As the number of foreign residents and children of mixed heritage grows, so do needs for hair and skin care products specific to these groups. Some have taken things into their own hands and started businesses to fill gaps in the local market.

The popularity of curly hair has waxed and waned in Taiwan since its heyday in the 1980s. Back then, the fondness for loops and ringlets was part of a broader penchant for permed, “big hair” among Western celebrities. Starting in the 2010s, young Taiwanese women could frequently be seen donning hair curlers in public, influenced in no small part by K-pop idols.

The rise and fall of these trends saw a corresponding ebb and flow in the availability of products and accessories for curly hair types. As Taiwan’s population has become increasingly diverse, more options for a greater range of hair types and needs have become available. Yet some say challenges remain.

“Around 30 years ago, when curly hair was fashionable in Taiwan, you could find afro combs quite easily,” says Taipei resident Hsin Ni. “But these days, it’s quite hard to get them even online [from Taiwan-based retailers].”  

One a growing number of mothers of children of mixed Black and Asian descent — also known as Blasians — Ni struggled for years with managing her daughter Kima’s hair. As a single Taiwanese mother with no experience or familiarity with the nuances of Black hair, she depended on friends for advice and assistance.

“It wasn’t just that I didn’t know how to handle her hair,” she says. “But, in fact, I wasn’t even aware this was something I needed to learn.”

Challenges in maintaining afro-textured hair are mainly structural. Regular combing to detangle and loosen natural curls and create more volume can be painful, causing an aversion to brushing and making already nervous or stressed parents even more reluctant. Tightly coiled curls are also more susceptible to dryness, as sebum from the scalp struggles to reach the hair shaft. This can cause brittleness, split ends, and breakages. 

Had she not had the support of fellow mothers of Blasian children, as well as African friends and connections who offered hair care and styling services on an ad hoc basis, Ni admits she would have been lost in those early years. 

“Luckily, almost every African lady I know can do this kind of stuff,” she says. “There’s a kind of network of people doing it privately.” 

Her comments were echoed by Joanna Ho, a Miaoli-based mother of two Blasian children, who says her Nigerian husband’s extended circle came to the rescue when she needed help. “If we didn’t have experienced friends, I don’t really know how I could handle it,” she says. “No one prepares you for this — Black hair is so much different from what we’re used to growing up.”

Even those Taiwanese parents who develop proficiency in maintaining their children’s hair report problems with sourcing their preferred products. Cosmetics such as raw shea butter that are widely used in African hair and skin care have at times been almost impossible to find, says Hsin Ni. She notes that British cosmetics company The Body Shop, which carries such products in many other countries, does not offer them in Taiwan.  

Several African interviewees cited Taiwanese import restrictions as a factor affecting the sourcing of tried-and-true items. A common workaround is to ask friends and family to bring these products back from trips abroad. One example is the Dudun Osun brand of black soap beloved by Nigerians. “You can’t get it in Taiwan, so people just bring back as much as they can from trips back home, and share it around,” says Ho.  

In order to address these gaps, some foreign residents have launched businesses providing hair supplies and services to Black clientele.

One such entrepreneur is New Yorker Monica Jordan. After arriving in Taiwan in 2013 to study for a master’s in international affairs and strategic studies, she noticed that each time she returned to her home in the Bronx for a visit, she would get more requests from friends and acquaintances in Taiwan to bring back hard-to-procure items.

“During my first year, I went back three times and returned each time with three suitcases — one just full of hair and beauty products for other people,” says Jordan, co-owner of The X Mojo, a hair salon and beauty supply in Taipei’s Shilin District. As word got around, Jordan considered packing a fourth suitcase the following year, before her mother suggested shipping the hefty haul to Taiwan.

“It got me thinking that there was definitely demand, but no supply,” says Jordan. “I began testing the waters by helping friends order stuff from the U.S.”

After registering her company in 2020, which allowed it to legally import and sell products, Jordan and her business partners spent two years scouting out suitable locations, before settling on a storefront near Jiantan MRT station.

While they were searching for a physical location, the business flourished, benefiting from the increased scarcity of niche items during the Covid-19 pandemic. “For individual customers, orders from Amazon or Shopee were not getting to Taiwan,” recalls Jordan. “As we were already registered and had stock, our shipments were dealt with differently and prioritized.”

In addition to Monica and her two partners — a barber handling male clients and another in an administrative role — the salon has two regular part-time stylists and a third who steps in when available. “They’re students, so we let them deal with school first because that’s a priority,” says Jordan. “And whenever it’s a break [or holiday], they work based on their schedule and the services we know they can provide.”

