Charlotte Mensah

Afro hair? If you haven’t heard of Charlotte Mensah, listen up. Working with natural hair textures is her forte, and she’s won almost every industry award out there to prove it. She scooped…

Afro hair? If you haven’t heard of Charlotte Mensah, listen up. Working with natural hair textures is her forte, and she’s won almost every industry award out there to prove it. She scooped Afro Hairdresser of the Year last year at the British Hairdressing Awards and is currently the proud owner of the Afro Salon of the Year (book in at the Hair Lounge on Portobello Road). In fact, her clean sweep of awards is too expansive to list here, but trust us; she’s leading the pack.

An apprentice of legendary afro hairdresser Winston Isaacs in the 80s, Charlotte has gone on to become quite the legend in her own right, tending to the hair of the likes of Janelle Monae and Lorraine Pascale. She’s also been handpicked by L’Oréal’s luxury Afro haircare brand ‘MIZANI’ to create beautiful, directional campaign shots for celebrity ambassadors Shingai Shoniwa and Beverley Knight.

She’s committed to passing her 28 years worth of experience down to younger generations and has designed and developed workshop programs to train aspiring hair professionals in Europe, USA and Africa. She’s also a specialist business mentor for the Princes Trust and is currently setting up The Charlotte Mensah Academy to teach vocational skills to young people in Ghana, her homeland. In addition also heads up her own charity, L.O.V.E (Ladies of Visionary Empowerment); a benevolent fund set up in memory of Charlotte’s late mother that aims to educate and empower young women in Africa.

With two children and a natural haircare range on the way, Charlotte’s schedule may be mind-boggling, but she’s a role model to every young business hopeful out there.