Amazon Natural Look Academy

Specialties

The raw material that is black hair has been an everlasting canvas, showcasing styles and techniques that reflect African-American’s hopes and dreams of life, liberty and happiness. Increasingly, these hopes are embodied by the artistry and practicalities

History

Established in 1982.

The Amazon way began more than a quarter century ago. A cadre of fellow natural stylists initiated a cottage industry to provide natural styles, such as braids, twists and locks, for black professional women. These styles exuded the sophistication and refi

Meet the Business Owner

Nadra S.

Business Owner

I started styling natural hair and braiding at the age of 14. My mother, Amazon Smiley and sister Tenee Smiley had already been in the business for 20 plus years. I quickly became intrigued by the artistic and intricate designs that were created with natural hair in the salon. I soon fell in love with the relationships that were developed between stylist/​client/​friend/​confidant. As a client would begin her natural hair journey, I was amazed by the growing confidence that would emerge each time they were in the chair. My role as stylist was to create a safe and creative environment where she could explore her ideas and recreate herself, or more often find herself. The process of natural hair styling is more than «wanting to be natural», it is reconnecting self image with art. Invigorating self confidence. My own image reflected in the beauty and diversity of each client. I later came to realize it was my mission to train and educate as many natural stylists as I could to preserve the in