for being very creative. Where do you get your inspiration?
I find inspiration all around me. For me, braiding is a form of art. So I could be inspired by a flower… I am a very creative person; growing up as a child I was pretty good at drawing and painting, and this talent has stayed with me. I naturally think outside the box, and I find that I am able to apply my artistic skills to hair by using my hands to create – in the sense that my fingers are like different shades of pencils and the client’s hair is my canvas.
Do you believe braiding can be learnt by anyone?
Yes, I think it can be learnt by anyone. For some, it may come naturally once they understand the concept, whilst others will struggle with the concept of it. But I believe the old adage that ‘practice makes perfect’.
Why and when did you start your YouTube channel?
I started my YouTube channel in January 2017. My reason for starting up the channel was due to all the people around me convincing me to teach my skills to people who might want to master the art of braiding. Personally, I didn’t have the confidence to teach others – I’ve never thought of myself as a teacher – but I took a chance and I jumped right into it! After posting my first three videos, I gave up on the channel for two years due to personal circumstances. But also, the passion just wasn’t there at all. Last year, I regained my strength and the confidence to continue where I left off, as I realised how many lives my videos were making a difference to, and that knowledge made me feel good about myself. That people are taking something away from my tutorials and that it’s making a huge difference in their lives is very motivating to me.
Describe the channel’s growth since you started it?
There were a lot of bumps in the road in terms of my YouTube journey, due to the fact that I had left it for two years. During that time I gained so many subscribers and received so many comments. And, despite the fact that I was unable to engage with people during this time, what amazed me is that people kept on subscribing, and I feel blessed by the number of subscribers to the channel. Funnily enough, when I eventually went back to my YouTube channel, I discovered so many hairstylists with very similar content flooding the platform. So there’s obviously a need! But I’m happy with the progress I’ve made so far. My aim is to keep getting better for my subscribers.
What is the most common question you get asked by your followers?
The most common questions I get asked by my followers is how to do a particular hairstyle using extensions. Some ask me to make the same video with more detail. Another common request is to demonstrate how to do ‘overhand plaits’ with extensions (when the hair is braided ‘over’ instead of ‘under’– it’s almost impossible to feed extensions into the hair whilst doing that). My most recent questions have been all about hair growth – people want to know which oils should be used to stimulate their hair growth.
Do you limit yourself to braiding or do you get involved in other aspects of afro hair styling?
No, I don’t limit myself at all. I do perms, dye, haircuts, wigs, weaves and dreadlocks. However, in terms of teaching, at the moment I do limit myself to braiding, mainly due to the fact that I don’t have a licence to practise certain aspects of hairstyling. I might take a course in the future to get the formal certification – I already have the ability and I would really like to widen my platform’s offering.
What are your plans for the future?
My plan for the future is to have my own haircare line. My long experience in developing hair care mixtures for individual clients with different types of hair has helped to transform so many lives. My dream is to make the products available at a price that’s affordable to as many people as possible.
I also plan to make my own brand of braid extensions in the future, as I have so much passion for braiding hair and, with 25 years of experience, I know what my clients want.
Finally, what is your advice for someone desperate for their hair to grow?
My advice to anyone who’s on a hair-growth journey is not to get stressed about it. I have come across so many people who have become obsessed with hair growth to the extent that they check in the mirror for new growth every five seconds of the day! That kind of stress will cause hair loss instead of hair gain.
So my advice for people concerned about hair growth is this: find out your hair type by participating in a ‘what is your hair type’ quiz, such as the one at Naturally Curly. This is important as it will guide you to make the right decisions regarding your hair. It’s also important to note that not all hair growth problems are due to poor hair maintenance; another factor to consider is the possible lack of certain vitamins (e.g. iron, vitamin D) in your body that it needs for healthy hair growth. So, check with your doctor if your vitamin levels are up to standard, especially if you’re one of those people who have tried every hair product on the market and nothing works.
Experience a Tash Davies’ Afro Hair Braiding tutorial here:
https://www.youtube.com/c/speechlesshairstyles
Book a hair or beauty consultation with Tasha:
Speechless.hair.styles@gmail.com
Find out your hair type:
https://www.naturallycurly.com/quiz
