Embrace your natural beauty and unlock the secrets to healthy, thriving natural hair. Join us as we sit down with certified trichologist, licensed master cosmetologist, and founder of Pre’Vail Natural Hair Salon, Constance Hunter. She shares her inspiring journey from New Mexico to opening her salon in Atlanta, and how her passion for hair never left her. Dive into a dynamic conversation debunking common hair myths and discover essential care tips, including the importance of wash day and the surprising impact of diet on hair health. Learn which product ingredients to avoid, like honey and coconut, and why understanding your hair’s needs is more crucial than focusing on hair type. Constance also offers practical advice on scalp stimulation, choosing the right stylist, and protecting your hair while sleeping. This episode provides valuable insights and empowers you to truly prevail in your natural hair journey.
Music courtesy of Dealer’s Choice Sound Recordings, Inc.
Music artist: djezi
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Hair Is Confidence: Unlocking The Secrets To Healthy Natural Hair With Constance Hunter
Pre’Vail Your Natural Hair
Our Natural Hair Journeys Begin
In this episode, we are diving into the world of natural hair with our wonderful guest, Constance Hunter. She’s a Certified Trichologist, Licensed Master Cosmetologist and Founder of Pre’Vail Natural Hair Salon. With over two decades of hands-on experience, she has helped countless people restore not just their hair, but their confidence. We’ll talk trends, hair health, hair loss, and really practical tips you can use every day, plus a little insight into her own self-care secrets. We are going to jump in, but before we do, Sylvia, this is probably a good time for us to just share a little about our own natural hair course or our hair journey, as we would say, from as maybe little girls to where we are now.
Definitely. I am a child of the ‘70s, which means that my hair was pressed probably up until I went to school. I was going to miss Ella Mae Wynn in the back of her house. Actually, her garage was converted into a hair salon and that’s where I had my first perm. I had a perm from kindergarten to first grade because my mother was not a hair person, all the way through medical school, through residency. I did have braids probably a few times, but more perm than not. I was short and permed in the early 2000s. It wasn’t honestly until about 2018, I cut my hair really short, like when you do the big chop. I did that. During the pandemic, I just basically grew my hair out and started working with Constance.
It is interesting when I feel my hair now compared to when it was permed, certainly, it feels a lot better, but it’s just hair. Depending upon how I’m feeling, is my hair crocheted and long and blonde, is it short and sassy looking, I love the variety that crochet has given me. I love braided. In my brain, I want long boho braids, but I’m not willing to sit in the salon chair for that long. You’ve got to take the johns out, too. That’s my other issue.
I like my hair now that it is natural and styled and natural. I think I can get behind this, but I’m the chick that goes to the salon monthly. I have a standing appointment. When we talk about hair, I’m not a hair person, but I always want to look good. As Constance mentioned, hair is part of my confidence and how I’m feeling. Tell us about your hair journey. We shared a hairstylist in medical school. We’re going to shout out Calvin.
You went all more diligently than I did. As a young kid, mine was always just natural. As my mom would say, blousey. I remember probably like the wash day, maybe once a month. I don’t even remember how often, but I don’t remember. I do remember wet sets, like on a really special occasions, she would do a wet set on me. It really didn’t do anything. We didn’t go to the hair salon, so she did her own hair. She did mine.
I don’t even remember getting trimmed. I’m sure she probably did, but it wasn’t on a regular basis. This could be really long. I was a swimmer and I do remember her being really fatigued with doing my hair with swimming. She had talked about me getting my haircut. I remember Natalie Cole’s hair. It was swinging. I remember thinking that that was how my hair was going to look.
I was in middle school and I had a full-on Afro. I couldn’t wait. I wore the headband for a while. That is how I learned to work with my hair, though. We didn’t have products back then. I have curly hair where I can put some products on and get away with it, but we didn’t have products. I remember crying when it had gotten long enough and I washed it with Johnson’s Baby Shampoo.
We all had Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo. I can still smell that.
