Human beings have always been drawn to expressing themselves through their appearance. Dating back to the 1700’s, when women working at home would experience different hair colors through the use of fabric dye, vegetable extracts, acids and more.
“A lot of those people were artists, musicians, people that worked in the theater and other job similarto that,” Caitlin Cyczka said. “So clearly, especially whenever it comes to creative colors in the hair or abstract colors in the hair, there’s a tie to certain personality types and stuff like that.”
Cyczka has been in the hair industry for 19 years. Her high school years were filled with vibrant hair colors and out of the box styles, you could always find Cycska in her local hair salon. Her time spent inside those four walls fueled her confidence and dreams that she could turn her part-time hobby into a full time career, a future for herself. Now, Cyczka is celebrating her seventh year owning her own salon in St. Louis. Using her skills and creative passion to make her clients dreams come true.
“I researched a lot of salons in St. Louis that I might be interested in working for before opening my own business, but there were just some ethics that I felt like I would want to be more transparent about whenever it came to my business,” Cyczka said. “I wanted LGBTQ plus rights and support to be at the forefront of our business. I wanted gender neutral pricing. I didn’t want our clients’ aspirations to be derivative of superficial things, I wanted to be very focused on them, not how they should look, but how they themselves want to look. So I kind of just wanted to change the way that the salon game looked. And when I couldn’t find that anywhere else, I decided to take a chance and start my own.”
It takes people like Cyczka, who don’t focus on influencing others, but instead let them be, who encourage people like junior Aubrey Henning to have fun with her appearance.
“I think honestly people just want to be seen,” Henning said. “We’re in the Midwest, so when you go to a huge event and most hair colors you see are ginger, blonde or just brunette, a good way to stand out is being like, ‘oh, that’s some color in a huge crowd where we all kind of look the same.’”
Though newer generations have a piece of their population that have been comfortable enough to bring commonality to changing their hair color and differentiating their hair from others, another part of the population of newer generations have tied themselves to high beauty expectations that lead to constant comparison and fear of looking different.
“Not everybody knows how to bring that out of themselves,” Cyczka said. “So, whenever somebody sits down, more than anything, I try to capture their vibe and their spirit. My job is just to put what’s on their insides on the outside so that they can be more understood by the world around them, and they can feel more like themselves and feel more validated.”
Cyczkas ability to transform individuals and make their inner beauty shine through truly takes passion as it is not easy to find who you truly are; yet alone determine how you should represent yourself. Cyczka had realized this first hand in her years of growing up and experimenting with her own personal style. Meaning oftentimes someone’s true self might not be reflected by their appearance.
“I really do think if people can express how they want to be perceived through hair styles, then hair dye can show that a person either is really outgoing like a ‘Hey, notice this about me’ or, ‘I like this and you should talk to me about it,’” Henning said. ”Like my personal hair dye, I typically try to go for more fun, out-there colors because I am not a very out-there person, but I can make my hair look like I am.”
The habit that Henning and others in the world have created to dye their hair every few seasons of life, is a great way to echo how they feel internally. It’s not everyone that has learned that they have the freedom to alter their appearance, and therefore it is common to not like how you feel because it doesn’t reflect who you want to be.
“I feel like people oftentimes don’t like the way that they look because they don’t feel like it exactly represents how they feel on the inside,” Cyczka said. “And that’s the thing about human beings wanting to express themselves. It’s Instinctual.”
Humans are organisms who live in a constant outlook for new and fresh. They are interested in seeing something different, and as the years evolve, most are learning the importance of standing out and standing up for not blending in with everybody else.
“I really do think individuality is important because we are all people that deserve to be seen and spoken to or about,” Henning said. “Individuality is embracing that part of you that is different and finding a way to love that both for yourself and for those around you.”
Curly hair is more than just a hair type, it expresses culture and beauty amongst 11% of our world’s population (Suresh). For centuries, curly hair has been shared and worn differently across a wide variety of cultures. In various African cultures, cornrows and braided hairstyles are commonly worn. They are known to help protect hair as a form of cultural expression. In Indian culture, curls are seen in elegant up-dos and accessorized with a jhoomar.
“It is important to embrace your curls,” curly hair specialist Carrie Walker said. “You can show off your culture with your curly hair.”
There are 12 different types of curly hair ranging from tight coils to loose defined curls; meaning the path to successfully treating and caring for it can be tough.
“I have curly hair myself and I spent a lot of time as a kid getting bad haircuts and not having a good experience at the salon,” Walker said. “I didn’t know how to cut my hair or style it.”
However those years of let downs and troubles only led Walker to where she is now; not just a curly hair specialist, but an educator who promotes uuuqz a bit embracing your natural beauty, leading individuals to love what they see in the mirror.
Walker has been helping women embrace their curls for 15 years. An appointment with Walker starts with her gathering background information on the client’s hair. Once Walker knows what haircut or style her client needs, she begins the cut, followed by taking her client to the shampoo bowl to wash, condition, and detangle the hair. Next, she brings the client back to the styling chair, defining the texture by using gels or foams. As Walker’s last step to ensure the routine is complete, Walker scrunches and diffuses her client’s curls.
Properly taking care of curly hair is key to healthy, beautiful and lasting curls. Ensuring you will love what you see in the mirror and leave your space feeling confident. Embracing and loving your reflection is important at all ages, Skyler Moore is a current sophomore at Francis Howell North; however Moores age has not discouraged her from creating a platform that’s built on confidence. Moore takes clients and transforms their curls into beautiful braids and locks.
“Getting your hair done can improve confidence because it makes you feel pretty, you get a lot of compliments when your hair is done,” Moore said.
