A Florida hairstylist who specializes in detangling hair, and her clients’ complex lives, has helped a troubled teen get her sparkle back.
Hadassa Felix, 38, has been a professional hairstylist in her hometown of Miami for almost six years. Her salon, Love 518, denotes both her birthday, May 18, and her love for all the clients who pass through her doors, regardless of whatever life entanglement brought them there.
When a youth group home contacted Felix on behalf of a 13-year-old girl who was refusing to brush her hair, Felix knew she could help.
“From what I can share, her mom’s got a hard time and didn’t want her to be homeless with her, so she placed her in a group home while she tried to get back on her feet,” she told The Epoch Times. “The group home found me on social media, reached out to me, and gave me a brief description of what’s going on in her life.”
The group home brought the teen to the salon and paid for everything, Felix said. The girl arrived displaying a shy demeanor and heavily-matted hair, tangled solid down to her waist in a mess of elastic bands.
Felix, who takes pride in her “judgment-free” environment, set to work on the teen’s hair, laboring two whole days with assistants helping. They ordered pizza, made popcorn, and watched movies. And little by little, the teen came out of her shell.
“God knows what she had to go through with her mom and in the situation she’s coming from ... so [we made] it a very safe environment for her to let her know that she is loved,” Felix said. “By the end of the service, she gave me a hug.”
She even donated some of her strong, shining locks to charity, walking away with a chic, shoulder-length bob.
Felix often prays with her clients. She gave this teen a pep talk before leaving: “Chin up, head high, say it, ‘I am beautiful, I am fierce, I am amazing, I’m gonna do great things in life, and I’m going to be what I want to be!’”
Matted hair is a physical thing; what brings her clients to the salon is usually something life-related.
“It’s about the emotional things you’re going through, the spiritual things you’re going through, the trauma that you’re carrying from childhood. ... It’s almost like therapy,” she said. “[I’m not a] licensed therapist, however, I do know people.
“I’m usually 99 percent on point. This whole profession has made me more empathetic.”
Felix has done many hair transformations and shared them on social media. The first to go viral featured a former model who'd given up washing her hair. Struggling during the pandemic, she came to Felix with 12 months’ worth of matting.
Felix brought masks for her client, partially to conceal her identity for filming, and then spent 33 hours untangling. The video went viral overnight.
Ever since, Felix has been flush with clientele. People of all ages and situations have flown in, from across the country and abroad, seeking her judgment-free services. Some are depressed, anxious, overworked, or have medical issues. Some are “supermoms” with no time for themselves.
Most of the kids Felix works with have loving parents; the tangled hair is circumstantial.
“A child goes swimming every single day for the summer and then they throw their hair in a ponytail ... or the child goes to their ‘other house’ for the weekend and they have a different hair texture,” she said, adding that a lot of biracial kids, without a shared heritage, arrive whose parents don’t know what to do with that child’s hair.
Felix has worked with nurses who had hair trouble while working irregular shifts during the pandemic. “It may start with one small knot, and then next you know your whole head is matted,” the stylist said.
Felix’s establishment is more of a spa than a salon, she says.
“For example, when I wash their hair [I play] very relaxing music,” Felix said. “Candles, warm towels, a blanket if they’re cold, and we just put the chair back and I do their hair. I want them to be as comfortable as possible.”
The teen is now in a “safe situation,” the stylist said . One of several success stories at Love518, the client left the salon with no knots, and a lot more confidence.
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