How can your hair business serve the transgender community?

When Shimmers Hair Salon owner Lynne Webster realised there was a big gap in the market for creating transgender hair services and beautiful bespoke wigs for the transgender community, she decided to change things. Lynne’s hair salon in St Helens, Merseyside is predominantly known for its hair loss clinics, where she creates wigs for clients who have suffered from hair loss due to having alopecia, chemotherapy, hormonal issues or stress. However Lynne had a 'light bulb' moment when she questioned how transgender females achieve wonderful, glamorous hair if they have generic pattern hair loss. Lynne visited Manchester’s thriving gay scene in Canal Street where members of the LGBTQ+ community visit from all over the world. She used this trip to speak to transgender females about how they achieve a hairstyle that makes them feel confident and glamorous. "Unsurprisingly the ladies I asked said they struggled to find the perfect hair because the ‘eBay’ purchase didn’t live up to expectations, or the wigs were too generic,” explained Lynne. She added: “I trained with Trendco, which makes both synthetic and real hair wigs to suit individual requirements. I take great pride in accompanying my transgender female clients to Trendco in Manchester and I help them to make select either a natural style or a more statement piece depending on my client’s individual needs.”

Hair integration

Lynne is also trained in a technical service called hair integration, which is designed for severe hair loss sufferers. My transgender clients are big fans of the hair integration system, because it feels more permanent and doesn’t make them feel like their hair is a disposable accessory and I advise my clients to return every six to eight weeks for refits.

Create individual colour

Lynne has created a bespoke wig and hair integration service for her transgender hair clients by attending numerous colour courses. She’s learned invaluable tricks of the trade from adding a simple tone through to balayage, root stretches and creating the perfect bleed on wigs and hair integration systems. This has added an extra string to her bow as she is able to tailor any wig to suit her transgender ladies’ lifestyles, careers and fashion preferences. Interestingly, no one else within Lynne’s local area offers either a hair loss service or a transgender female hair integration service so she has become the go-to person for changing people’s lives for the better and generating extra revenue at the same time.

Financial benefits

The transgender female hair integration service is a technical and skilled service so it commands a higher rate bill than any of the other services Lynne provides in the salon. “Initially, it requires financial outlay to get yourself educated and trained on a wig styling course and cutting through to my colour education courses, as well as learning how to build wigs and create the hair integration System. However, I’m confident that I tick all of the boxes necessary to give my transgender clients beautifully natural, bespoke and quality hair that makes them feel confident.”

How to promote the service

Social media is the perfect platform for promoting these services. Lynne uses Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to generate business, which she says is successful when combined with online marketing and an up-to-date salon website. Pride Month is here, and to mark the annual celebration HJ hopes to shine a spotlight on the LGBTQ+ community and the influence and impact they have on the hair industry.