No conditioner. I’m crying because I can’t even comb through my hair. Anyway, long story short, I had begged and begged, and I got a relaxer when I was a freshman in high school. My mom kept that up. When I went to college again, I didn’t have money to go to the hair salon. I learned how to do my own perms. I did that through college and med school. It wasn’t really until I had kids that I stopped.
I mentioned it in our interview with Constance. It was doing my kids’ hair, and my youngest just loving her curls so much, I thought, “I want to be an example. I like mine too, and I can work with it.” It was just that time. Anyway, I’ve been through all the iterations, tried, like I said, the Brazilian blowout until it started smelling like med school, so straight up formaldehyde. I was like, “I don’t think I’m doing good stuff to my brain right now.” I guess natural now for, I don’t know how long, but I blow dry it, flat iron, all that stuff, and wear it natural, however I feel.
We need color.
That came about when my girls were probably middle school. That’s been a wonderful transition. I love color. I’m just happy that we have options. We have all these options now. My girls definitely go. My oldest does more of everything. She’ll do natural, she’ll do braids, she’ll do sew-in, she’ll do everything you can imagine. It’s natural. It’s wonderful, all the things that we can do and be accepted. I remember in Texas, with the CROWN Act passed. We are accepted. I think most importantly, we have accepted ourselves as a culture that we can do all styles. It doesn’t define us, nor does it limit us with what we can do.
I definitely remember growing up, there was the whole thought of being professional was straight hair. However, you got your hair straight, that was it. It is so wonderful now when I walk into meetings and I see other Black women and somebody’s always got braids. There’s always somebody who’s got a weave. There’s someone that’s got natural hair. There’s someone that may be rocking their curls in some manner. There may be someone with a short, sassy wig. Wigs are really big now. I’m just really happy to be at this point. Hair is such a reflection of our confidence in who we are. We will get to a fantastic conversation with Constance Hunter of Pre’Vail Your Natural Hair Salon.
In this episode, we are talking all things natural hair. I am super excited. We have Constance Hunter of Pre’Vail Natural Hair. Welcome, Constance.
Thank you. Happy to be here.
Let’s just get some things out. I have a disclosure. Constance Hunter is my hairstylist. I just want to disclose that. All the looks that you have seen on the show have been done by Constance Hunter. I want to thank you, Constance, for making me look absolutely fabulous and making me feel more beautiful. With that, we’ll go ahead and get started.
Constance Hunter’s Inspiring Hair Story
As I shared before, I never know which Sylvia I’m going to see, but I know it’s always going to be amazing. I’m very impressed with your work. Love it. I can’t wait to get into what you have to offer to our audience. Let’s just get started in the basics. I know you’ve been in the beauty and hair industry for over two decades now. Tell us a little bit about how your story began. What inspired you to take this step of work?
Okay, so yes, I was born and raised in New Mexico.
Is it Albuquerque or Santa Fe?
It’s actually Hobbes, New Mexico.
Where is that?
Southeast. It’s the corner right next to Texas.
It’s still kind of desert?
Yes.
How did your mama and daddy get there?
They were born there as well.
Were they Buffalo soldiers or something? Maybe that’s for another episode. We’ll let you keep going.
We really didn’t have many hair salons. I grew up doing hair in the kitchen and on the porch. Wherever somebody wanted their hair done, I was doing it. I just threw out life. I never got away, no matter what I did. Moving to Atlanta, I was like, “I want to do hair. I want a hair salon.” That was my goal, to open a hair salon when I moved to Georgia.
Did you do anything prior?
Yes, I’ve done a lot of things prior. I was actually working in the oil field, driving trucks. I had my CBL.
Do you mean like the big oil trucks?
Yes. When I moved to Atlanta, I actually drove here. I had to refuel. I had about three years until I decided to take a break to see if I could get the hair salon going.
That was always your dream.
I’m sorry. I’m like, “Squirrel.” I’m going back. When you say refuel, the big trucks we see on the freeway with the gasoline in it. That was you?
Yes.
We’ve got to pivot a little bit. You were a lady truck driver. How did you become a Black lady truck driver?
Just wanting to advance in life. Back in Texas, in the oil field, that’s where the money was. Money was there. That’s what encouraged me to do it. At the time, I was a single parent, so I was trying to do what I could to survive.
