‘It’s an opportunity for bonding’ – my quest to become a Black dad who can do his daughters’ hair

For me – and many other Black men – my experience of hair begins and ends in the barbershop. But as my two daughters get older, I’m determined to make ‘salon night’ pain free – and maybe even enjoyable

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n the basement of Larry King’s salon in Marylebone, London, stylist and curly hair advocate Jennie Roberts is giving me a much-needed pep talk. “It’s all about education and making everything simplified,” she says, perhaps sensing my apprehension as I stand uneasily before her with a comb in hand.

“It’s not a big effort, it is not going to cost a lot of money. Managing curly hair, once you know how, is easy,” Roberts says. “It really is. It’s easier than trying to hide it anyway.”

The curly hair in question isn’t mine but that of my two daughters, aged three and four-and-a-half. After months of screaming and unsatisfying results, I’ve taken it upon myself to learn the basics of caring for their hair, which is a combination of my mixed-race afro curls and my wife’s straighter Spanish locks.