Curly Hair on the Danforth: Urban Curls

At the age of 22, you would think I would have figured out how to take care of my own hair. I know enough to get me through the day without looking like I combed my hair with a rake, but my dry scalp and dead ends often go untouched due to my lack of knowledge on how best to deal with them. It’s hard out there for us curly haired girls living in a world that caters to straight hair. For far too long I just accepted that my hair would be a mystery I spent my life trying and failing to solve. Until I came across Urban Curls.

One day as I was scrolling through Instagram I found my way to a page called Keina’s Place. To my pleasant surprise, I saw that they were a salon located on the Danforth that specialized in curly hair. I booked by appointment right away and within a week I was sitting in a salon chair, awed as I watched Keina Morgan and her staff work their magic.

When my appointment was over I sat down with Keina and asked her what had inspired her to open a salon that specialized in curly hair. “There were a lack of services being offered to clients…. You can’t be a cookie cutter, you have to treat everyone individually.” I listened to Keina explain her vision for the salon, and I was struck by how knowledgeable she was. On the surface, she is like any other hairdresser who can take hair from a knotted mess, like mine, and turn it into a beautiful cascade of curls. What sets her apart is her dedication to serving people that tend to get overlooked. Due to a lack of knowledge in the hairdressing industry on how to take care of curly hair, it can be difficult to find the perfect hairdresser. Keina learned how to maintain and treat type 4 curls (tight curls) which can be the most difficult to maintain if you don’t know how. She wanted to specialize in particular types of curls and decided to practice on herself first. “You have to walk-the-walk to talk-the-talk.”

Kenia says that the most rewarding part of her work is “is the look on my clients faces when they leave happy and share the good news.” For customers, the reward comes from not only getting a beautiful haircut, but also from gaining knowledge on how to maintain it. Urban Curls gives you the information and the products that you need to keep your hair looking as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

Another thing that really sets this salon apart for me is the fact that they use as many natural products as possible. Many of the products they carry are Canadian lines and they approach hair with a holistic outlook. These products don’t create buildup or block moisture in the hair and are tailored to your specific hair type.

Urban Curls is such a fun and professional establishment, run by a group of women who know more about your hair than you do. Whether you have straight hair or curly hair, Urban Curls takes care to treat you individually and help you come up with a routine that helps you maintain your hair without interrupting your normal daily routines.

Urban Curls is located at 414 Danforth Ave.

Keina’s tips for maintaining curly hair:

• Majority of time people have buildup in their hair, which takes away the moisture. Use a clarifying shampoo once a month, strip the build-up off.
• Always use sulfate free moisturizing shampoo. It all starts with your shampoo.
• Give yourself a deep treatment so hair absorbs moisture better.
• Use a leave in conditioner, styling product, and light natural oil when hair has dried to lock in all that moisture.