I love that story. My parents divorced and in high school, my mom was a teacher, and then she drove the school bus to supplement income. I remember when I graduated and went to college, she started talking about maybe going to get her CBL. She loved driving big things. I was like, “Mom, I don’t think this is the time.” I don’t know. I could see her like you, driving down the road. She loved to drive but never imagined that there were other women out there doing that thing. What a story. It sounds like what I heard is that you still always had the dream of doing hair.
Yes. I never left hair alone. I always doing hair on the side. Going to school, I did hair. Working my job, I had done hair, so it just never left. Coming to Atlanta gave me the opportunity to actually just jump in full-blown and find out. It’s worked.
What gave you the courage to make the leap from driving large trucks to saying, “I can actually go to cosmetology school?” When you did that, that means that your income was either reduced or limited. How did you get the courage to make that leap?
I had the support of my husband, of course. When I first moved here, I went to hair school. That was the first thing I did. I actually got the job after graduating hair school, just because I guess I felt like it was hard to do since I wasn’t from here. I didn’t have clientele. It was so many factors that played into it. After working and starting the business, I actually worked to pay for the business because I didn’t have clientele. Me and my husband, he encouraged me to take a 90-day leave just to see how it would work out. I’ve been there ever since.
Is Pre’Vail Natural Hair Salon your first salon?
Yes. It’s my first salon that I started in 2016.
Tell us about the name.
Pre’Vail just came to me, just because I know there’s a lot of challenges with natural hair. Growing up, I had natural hair. Everybody in my family had natural hair. It was just known to me on how to take care of natural hair. Prevail, meaning to conquer. I know a lot of people have trouble, so we all want to prevail. Why not Pre’Vail with your hair? For us, it’s our confidence, our livelihood. It pushes us, it brings us down. It can actually pave the way on our day-to-day life. Prevailing.
We all want to prevail — and why not prevail with your hair? For us, it’s our confidence. When it looks good, we feel good; when it doesn’t, it can weigh us down. Hair can truly shape our day-to-day lives. Share on XCan you break down, when you talk about when you were growing up, you had natural hair or you did natural hairstyles, that means a lot of things to a lot of different people. Wearing your hair natural, do you consider wearing it straight, although you don’t have any process on your hair, that natural or wearing it in its natural state in its natural curly form?
I guess when I say natural, I mean no chemicals have been used to alter texture or anything like that. However you choose to wear it. At that point, we had more of the pressing cones. We wore it straight.
Wig back, as my grandmother would say.
We definitely had the options. Basically, just hair that hadn’t been altered with a relaxer.
No creamy crack.
Correct. No creamy cracks.
Daily Habits For Healthy Natural Hair: Diet And Care
Let’s get to the basics as far as natural hair. Two or three things. How can we keep our natural hair truly healthy on a day-to-day basis?
I definitely am an advocate of the products that you put on. Your shampoo and conditioner. Your wash day, to me, is one of the most important time of treating your hair. Don’t do much in between. Depending on the style, we can’t really put water on it or anything like that. The shampoo wash day is going to be your main day to actually help enhance the health of your hair. Make sure that you moisturize and eat right. Definitely, gut health is an important thing to the health of our hair.
Your wash day is one of the most important times. Share on XThat’s awesome because I don’t think a lot of people understand that component of being hydrated and eating healthy. Can you expound upon that just a little bit in terms of maybe what a couple of things to eat or things not to eat?
Refined sugar is something that actually helps to produce androgens that stimulate hair loss. Stay away from refined sugars.
No cookies, cakes, Cinnabons, all the things, highly processed bread, like Wonder Bread, those things.
More of fruits and vegetables. Focusing on gut health is going to be important. When we say gut health, a lot of people forget about the insulin resistance.
I like to talk about eating the rainbow. It’s easier, I think, for people. Go to the vegetable section. Every week, you want to pick out all the colors of the rainbow that you should be eating and fruits and your vegetables. We talk about good health, good bacteria, and all those things. Very great. Great point. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a hairstylist talk about that health in relationship to hair.