Those services include popular hairstyles such as twists, braids, and locs (also known as dreadlocks or dreads), for which Jordan says the salon offers unparalleled know-how.  “I think I can confidently say we’re top at locs in Taiwan.” Treatments such as detoxes and repairs are also offered, as are consultations on understanding and caring for one’s hair.

Helping people realize the natural beauty and potential of their hair is most rewarding, she says, particularly for clients who may have spent years struggling with this. “I’ve had a client who’s in her mid-40s who had never really seen her hair curly,” says Jordan. “After a wash and go [a kind of natural hairstyling technique] and treatment, her curls were popping and she was amazed.”

As the only brick-and-mortar business in Taiwan catering specifically to Black hair, The X Mojo attracts customers from across the island. “Many regular clients come on day trips from out of town every three to five weeks,” says Jordan. But she says customers often come from outside Taiwan, including those on business or leisure trips — or even layovers.

Occasionally, those clients include international celebrities. Last year, the X Mojo team styled former NBA star Carmelo Anthony for a GQ Taiwan photoshoot and event.  “He was really chill,” says Jordan. “I asked him if he wanted his beard done and he was like ‘Do what you want. I trust you.’”

Trust is key for Jordan, who has worked tirelessly to foster a “safe space” for her customers — as much a community hub as a beauty supply store. Jordan — who herself is Blasian, the daughter of Filipino and Caribbean immigrants — says that approach is particularly important for Black and Blasian children in Taiwan, some of whom may have faced social stigma or discrimination. “This is somewhere they can feel comfortable asking questions that they couldn’t ask anywhere else,” she says.    

Serving a broader clientele 

Safety and comfort are also guiding principles at INTAI Salon, which caters to Taiwan’s sizeable Indonesian population. Located close to Sanmin Senior High School MRT in the Luzhou District of New Taipei City, INTAI recently became the first salon in Taiwan to receive halal certification and approval as a hijab-friendly service, following inspections conducted by Taipei Grand Mosque.

“Our products are all halal, meaning they contain less than 0.5% alcohol,” says INTAI co-owner Deyantono, who is also known as Dede and, like many Indonesians, goes by a single given name. “Most importantly, we have the only room in Taiwan specifically for hijabi [hijab wearers]. This is a woman-only space where they can feel safe.”

After completing language studies and his master’s at Fu Jen Catholic University in the early 2000s, Dede worked in marketing, developing professional relationships that would later yield mutual benefit. One was his current partner Amanda Chang, a salon owner who was struggling with her traditional business model and approached Dede with the idea of a salon focused on Indonesian customers. 

“She’d worked in a Vietnamese salon and noticed that Southeast Asians customers had special styles they liked,” Dede says.

For many Indonesian clients, this includes a fondness for bouncy, face-framing waves favored by K-pop stars. “Korean style is popular for sure,” he says.

In contrast, the prevalence of Korean hair and beauty trends in Taiwan can cause frustration for ethnic groups or individuals for whom such beauty standards are not necessarily desirable.

“A problem I’ve faced multiple times is that salons now go for Korean styles and no matter what you tell a stylist, they can’t do a cut that’s suitable for Indian faces and hair,” says Sana Hashmi, a foreign policy scholar at the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation who has lived in Taiwan since 2020.  “Another issue is finding the right makeup — it’s next to impossible to find a foundation that’s not for white skin.”

As with the African residents TOPICS spoke to, other diasporic groups say import restrictions continue to hamper their beauty needs. Filipina immigrants, for example, have lamented the seemingly arbitrary recall of cosmetic mainstays from back home.

“You can find plenty of hair stylists in areas with Filipino communities,” says Alice Ronario, a long-term resident of Taiwan. “But just recently, a hair conditioner called Cream Silk was flagged for regulatory approval.”

The reasons for this are unclear — Ronario and others cite labeling issues related to the use of simplified Chinese, but Taiwan’s customs authorities did not reply to requests for comment. EEC Elite Express (EEC) — a supermarket franchise and the main importer of Philippines-manufactured products to Taiwan — told TOPICS the company could “offer no input” for the apparent change in import conditions.

“We are only following the regulations and restrictions set by the Taiwan customs authorities,” the EEC management team responded via email.

The manufacturers of Cream Silk were also unable to shed light on the matter. “Products manufactured and distributed by Unilever Philippines, including Cream Silk, are intended for and available only within the Philippine market,” the company said in an emailed response to questions.

Arguing that the company does not support export to international markets, a Unilever Philippines spokesperson wrote that they could not “provide specific comments regarding import restrictions, customs regulations, or product distribution arrangements in Taiwan,” adding that such matters were outside their “scope of operations.”

“Whatever the reasons,” says Ronario, “it’s a shame for us, as we’ve been using this stuff [since] forever.”