She has been a part of the beauty industry since she was nineteen, gradually growing into a skilled. versatile and confident service provider in what, is one of the most competitive industries in Guyana.
Locally, this is, unquestionably, the season of beauticians. They flourish in an environment where the cost of looking good is considerable. The Beauty Parlors ‘rake in’ a fair slice of the disposable income.
Rehana doesn’t mind admitting that she is yet to get to the top of the pile. She has, however, set her stall out to make a mark in the business. How to get there is a preoccupation that keeps her mind working like a well-oiled machine.
You might even think, when you first engage her that she is a decided introvert. Get her talking, however, and the chatter is mostly about the beauty industry. She ambles through what, these days, has become the labyrinth of hairdressing as though it were a walk in the park.
She talks about having “been around’ the beauty industry, about her training and, these days, about getting hold of a challenging head of hair and at the end of her effort absorbing the satisfaction of the customer’s reaction that unmistakably tells her that she’s got talent.
These days, her talents continue to be on display at the Rosewood Salon and Barber Shop inside the Big Apple Mall on Robb street (immediately east of the Stabroek News. Having her own Shop, she says, is a modest but important step in a journey that still has some distance to go. The other occupant of the Shop is an amiable Barber known as ‘Trimmer’ who goes about his job with a deliberateness that might easily cause his customers to think that they have two heads rather than one.
Rehana herself needs no ‘jump start’ to engage you animatedly about the various ‘twists and turns’ in the hair industry, ranging from the elaborate attention-getting extensions, favored by a significant slice of the African-Guyanese market to the exotic, globally popular multi-billion dollar Brazilian ‘virgin hair’ industry, so-called on account of its thick, rich waviness and, reportedly, because it has never gone through some of the favored chemical processes that eventually destroy many women’s hair. Women, industry lore has it, pay stupendous sums for the Brazilian ‘look’ and fashion conscious Guyanese women are no exception to the rule.
The huge demand for ‘wearing’ Brazilian hair, Rehana says, has meant that the products associated with the treatment can be costly. When she spoke with the Stabroek Business she was in the process of making efforts to establish links with the beauty products industry in Brazil.
For all her considerable self-confidence, Rehana is mindful not to get ahead of herself. Quietly confident in her talents she remains, nonetheless, anchored to the ground, rising, she says at a pace which, she believes, will take her where wants to go.
Rehana can be reached at 6778252