Anything else that you would advise in terms of health to our hair? I guess one of the things that’s I have a hard time with is I’ve gone through all the iterations, like probably everybody. Relaxer, I used to do it all through high school and college. Also, med school. I did the Brazilian stuff. My hair’s a little a looser curl, but it wasn’t until my daughter, when I did natural styles on them, and I realized she really loved her curls.
I thought to myself, “I am taking all this time to take the curl out of my hair and my child is actually loving hers. What does that look like?” I’m going somewhere with this. I then had to find products that were good in terms of keeping your curl moisturized. Now we have so many products, but twenty years ago, that was not the case. I’m not necessarily asking you to endorse any particular products, but what should we be looking for?
Product Pitfalls: What To Avoid For Healthy Curls
Some of the main things that I feel that are more important is what you should stay away from. Staying away from products that have properties of protein, which that would be like honey products and coconut products. A lot of people don’t realize that those products, the molecules are small enough to penetrate the hair shaft, which cause it to seal out moisture.
On the commercials, Constance, they’re telling penetrating the hair shaft is a good thing.
It’s a trend, though, because people buy products according to what they see or hear, but barely knowing what they’re really doing. Most hair becomes stagnant, breakage, dryness, brittleness. It’s the use of honey and coconut because they block out moisture. Typically, taking about 3 to 4 months to actually soften it up and to get it back out. A lot of times, whenever they’re using those products over time, they realize that the hair feels really good when it is wet, and then as it dries, it’s like super, duper dry.
Most hair becomes stagnant and brittle from dryness — that’s why using honey and coconut does not help because they block out moisture. Share on XWhen someone comes into you, like a new client comes to you, and you assess their hair, do you have an inkling as to they’re doing these things?
I could pretty much name the product that they’re using just by touching that. Most of them agree. Yes, there’s characteristics of product breakage, and a lot of people don’t realize that that’s the most harmful part of their hair care routine, regardless of what they may be dealing with their hair.
Understanding Hair Loss: Causes And Solutions
That leads me to a question in terms of what’s your perspective in terms of why people suffer hair loss? I know there are in multitude of reasons. What are some of the most common causes that you see?
For me, the way that I look at hair product, breakage is going to be the number one cause. Even though people may deal with alopecia, they may deal with hair loss, my mission is to bridge that gap between the disorder and the hair care because that’s where there’s the unknown. Trying to teach people how to care for their hair when they do have different disorders and hair loss, and alopecia has been my goal.
I remember when I started coming to you, this was right as we were coming out of the pandemic, you said to me, “Don’t put nothing on your hair. Don’t do nothing.” I was sitting there, I was like, “What is she talking about? I got a whole cabinet full of potions, oils and pomades.” I use them whenever my heart’s desires. You were very clear about don’t do nothing.
We will put a photo of me at the beginning of the pandemic and when I started with you and where my hair is now because all this is natural. Constance has taken me on a true journey. Let’s talk about hair type. On Instagram, people are like, “I got 4C hair or 3A.” Does it matter? Do we need to focus on it? Does it change the types of products we need to buy? Give us a real deal, Constance.
From my perspective, I don’t feel that it matters. What matters is how you use a product, not that you can’t use the product because I know a lot of products are typed by 4C hair and saying that this is for 4C, but in reality, you have to know what your hair needs. A lot of the hair that come across needs moisture. Moisture your hair if it’s not behaving the way that you want it to behave or giving you the definition that you want. A lot of times, it’s because you have breakage and you have dry hair. What people tend to not realize is a lot of products that give you curled definition creates the dryness so that your hair becomes a magnet. When your hair becomes that magnet, that’s where you get the definition.
When you say magnet, what do you mean?
When you sweat, it just goes together. I don’t know if some people who do their hair all the time, they may notice once they put water on it, it’s like it’s dehydrated and it just sticks together and it just tangles. That’s a big indicator of what’s going on. It’s because your hair is dry. That magnet tends to be a protein, which would be your honeys and your coconut products. They tend to be curl definers, which dry the hair out, which cause it to give it that magnet effect.
