Montreal hair salon caters to women with face or head coverings

Imani Nadir says she looked high and low for a hairdresser when she moved to Montreal in 2022.

"I'm just like everyone else besides the fact that I cover my hair," Nadir said.

Finally, after six months of making calls and sending emails, the 20-year-old came across Two Horses, a Montreal hair salon offering specialized services to women who wear face or head covering.

"I even read on their website they offer silent appointments for those who maybe get a little over-stimulated, so I was like 'okay, they seem really inclusive,'" she said.

Nadir has been coming to the salon, located at Plaza St-Hubert for the last year. That is when the salon started offering hair services to hijab, burka and niqab wearing women and girls in a private setting.

Izzy Mulder, the owner of Two Horses, recently started putting extra effort into getting the word out.

"Welcoming Muslim women and girls, and anyone who requires special consideration, should just be standardized within the industry. It should be normalized," she said in an interview.

However, Mulder says it is rarely the case.

"I think hair salons in general have a very old school approach to a lot of things."

Nadir's long search for a salon reinforces this idea.

"Most of the salons were like 'I'm so sorry. We're not able to accommodate. We don't have those types of services that we can offer you. I wish you the best of luck' and there was just a lot of dead ends," Nadir said.

She added that Muslim women and their needs are often overlooked.

"Especially here in Quebec, Islam is taboo. And I feel like in Quebecois culture and Quebecois law and society it's not as widely accepted," the young woman said.

This is why Mulder says she's encouraging more salon owners to take the initiative to create more inclusive spaces.

"Hair can be really empowering, and we want to provide that service to everybody," Mulder said.

Now that Nadir has found her Two Horses, she says her mom can officially retire her scissors.

"I'll never go back to the bathroom haircuts, I don't think," Nadir said.