TAMPA, Fla. — Curls for Queens, a nonprofit that helps young girls in communities of color feel better about their hair, is making its way to Hillsborough County.

What You Need To Know

  • The Curls for Queens free pampering event is this Sunday at Brandon High School and it’s by application only

  • The goal is to make self-care accessible to all girls and empower them to feel beautiful

  • Organizers said they’ve already maxed out the number of available spots for this pop-up salon, but this won't be their last event here

  • The event will include community partners, make-up artists, nail techs, estheticians and other beauty entrepreneur volunteers

The group plans to pamper girls at a school at Brandon High School with a pop-up salon. 

The idea was born from an encounter Curls for Queens founder, Makayla Fredd, had with one of her students. She said she was able to understand just how important proper hair care is.

“I would say because of how diverse our hair can be, there’s not just one trick that works for everything and then when you look good, you really start to feel good,” she said. “And putting those two things together and empowering those young girls to like, ‘I can love my hair, even if it’s kinkier, or tighter coils,’ or whatever it is. So, I definitely feel, especially in the Brown and Black community, understanding our hair and the culture behind it is so huge.”

Tampa hairstylist and recent graduate Talia Davis volunteered her time for the event. 

“I just did my research thesis on how haircare can improve the self-esteem of young girls. So that’s really important, because sometimes it feels like your hairstylist is your mom or your confidant. And once you’re done, you have that confidence,” Davis said.

Davis started doing hair at a young age and she said it’s because she just wanted her hair done.

“I’ve been doing hair since I was 14. My mom, she was just too busy. So, (I) had siblings. I had my sister. She knew how to do sew-ins, I knew how to braid — we combined what we were doing,” she said.

Sixteen-year-old Diamond Harrell signed up to get pampered at the pop-up salon at her school. She said with her texture of hair, there’s a list of things that come with it not being done.

“Detangling, not knowing what to do. Hair depression, of course,” she said. “Basically, when you don’t have your hair done and you go to school and everyone else has their hair done, it just makes you feel left out and sad.”

The event will include community partners, make-up artists, nail techs, estheticians and other beauty entrepreneur volunteers.

The Curls for Queens event is this Sunday at Brandon High School and it’s by application only. Organizers said they’ve already maxed out the number of available spots for this pop-up salon, but this won’t be the last time they’re here.