It makes it smell good. I’m just saying. That’s the first thing we do in the aisle. You smell it.
One thing that I would tell people, sometimes when I have clients that bring products in, I just say, “Go home and wash your hands with it. Don’t wash your hair. Wash your hands. What does it do to your hands? A lot of times, it dries it out. If you use a shampoo and you wash your hands, and once you rinse them, if you can feel the ridges and your fingers, it’s drying.
The next question becomes then how do we get moisture into our hair?
Depending on how dry a person’s hair is, I say products for colored hair, like shampoo, because they have a lot of humectants in it. That’ll help to soften up all the stuff that’s been put on it over the months or years. That’s one thing. Most of the time, if you can stay away from the coconuts and the honey, that’s been the main thing.
Demystifying Hair Porosity: What It Means For Your Hair
We’ll save that for our food, but not for our hair. It sounds like you’re getting around to like the porosity. We hear that a lot as a word that gets thrown around in terms of our hair. Can you explain what it really means and whether it matters?
Porosity does matter. Porosity tells you whether your hair soaks up water or does it not hold water. Think of a sponge. If you have a sponge being your hair cuticle, if you pour water on it, your cuticle is so tight to where it takes water a long time to get in it but it takes just as long to come out. Low porosity is when your hair cuticles are tight. You just let your hair soak in water. A lot of people, when they shampoo their hair, they just wet their hair. You shouldn’t just wet your hair. You should soak your hair. Give it time to actually release because when we wet our hair, our curl pattern actually extends. Wet it long enough. A lot of people just wet their hair.
Does the temperature of the water matter, hot versus warm?
I feel like it depends on the person. Some people feel like cold water closes the pores or something. A bond is a bond. Water bond is a water bond, regardless. When we dry our hair is when those bonds go back together because we get rid of the water. Technically, I don’t feel that the temperature plays a big factor. I know a lot of people feel as though they think of their hair being hydrated and not hydrated according to how much water they drink. Drinking water does not hydrate your hair.
Water does not hydrate your hair. What it does is keep your blood flowing at the right consistency to feed your hair. Share on XWhat it does is it keeps your blood flowing at the right consistency to feed your hair. When we’re hydrated, our blood flow slows down. As long as we can keep our blood at the right consistency, it’s going to flow the way it needs to our hair volume. It’s not going to just give our hair moisture because we drink a lot of water.
Water is certainly good for the gut and it’s good for the body in general.
Yes. I just don’t want people to feel that because they drink water, their hair is moisturized.
One thing you said leads me to another question. You talked about the blood flow to the hair. I remember growing up, all the things that we would try. My mom would come up with all the concoctions the egg and all the natural stuff we would put on hair. Also talked about massaging your scalp because it helps with the blood flow. Is there a certain amount of time we should do that? Is it every day?
Stimulating the scalp can be done different ways. Actually, I make a hair conditioning grease that stimulates the scalp.
Is that when you grease my scalp, Constance?
Yes, ma’am.
I love that. I don’t like when you run out and you don’t have it, but I’m sorry. This is not a personal episode.
You can stimulate it that way. You can stimulate it by massaging your scalp. Some people say they hold their head upside down so their blood goes to the head. There are so many different ways that we can do it. Our hair grows from our blood flow. The blood flow feeds our follicles. That’s where our follicles gets the nutrients from the blood. That stimulation could be done many ways.
Do you care to share any of the secret ingredients or do we need to come to the salon?
I think you do, but please, do not run out before I get there.
I’m still working on my list.
Navigating The Product Aisle: Smart Choices For Your Hair
Your proprietary secrets. That brings us to another question. Certainly, there are a lot of products on the shelves. Going back to the question of how do you assess what’s best for you without breaking the bank. We know no coconut and no honey. Looking for products that work well on colored hair, is there anything else that we should look for?
It’s torn because it really depends. There are so many products. There are so many things. As you say, people like the smell or they don’t like the smell.
It’s Beyonce or Issa Rae or Tracy Ellis Ross. Everyone has a hair line.
