Freddie Harrigan (Boutique Builder)
There is a new fashion of Tropical Virgin Hair now available for glamorous young ladies in Anguilla. The unique service is being offered at Virgin Hair Boutique, a just-opened extension at Unbeveaveable Divers at the Landsome Plaza.
Owner and Proprietor of Unbeveaveable Divers, Rebecca Webster, is delighted to accommodate this new service, introduced by a trained cosmetologist, Sabe Hodge, of St Maarten. The grand opening was on Sunday, December 14, at which several Anguillian models and staff members from both businesses were in attendance.
“I came up with the name Tropical Virgin Hair after studying Cosmetology and Business Management in the United States, following which I moved to St Maarten,” Sabe, the 28-year-old hair specialist, told The Anguillian. “There are not a lot of stores in the Caribbean that have a lot of virgin hair, and I wanted to create a brand that can be distributed to all the regional islands at a very low price. This will prevent persons from travelling to the United States or ordering online. I am trying to branch out in all of the Caribbean islands, having first started on the Pond Fill in St Maarten in April 2014.”
She is hoping to set up branches in Saba in January and Dominica in February. Sabe, who has a Bachelor’s Degree from Florida A&M University in Tallahasse, and is also a Cosmetology graduate from World Class Beauty Academy, was asked to describe virgin hair. “It is unprocessed hair that has not been coloured or tampered with,” she explained. “You can colour it, relax and straighten it; and when wet, it gets curly. You can use it over and over for about a year, depending on how well you take care of it.”
The hair has also been described as being natural Indian or Brazilian hair, ordered directly from the manufactures. “It is a new fashion hair,” Sabe continued. “A lot of ladies wear weaves and if their hair is not done well, they do not come out of their house. It gives them high self-esteem and changes the look in their face, and they like it. Rebecca, Roxanne (her sister) and I are good friends and I usually do Roxanne’s hair. Roxanne and I were talking and we came up with the idea to have a Tropical Virgin Hair Boutique in Anguilla because a lot of Anguilla’s girls like hair. I spoke to Rebecca about it and we created this [Anguilla Tropical Virgin Hair Boutique]. We have a lot of different hair in stock. We have the Anguillian Straight, the Bahamian Wave etc. The unique thing about our texture of hair is that it is named after each Caribbean island to help persons gain knowledge about the different people in the islands.”
Rebecca Webster, who has welcomed Sabe with opened arms, commented: “We have tried to set up the boutique as close as possible to what she has in St Maarten. She has a Virgin Boutique there and that’s what we have in Anguilla. It is the same company, just that we are the Anguilla authorised distributors. When you enter the boutique, you can feel the textures, and then you can let the girls know what length of hair you want. If you want it custom-coloured, we do that too. We are also doing custom wigs and special orders for persons. It is not processed hair. It is all natural hair.”
Rebecca took the opportunity to speak about her own business. “Unbeveavable Divers started out to be a hobby and is now a passion of mine. We were established since in 2001 and we are still here at the Landsome Plaza. I am the owner of the beauty supply store and we have a beauty salon as well. We provide services for men, women and children; and we use natural hair for weaving and braiding; and we are now adding this new section – Virgin Hair Boutique – for the first time in Anguilla.”
