Over the weekend I attended a natural hair meetup in Harare. It was so much fun to see so many people with natural hair. There were also natural hair stylists and Zimbabwean made products.
It was exciting to meet so many women taking pride in their hair and offering solutions that work for them here in Zimbabwe. So I found out more about the products available(imported and local) in Zimbabwe, the hair stylists as well as the struggles they face daily especially those with formal jobs. It was refreshing to hear people speak in Shona about their hair and the sisterhood that was visible.
I also had the opportunity to meet Kuda Mupawose who has a line of products under Feso. I asked to interview her and yesterday I went to her saloon at 31 Arundel School Road, Mt Pleasant, Harare.
Kuda studied pharmacology but left it for her passion, hair. She became a hairdresser and when she returned to Zimbabwe in 2013 she observed that a lot of people had lost their hair line(traction alopecia). Using her experience in pharmacology and what her mum had taught her she started experimenting with Feso(Devil’s thorn). She called this formula “Kuda’s Concoction”.
The first client to use “Kuda’s Concoction”, started noticing a difference in under two weeks. At this point she was it for free to her clients at the saloon until one of her clients told her that they would pay for it. In 2015, she sold 10 bottles in one week and this motivated her.
At the moment, Feso has two products, a water based spray with the feso extract as well as other oils and the the other one is shea butter based . You massaged the product into your hair and it renews your hair follicles.
In March 2015 she was selected to attend African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP) and this is when she decided to brand her product and came up with Feso. This was a great opportunity for her and by June of the same year she had sold about 500 bottles. While at AWEP, one of the women challenged her product. The woman claimed that Kuda’s product did not work; Kuda gave to try the product and in under a month the woman noticed the change. This helped Feso as there were women from 47 African countries who saw the product work and now the product can now be found in more than 70 countries.
Kuda says most of her success has been through Zimbabweans in the diaspora who are looking for things that they can relate to. I know this feeling! Word of mouth has worked for her.
What I like the most about Kuda is how much she is using her product to empower other women. Her product is not in the big stores and there is a reason for that. She prefers for other women to sell the product and they in turn get a commission. You can however get the product on many online outlets
Feso is in the processing of being relaunched end of this month and the line will be extended to include a shampoo, conditioner, deep conditioner and colour. The saloon is also transitioning to a solution based saloon. If you are having issues with your scalp and hair disorders, the clinic is available to assess and treat you.
The machine used to assess the scalp.
In future the saloon will be split into skills development and hairdressing. Kuda wants young women to see that hairdressing is a viable career, one that they can be proud of. She wants to teach them how to be a professional hair dresser.
Kuda is also the brains behind Zimbabwe Afro Sleek Hair Show(ZASH). It is an annual hair show where the former winner drove away in a car and this year the winner will get a saloon!
Kuda gave me the spray and I will be trying it out over the next few weeks and will share with you the progress.
To buy Feso products please contact them here