It is more so the ingredients, looking at the back of the bottle, understanding what’s in the products. I tend to stay away from any word that has a cocoa in the first six ingredients on the back of the bottle because majority of the time, that’s coconut. It doesn’t have necessarily have to be on the label in the front, but check what’s on the back and understanding what’s in the products.
We’re also supposed to be staying away from sulfates and parabens, right?
Yes. Most of that’s on the front.
They’ll tell you that already. I see what you’re saying. You’re talking about reading the label.
Top 3 Hair Care Mistakes To Stop Doing Now
What are three things you wish your clients or potential clients would stop doing to their hair?
Watching YouTube. Unfortunately, YouTube builds inconsistency. You have to be consistent with your haircare. When you watch YouTube, you go down a rabbit hole. It’s just too much. It frustrates people. It confuses people. Definitely understanding that being consistent is going to be the best way for the health of your hair. Anything that you start, it’s going to take a hair cycle for it to start, which is about 3 to 4 months.
Being consistent is the best way for healthy hair. Anything you start will take a hair cycle to show results, which is about three to four months. Share on XI want my hair to look good for Wednesday night or Friday night.
That’s the same hair that feels good until it’s dry. Not everything is ideal for people’s hair, depending on what they’re going through.
We could talk about hair for days. My youngest, the one that really loves wearing her curls, she rarely gets it straightened. She gets it straightened maybe once or twice a year, and then definitely gets a good trim at that time. She will say that her curls never go back the same. I can straighten mine a couple of times a month and I wet it and it goes right back. Is it different for every person or maybe the products that were used?
It depends. I have clients who get a silk press every two weeks and they have all their curls. It’s the person operating the tools most of the time. A lot of the damage really comes from the blow dryer. They don’t realize that the blow dryer causes a lot of the heat damage. The flat iron seals it in. We do what we call a smokeless blow-dry. If the blow dryer is smoking, a lot of people say, “That’s the product.” If it’s the products, it’s your hair too. It just depends. It can be done without the heat damage. Some people may feel like it may need a more heat just because of the texture. If there’s a thick texture or kinky texture, they may use more heat than they normally would.
I’ve seen a lot of buzz about rice water. People are soaking rice for three days and straining the water and soaking their hair in it. Is that a thing? What is that?
I don’t know what that is, honestly. Everybody their own trends that they typically do. Growing up in New Mexico, we caught rainwater and washed our hair with rainwater. Does it help? I can’t say. I don’t do it. I don’t recommend it to any of my clients to do it. We just stick to the basics because I know that the basics work. What the rice water would be doing to the hair, I’m not sure. The starch, maybe. I have no idea.
It sounds like you might give some of these tips in your book. You definitely want to mention the book, From Root to Tip: A Growing Hands Guide for Natural Hair. It’s a ten-part eBook series, is that right?
Yes.
Tell us a little bit more about that because I’m sure a lot of readers would love to at least have some type of resource to go to, to learn more.
My books were created to help those who are struggling with their hair. I brought a lot of the tips that I use in the salon into the books. If you’re dealing with certain types of things like product breakage, how to recognize product breakage, what could be causing the product breakage, how to moisturize your hair properly after noticing the product breakage. So many things. If you’re a swimmer, there’s information on how to take care of your hair. It depends on which book you get. I try to help you understand what’s going on with your hair from a trichologist’s view as well as a stylist view, trying to merge that gap of the disorders or the things that people are dealing with, with their hair with hair care. Bridging that gap.
Thank you for sharing that with our readers. Are there some current trends that you’re seeing in natural hair that we should be aware of or this is a personal recommendation perhaps for me? Are there some styles that you’re itching to try?
I think that for me, I have been more so focused on the health. I haven’t really kept up with the trends. Trying to step out of that element is always my goal.
You do that well, but that is a trust experiment or a trust exercise. Now I’m five years in, I’m like, “Do whatever, girl. I’m cool.”
It always looks good. As a busy woman running a salon and supporting clients, we know that takes a lot of energy, all the things. Particularly, the energy that takes from talking to us all day long and not only taking care of our hair, but probably counseling as well, as our stylists tend to do. Tell us how you have your own self-care regimen and what keeps you grounded and thriving.
