ICONS ONLY: Celebrating the women who shaped the salon world

Women’s History Month celebrates the contributions women have made to major historical moments and to modern society as a whole. In cosmetology school, we often hear about the men who shaped the beauty industry (at least I did). But today, we’re shining a light on the women who helped build the salon and hairstyling world as we know it.

1905 • Madam CJ Walker + The Walker System

Madam CJ Walker is widely known as the first self-made female millionaire in the United States. Beyond her financial success, she was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and activist. Her business began from something personal: hair loss. After struggling with her own scalp issues, she experimented with home remedies and products created by another Black entrepreneur, Annie Malone, before launching her own business, Madam Walker's Wonderful Hair Grower. This was a topical product consisting of petrolatum, coconut oil, beeswax, copper sulfate, carbolic acid, precipitated sulfur, and perfume. Walker traveled across the south and southeast of the country, selling this product door to door before moving her operation to Pittsburgh, PA where she opened a factory and hair school, Lelia College, where she taught women to become "hair culturists," aka, early beauty professionals who specialized in healthy hair care.

At a time when opportunities for women of color were extremely limited, her business created financial independence and career paths for thousands of women. Her impact went far beyond hair.

1950s • Christina Jenkins + The Weave

Christina Jenkins is an almost-forgotten name in the beauty space, which is crazy considering she is the mother of the modern-day sew-in weave. In 1949, Jenkins worked for a wig manufacturer in Chicago, IL. It was during her time in wig-working that she got curious about better ways to secure the hair to women's hair. At the time, women would pin weaves to their hair, which made them look bulky, unnatural, and prone to slipping. Jenkins introduced the idea of sewing commercial hair to natural-hair, transforming how women looked and felt. Jenkins eventually secured a patent for this process and then began teaching this technique to cosmetologists in the US and across Europe. She also opened her own salon, which she operated until 1993.

1960 • Paula Kent Meehan + Redken Laboratories

You're probaby familiar with Redken, it's a household name these days... but did you know the beginnings? Actress and model Paula Kent Meehan teamed up with hairstylist and chemist, Jheri Redding, in a hunt for products that wouldn't bother her sensitive hair and skin. Redken Laboratories was born as a "scientific approach to beauty," creating scientifically-backed products that were compatible with natural elements of hair and skin. Redken launched with 3 products and extensive training for stylists on the chemistry and why of the products, which made it the blueprint for many haircare brands that followed.

1973 • Naomi Sims + Textured Wigs

Model and actress Naomi Sims noticed a gap in the market when it came to commercial wigs. She began experimenting with designs and baking synthetic hair to create the right texture that would look like coily hair when it's straightened. Within 5 years, her wigs were making $5 million in sales annually.

These trailblazers and innovators have paved the way for modern hairstyling. From products to haircare to techniques, these women truly laid the foundation for what the hair industry has become, and there are so many more in recent times that are continuing to elevate the industry. Without these women, the hair world would look very different.