Losing your hair? Muli will see you now

Muli Musyoka is a trichologist. That’s a specialist in hair and scalp. He grew up in Machakos, thought he’d end up as a professional footballer but ended up collecting garbage before finding himself in Nairobi as a hairdresser and later at Haco Tiger Brands Ltd to find out more about hair.

Last year, he was named one of the Top 40 Under 40 men by this newspaper. He turns 30 this year. I watched him run a trichoscope on a lady’s scalp at his clinic along Ngong Road, which magnifies hair follicles about 700 times and beams it on a laptop. (Hair looks ghastly when magnified).

His clinic has performed 90 hair transplants in the one-and-a-half years they have been in existence. He’s allegedly the only trichologist in eastern and central Africa.

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How do you normally introduce yourself?

“I’m Musyoka and I’m a trichologist.” Let me tell you, there is nothing in a caterpillar that says it will be a butterfly. Young male hairdressers graduating today are shy to say they are hairdressers.

I used to say I’m a hairdresser and it earned me disapproving eyes. But I was proud of it even though I wasn’t satisfied with it. Then I became a hair technician and now I’m a trichologist.

The trichologist, you mean?

(Laughs) Yes, THE trichologist. People normally ask me, “A tri-what? You teach kids how to cycle bikes?” (Laughs). You know, when you have a dream, you look mad.

How did you end up doing this?

I’m a village guy, attended Machakos High School. My dream was to be a soccer player. In fact I played for the national league until I turned 19 before hurting my back pretty bad. Soccer was shelved. My parents wanted me to be a lawyer but we couldn’t afford it so I came to Nairobi to work with the National Theatre.

I would walk from Pumwani through Gikomba and back only to earn Sh500 bob a week. I tried some modelling before being enticed to do hair – I didn’t even know I was passionate about hair until much later.

Later, I worked in salons but felt I wasn’t meant for this because there is a certain stereotype in the industry, and people in the industry have accepted it. I then got a job at Haco Industries where I trained in product development and quality analysis.

I wanted to learn more about hair and Haco sponsored my education in Australia to study hair more because there was a huge opportunity; people were losing hair and nobody – not even doctors and hairdressers – understood why.

We might as well get this out of the way quickly. What’s your take on weaves?

(Laughs) They are good when done in the right way and for the right purpose. Originally, weaves were a preserve of the premium market – we’re talking about the 1800s here – and it would be done on occasions. Unfortunately, in our market, the cosmetology industry lacks information, or has half-baked information about weaves.

Weaves fixed without enough understanding of your type of scalp and hair can cause damage. However, weaves remain quite big in the industry.

Why do you think they are so popular now?

Convenience. Women don’t like waking up and spending time combing their hair daily.

What, weaves aren’t combed? You just up and leave?

(Laughs) You know weaves have volume and the way it’s treated, it doesn’t need a lot of care apart from sheen and fragrance. They are also very convenient and useful for people who have hairloss.

Onto men who are dyeing their white hair because of age, is it OK? Does it have any effect on hair or scalp?

I think it’s a very personal thing to dye your silver hair. It’s part of grooming and it doesn’t affect your hair. The only challenge is that dye dries hair because the dye contains hydrogen peroxide which makes your hair break and fall on your shoulders. The trick is not to use bar soap to wash it.

I’m sort of thinning right here in the middle of my head. Are there young chaps like me who are balding prematurely or am I alone in this?

I wouldn’t call it premature. I see men who start thinning at 25. African men tend to think it’s okay to bald, Asians have refused it, so we treat a lot of Asians here. I think African men still think if you bald, you will make money. (Laughs).

I can tell you it’s not true!

(Laughs) It’s something that can be fixed if it bothers you. If it doesn’t bother you, let it be. Thinning is gradual though; genetic hair loss takes about 10-14 years, for the whole process to happen and if you realise you are balding, take care of it early enough.

What percentage are your male clients?
20 per cent? We have many ladies because women are more exposed to forms of hair loss – be it genetically instigated, or the fact that women tend to be more anaemic than men, but also their lifestyles.

I’m curious, how do you interpret the Biblical story of Samson and his long mane of hair?

(Laughs) I don’t know. I think professionally it would be hard to say that hair can bring you strength. I think Samson’s story was a spiritual interpretation. Look at Rastafarians today, they don’t cut their hair because of symbolism. You can use hair to make a statement. You can use hair to say who you are.

Based on experience, how much of a woman’s self-confidence is attached to her hair?

I was reading this research that said ladies spend 30 to 38 per cent of their income on their hair. That’s huge, tells you how important hair is to them. I’ve had patients who come in here and start crying before they even explain what their problem is. That tells you how hair relates to their confidence and self esteem.

So as men, we always have to complement the hair!

(Laughs) Yes, of course, just don’t touch a woman’s hair, other than the fact that you might touch it and come off with it…(Laughs) ... just saying.

You have a full head of hair yourself. For what you do, it would be tragic if you had my hair. Do you have to sit under a drier to have hair like that?

(Laughs) No! Come on. God has been kind to me. He said “I will give you hair because I want you to fix hair.” People think I have done something drastic to my hair. Well, I have never done any transplant on it but I take care of it; once a week I shampoo it and apply protein treatment to strength it.

But how can a conservative African man treat his hair well without having to walk the cosmetic aisle of the supermarket, looking for shampoos and God knows what else!

(Laughs) Shopping for shampoo is actually cool, Biko. If you don’t want to go shopping, send your wife or girlfriend, or sister. Multinationals are now doing shower gels for men written “for your hair and body” because of the conservative men you refer to here.

Are you dating?

No. Not now

You must be a catch because you will come with hair expertise!

(Laughs) Well, yes, until I get tired of doing her hair. But I would let someone else do her hair. Maybe I would only cut and colour it.

What are you building here? What’s your dream?

This is the next M-Pesa, at least that’s what someone said during the ceremony of Top 40 Under 40. I want to grow hairdressers to be more, to get more training to better understand hair. I also want to open branches in Kampala, not sure about TZ, they are reserved and maybe South Africa in due time.

What does your mom think about your profession?

When I told her I wanted to be a hairdresser, she didn’t say anything, I think she was embarrassed. She didn’t even tell her friends what I did. I think she thought I’d be a stylist in Machakos, working in a salon with gossipy women. (Laughs). Now she sees me on TV and she is proud, she tells all her friends.

What drives you the most?

The fear of fear. I’m scared of going back to collecting garbage in Machakos. I don’t want to be okay; I don’t want to have an okay career, and do okay things, and let my kids inherit this okay attitude. I want to stand out.

What do your peers think of you? I mean you don’t present yourself as a 30-year-old, running your own company?

The friendships have become rare for sure...but in life, you have to learn to shed off some friendships. Some will say you have become arrogant because you aren’t speaking the same language.

Okay, enough of this. I never thought I’d talk about hair with another man for a whole hour!

(Laughs) Come on, I think you enjoyed it.