I think my love for the clients keep me grounded, just dealing with everyone day to day. It’s more of a family connection because most of my clients have been around for a very long time, pretty much since the doors opened. Actually, I come to work early. I sit in the car for about an hour before I get out. It helps me throughout my day. If I don’t get my hour, I get out the car sleepy, tired. It just doesn’t flow the same.
It’s your quiet time.
Yeah, that’s my quiet time. I’m just enjoying everybody.
That’s your ministry.
We enjoy you, Constance. You have no idea. I didn’t realize you sat in the car for an hour because I think one of your earliest clients is at least 7:00. It may be earlier than 7:00. Good to know. I love it. A little morning meditation is how I’m going to couch that. We are going to ask you just a few little fun quick rapid-fire questions. Are you up for that?
Okay.
Nothing to trip you up. Rapid fire. Here we go. Number one, give us one product you can’t live without.
Design Essentials.
Favorite natural hairstyle right now.
It would be the Curlfection. It’s similar to a Wash and Go. It’s my own created word, Curlfection.
Morning or night hair care routine?
Night.
One hair myth you wish everyone knew.
I think I already said it. Water does not give your hair moisture. Drinking water.
Go-to treatment for a dry scalp.
Pre’Vail Scalp conditioning.
One tip for protecting your hair while sleeping. I guess it’s bonnet or scarf.
I would probably more so say a scarf because our hair freezes, so it keeps it in place. You can get up and shake and go in the morning.
Is there any type that anything that you recommend other than tying the knot? That’s what bothers me, that tying the knot too tight.
It depends. I’m more of a wraparound person, so depending on how long your scarf is. I don’t like to tie the knot. I’ve actually seen a lot of people who pull out the top of their hair with that knot. It’s like, “What’s going on here?” That’s where they tie the knot to the scarf. It can sometimes be too tight. If you’re able to wrap it flat around twice and just tuck it, it works as well.
That’s great advice. All right. Last one. Best advice for someone who’s starting their natural hair journey?
Finding Your Perfect Stylist: A Guide To Healthy Hair Goals
To be patient. Be consistent. Trust your hair. If your hair feels dry, know that there’s changes that need to make be made or vice versa. Know when you’re looking for a stylist.
Be patient, be consistent. Trust your hair. If it feels dry, know that changes need to be made. Share on XCan you expound upon that a little bit? What ought we’d be looking for? First of all, we usually start with Instagram and we identify what styles look great for us. You’ve got to go through the crazy booking procedure. Sorry, I’m speaking as a client. I know there’s a reason why we have these booking processes or you do word of mouth. Give us a few tips if we are selecting a stylist.
Making sure that they align with your goals is going to be number one. If you’re looking for a salon that provides healthy hair, make sure that you understand and know that this is actually what they’re doing versus someone who can give you cute style. Cute styles are, at most times, coverups. If you can’t go to the salon and they shampoo your hair and you have to shampoo your hair, that’s probably not a healthy hair salon as far as focusing on the health of your scalp, because we need to see it. We need to be proactive and proactive. When we see things that aren’t right, we should be able to give you treatments and things of that nature to help combat the problem. Just making sure that they align with the goals that you have.
You have given us a lot of sage advice. We are so excited for our readers to read this. Can you give us anything in terms of how our audience can reach you, specifically if they would like to book a consultation or a visit with you? Any parting words you’d want to give to our readers?
You can find me at PrevailYourNatural.com. That’s our salon website. We do have Instagram, @PrevailYourNatural. Everything is Prevail Your Natural, so Instagram, Facebook, we can be found. If you’re looking for a salon home, if you need help or advice, reach out to us. We do have the books available to those looking for guidance as well. The book was broken up on purpose so that you can actually get the focus you need.
From Root to Tip: A Growing Hands Guide for Natural Hair. A ten-part eBook series.
Correct.
Constance Hunter, it has been a joy. I appreciate you sitting with us on Monday. I know Monday is typically a day off for hairstylists so I know you have 1,000 things to do. We appreciate you sharing your knowledge with our readers. Until we meet again, or until I see you very soon. May you be well.
