Welcome to The Sanctuary Experience!

A Natural Hair and Lifestyle blog that centers around my guests and the experiences we share in my natural hair and locs salon.

Hello Beautiful! My name is Azareah S. (pronounced az-uh-ree-uh), and I am the creative mind and visionary behind Holistic Hair Sanctuary. I am so excited to welcome you to my world of holistic hair care. Since my salon is a private studio, we rarely get to share in that traditional "salon/shop talk ." I aim to use this blog to bring that vibe of the salon community and give you tips and information on hair care. I want to share my guest's experiences when they sit in my chair. From health and nutrition, relationships, parenting, grief, travel, books, or the latest podcast to losing hair and healing from it, I want to share with you my passion for hair and my passion for healing.

I consider myself an artist...

I've always considered hair styling to be a form of art, and those gifted enough to execute said styles are phenomenal artists. I am passionate about this industry and genuinely love what I do. My goal has always been to empower Black women (BIPOC ) to embrace their natural hair. My message has always been, "Our hair is gorgeous, and we are beautiful ." We don't NEED to relax, perm, straighten, and endure pain to feel or look beautiful. I want my guests and readers to know that you can wear your natural hair and locs and be "professional" too. Our hair is versatile and magical. Like the sh*t literally defies gravity. How amazing is that? I geek out over being able to create styles as simple or as elaborate as my client desires, especially if they say, "Just do your thing, sis." So be creative with and embrace your natural tresses.

It's a journey...

For hundreds of years, Black people have been conditioned to think that we are not beautiful, that our hair is not attractive. In recent years we have had to fight for things like the "Crown Act" just so that we can wear our hair the way it naturally grows from our scalps. We fight hard just to style or color it the way we want and not be discriminated against in the workplace and schools. In many ways, we are conditioned and brainwashed into thinking our hair, our curl pattern, and our locs are not desirable. We often look at the measure of others and this new beauty standard that has us feeling like because my curls are a "4c," the curls aren't popping. If your locs don't have that "bohemian" look, they aren't gorgeous. We have to move past that and enjoy the journey of learning what our hair, which is unique to us as it grows from our own scalps, can truly become.

Now off my soapbox I go to figure out what the next topic will be. I hope you walk with me on this journey so that we can share in laughter, tears, and love. I hope that I help to educate you to feel empowered to embrace your natural hair and/or locs. Peace.