Sina Tsegazeab is fixing bad hair days one city at a time 

Many, especially women, who are into a good hair look, have probably come across the Natna hair brand, but few know the brains behind this brand which saves the day on their potentially bad hair days.

Sina Tsegazeab is the founder of Natna hair; a wife and proud mother to two sons. When I walk into her shop at Prism Plaza on Kampala road, I am welcomed into an immaculate space with white shelves and drawers where some of her hair pieces are displayed and stored, and after the pleasantries, she ushers me into her office.

Behind her seat are portraits of popular Ugandan personalities such as Sheebah Karungi, Winnie Nwagi, Spice Diana, Natasha Sinayobye, Oliver Nakakande, Anne Kansiime, Leila Kayondo, Martha Kay and Pia Pounds, all of whom she says she has worked with in order to gain exposure for her hair brand.

On top of her desk are several awards she has won because of her brand, including Most Outstanding Female in Beauty and Wellness at the Africa Outstanding Professionals Awards, which took place in Nairobi in September this year, and the Hair Brand of the Year at the Hi Skool Awards.

The name Tsegazeab does not sound Ugandan and she is quick to point out that she is Eritrean who only moved to Uganda in 2012 after getting married to a fellow Eritrean that lived and worked here.

“Settling in Uganda was not difficult, because the people here are very welcoming, warm and friendly. I have always felt like I am home and have grown up from here and never felt like a foreigner. Even now when I go to Eritrea, it feels like I have travelled from home (Uganda) and gone to visit. I describe myself as a Ugandan, born and raised in Eritrea,” she says.

Coming from a family of four siblings, Sina says that even though the environment she grew up in was very conservative, her family believed in education and creativity, which laid a foundation for the success she has achieved today.

“We had a family business which I started working in when I was still young. My dad is an electronic technician; so, we had a shop where we sold electronics and did maintenance. When I was in high school, I was working there part-time, which gave me a lot of exposure to the business environment. That experience accumulated to make a creative businesswoman.”

STARTING NATNA HAIR

Sina established Natna hair is 2015  after she failed to find good-quality hair pieces in Kampala no matter how hard she tried to find them and more so the knowledge of what quality human hair pieces were, was lacking. This made her realize that there was a gap in that aspect of the beauty industry.

“You know people, especially women, love hair and always want to do different hairstyles, but I realized that when it came to hair pieces, especially 100 percent human hair, it wasn’t in the market. So, that is where this idea came from,” she says, adding that Natna means ‘Ours’ in Tigrinya language.

A graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and a diploma in Marketing from Cavendish University, Sina had not been exposed to the hair business before, though while still in Eritrea, she had had the privilege of trying out different kinds of hair extensions which would be sent to her by her sister and aunt who were living abroad, which made her acquainted with the necessary qualities of good hair pieces.

At its inauguration, the brand had only eight hair types but today it boasts of over 300 types of hair in form of wigs, weaves, extensions, ponytails, fringes, lace wigs, closures and lashes.

“All our products are made from 100 percent human hair that has no plastic, fiber or synthetic added, which means one can wash, dye, color, set, and do everything with them,” Sina says.

She explains the difference between natural and synthetic hair as; “Synthetic is fully manmade in a factory, whereas natural is real human hair we get from women and make it into a wig. Natural hair pieces can be used for even up to five years, as long as you take good care of it. A good synthetic hair piece can only be plaited and worn twice but a natural hair piece can be coloured, restyled and washed just like how you do to your natural hair.”

Even though the brand is synonymous with women, it has extended its portfolio to provide pieces for men, such as moustaches, beards and hair for the bald, which perfectly settles on one’s head to look like his own. Sina, however, admits that even though the male clientele is growing, she is still finding it difficult to advertise the male products because most of the men who use them don’t want to come out publicly to be known that they are using such products.

“Men also actually come for these products and the numbers have been increasing recently. Our male clientele include big personalities in the country who are bald, and those with hormonal issues and cannot grow facial hair,” she says.

Gone are the days when a clean shave was the only way to disguise a bald head or inability to grow facial hair; now men too have hair extensions to their rescue. Sina says since hair says a lot about someone’s personality, they should understand their work environment or the place they are going to and wear the appropriate hair.

She, however, cautions against neglecting natural hair.

“A person should always make sure that they treat their natural hair as well. Just because you are putting on extensions or wigs does not mean you shouldn’t take care of your natural hair.”

CHALLENGES

Just like any other business, Sina has faced some challenges in her hair business especially at inception, where she found it difficult explaining to clients what premium good-quality hair was and that a piece can be 100 percent human hair. The relatively high prices of her products was also another thing her clients took time to accept.

“Majority of the people I dealt with especially first-time clients didn’t know what a true human hair piece was, because it is difficult to differentiate authentic hair from a fake piece before using it. It is after they have used it that they know the difference. Many people didn’t know that hair could be so expensive; so, I also had to explain why the prices were high,” she says.

Human hair is sourced from actual humans with good hair quality and length, who sell it to people like Sina at high prices. Human hair is big business in India and Latin America. On average, hair pieces at Natna start from Shs 400,000, although there are also those which go for a lower price of Shs 200,000.

In other places, human hair pieces can cost as much as Shs 1m, which has of late put them up there with mobile phones on the list of most sought-after items by thieving gangs. It is not unheard of for a woman to have her human hair wig snatched off her head in the streets.

She intimates that what makes her hair so expensive is because it is firsthand sourced, meaning that her team goes abroad and buys human hair from people out there and also oversees the production process in order to maintain the quality with all these aspects reflecting in the final consumer prices.

Most of the products are manufactured in Italy though there are some which come semi-manufactured and more details added from here.

“The high price is because I want to maintain the quality of products throughout; I hand-source the products, control the production and make sure that we take quality control measures before we put the pieces on display for sale. But we have a plan to start manufacturing from here so that we minimize the costs.”

She, however, adds that as the years have gone by, people now know what good quality hair is and how it is supposed to feel, which has made her job easier when it comes to dealing with clients as right now the only things she has to explain to them is how to use the hair and take care of it.

Because she is familiar with all the procedures involved in producing and gathering human hair from donors, as well as the industrial process, how to distinguish between different hair grades, which origins are best for various styles, style, make wigs and ventilate hair, Sina calls herself a hair technologist rather than just a hair stylist.

FUTURE PLANS

Sina prides herself in coming up with time-saving products, especially for working women and mothers who don’t have a lot of time to spend in front of the mirror. Besides plans of manufacturing the hair locally, she looks forward to adding different types of hair products to her catalogue next year like oils, texturizers, styling gels, shampoos and sprays among others, especially for natural texture hair.

She also plans on setting up a state-of-the-art hair salon as there is a big demand for it. What started as a small hair shop on Kampala road has now expanded to 13 distribution centres in Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, western Africa as well as Europe, UAE, USA, Canada, Australia and Israel.

Sina says what keeps her going is seeing a satisfied client because it is the ultimate price for her hustle.

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