All right. Thank you. Thank you for having me.
It’s been a pleasure. May you be well.
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Angela, that was a fantastic conversation with Constance Hunter. I learned so many things. My natural hair journey, I think, is going to continue to evolve. What were some of your take homes?
There were so many and I loved her transparency in all things hair care. I like the idea if you are trying to go natural, because I’ve seen it in my own life. It’s just being patient. If you’ve had the process and you’re not just going for the big chop, being patient and being consistent. I have a hard time with the consistency in terms of conditioning and all the things.
You are not alone.
The ones that she reiterated a lot is the honey and coconut. Honey is for my tea, coconut is for my macaroons, and neither of them is for my hair. That will be something that I look into because I do love something that smells really good, especially like leave-in products and that thing. It was interesting. I never thought of those as being drying. Anyway, I thought those were the interesting pearls. How about you?
She left us with so many things. I’m going to focus on the mindfulness part. As a hairstylist, we know that as clients, we come in and some of us leave stuff in the salon. We’re talking about all matters of things that are serious or heavy on our hearts. I was so impressed and proud that she was like, “I sit for an hour in my car in order to get myself together to be in service to my clients.”
I thought that was beautiful. I know that that is such a great example for ourselves and for our readers to take the time in the morning to make sure that you are set and centered, such that you can then be your best outside and inside the home. It reminds me of how I start my day with a meditation. I’m a big fan of the Calm app, and that was really inspiring.
Secondly, when she talked about aligning your goals with your hairstylists. I normally pick a salon based on how well do the pictures look on Instagram. Having that conversation and interviewing your stylists very much in the way that we interview one of our physicians or healthcare providers. “Are we in alignment? Do you understand what my goals are?” I think that that’s really important.
She certainly reminded us that our hair is our confidence. Hair is really important for women, for Black women in particular, or women of color, that we show our manes and make sure that they are beautiful. One more thing, when she talked about washing your hands with your shampoo, that’s genius. Who knew?
How does it feel afterwards?
All the tips. Lots of pearls and gems. Yeah, it was beautiful. We are so grateful to Constance Hunter. We have all of her information. You can access our episodes via our website. You can also reach us on all the streaming platforms. You can subscribe. We would love for you to subscribe to our YouTube channel. That’s Boss Leap Podcast on YouTube.
We hope that something you read here might be inspiring or informative and you’d love to pass it on to someone that you care about. That would be great. If you want to go on the platform and let us know your thoughts, and certainly if there are any ideas that you have for future episodes, we’re always open and listening. We hope that, until we meet again, you’ll be well.
May you be well.
Important Links
- Pre’Vail Natural Hair Salon
- From Root to Tip: A Growing Hands Guide for Natural Hair
- Pre’Vail Natural Hair Salon on Instagram
- Pre’Vail Natural Hair Salon on Facebook
- From Root to Tip: A Growing Hands Guide for Natural Hair on Etsy
- Boss Leap Podcast on YouTube
About Constance Hunter
Constance Hunter is a Certified Trichologist with the International Association of Trichologists (IAT), a Licensed Master Cosmetologist, and the founder of Prevail Natural Hair Salon. With over two decades of hands-on experience, she specializes in natural hair care, hair loss solutions, and advanced scalp therapies that restore both confidence and health.
Known for her compassionate approach, Constance blends science, artistry, and education to help clients understand the unique relationship between scalp wellness and hair growth. She has dedicated her career to not only treating conditions such as alopecia, CCCA, and thinning hair, but also to empowering others with the knowledge to maintain lasting hair health.
Beyond the salon, Constance is an educator and mentor. She teaches stylists foundational and advanced techniques in natural hair care, ensuring they are equipped with the skills and insight to support diverse textures and conditions. She is also the author of the From Root to Tip: A Growing Hands Guide for Natural Hair eBook series, a 10-part collection designed to educate both professionals and everyday individuals on cultivating strong, healthy hair.
Passionate, innovative, and deeply committed, Constance Hunter continues to bridge the gap between beauty and wellness, making her a trusted voice in the natural hair and trichology community.