“In The Chair With” spotlights the incredible hairstylists in our community who are giving us major inspiration. Each week, they discuss their personal hair and career journeys, what they’ve learned from their clients, and their top hair care tips.
Born in the ‘80s and raised in the ‘90s, Stephan Swearingen was intrigued by the Gumby haircut and zig-zag designs made popular by Bobby Brown and Big Daddy Kane. But his U.S. Marine Corps dad was “very big on being neat and always presentable,” he tells ESSENCE. So Swearingen’s father cut his hair from the time he was a child until he worked up the nerve in middle school to make his own “adjustments.”
“It started off as trying to have my hair look the way that I wanted,” he says. “Over time, I got really good at cutting my own hair. So my friends assumed I went to one of the popular barber shops in the area. I was like, ‘Nah, I cut my own hair.’ And they were like, ‘Man, do you think you can cut mine?’”
Swearingen started doing haircuts in the eighth grade at his home. When he enrolled at Savannah State University, he soon became known on campus as “Step the Barber.” His entrepreneurial journey catapulted after a friend’s girlfriend requested that Swearingen give her a mohawk. Although it was the first time he had cut a woman’s hair, word spread quickly. He secured an apprenticeship at Center Stage Barber Shop in Savannah, Georgia.
Under the tutelage of a master barber, Swearingen learned the ins and outs of barbering and business. He graduated from college in 2008 and managed the shop until 2012. Then, he moved back to Atlanta, worked in a popular hair salon and built his clientele from the ground up.
“I made an Instagram page and when people would do Women Crush Wednesdays, I would do Women Cut Wednesdays,” says Swearingen. However, his followers weren’t too happy about waiting a week to see a woman’s cut. He gave them more and soon went viral.
Now the owner of Plush Midtown Barber & Beauty Salon and founder of Kinks & Coils haircare, you can see him serving up fresh cuts for women of all ages in addition to celebrities like David Banner, Coko of SWV, and B. Simone.
Read on to find out the product Swearingen swears by to achieve his signature platinum blonde, the secret you shouldn’t keep from your stylist, and more.
His favorite hairstyles:
I really enjoy creating that platinum blonde color with the waves. I also love doing a low buzz cut and throwing different designs in there. Clients notice that when all that hair is gone, they recognize different facial features that they didn’t pay attention to before. Cheekbones, beauty marks, eyes.
His current favorite products
I would say my staple product right now is definitely the Kinks & Coils Luxxe Pre Lightener 2.0. A lot of the bleaching products you find at beauty supply stores leave a woman’s hair a golden color. And they either have to bleach their hair multiple times, which you run the risk of damaging hair or burning the scalp. So that product was like a second birth to Kinks & Coils.
My Luxxe Leave-In Conditioner is very hydrating and light. If you have short hair like myself, a natural ‘fro, or twist-out, it has that spray nozzle so you can spray on hands or directly and not worry about build-up or dryness. And the Luxxe Foam Styler to create waves and hold.
His top tip for healthy hair:
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Whether you’re doing color or not, have long hair or short hair, a lot of times we don’t drink enough water. There’s often not enough moisture on the inside and then we’re waking up and just getting ready for the day and not hydrating. So if you’re out in the sun and elements, your hair is like a branch on the tree. If it’s dry, it’s going to break.
A hair myth he wants to debunk:
You can’t go platinum blonde in a day safely. And, if you want to go platinum blonde, do not dye your hair black. Natural black hair is different from dyed black hair.
When you purchase a black hair dye, if it says “100 percent gray coverage,” typically it has red in it, which stains the grays. Then the black covers it. When you go to bleach that, your new growth would be platinum blonde, but the hair that was previously dyed would be copper. Red is a difficult color to get out. If you have dyed your hair black, tell your barber, colorist, or hairstylist. Tell us the truth because we will find out!
How he uplifts his clients:
Most of those conversations come during the process. Once they’re spun around, there’s an actualization of, “Okay. I did this.” There are very few times where they may still wonder what their families may say, especially the ones who may not have told them this is something they were going to do. But then it never fails—I get those calls or texts later like, “Oh my god. My kids love it.” “My husband loves it.” Or, “I thought my dad was going to hate it.”
What he has learned from his clients:
Honestly, gratitude. I’ve made a point to not ask women why they are choosing to cut their hair and just be open if they want to share. Some of the things I’ve heard are just heartbreaking: everything from domestic violence where their hair has been pulled out or damaged, to losing it due to depression or cancer. You learn to have a greater appreciation by listening to people’s stories and then being able to help them.
