About me
Even as a teenager, when I lived in the city of Cubatão, on the coast of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, I was already cutting my own hair, as well as my mother’s, grandmother’s, and siblings’. Over the years, as I gained more confidence, I began cutting the hair of friends too.
In 1995, I decided to pursue formal training as a hairdresser at a local school and started working with acquaintances and friends. However, I continued to work in a completely different field, unrelated to hairdressing.
The following year, I began working at a small hair salon in the city of Santos. However, I didn’t stay long; through a mutual acquaintance, I was introduced to the owner of a salon in the neighborhood where I lived in Cubatão, called Jardim Casqueiro. I worked there for one year.
In 1998, I started working at Fitness & Fashion, the largest hair salon in the city at the time, under my lifelong mentor Maria Helena de Sá Barbosa. I stayed there for three years. During this period, I learned and grew tremendously in the profession with Lena (as Maria Helena is known). As a trainer, her salon was a reference point for bridal styling in the city. One of the requirements was to frequently attend training sessions in the city of São Paulo, which is not only a reference in the state but also in the entire country and, I dare say, across Latin America and even globally in the field of beauty. These training sessions greatly enriched my work and helped me grow more and more each day.
The year 2001, more specifically in September, marked the most important step. Little Cubatão was no longer enough and the decision was made to move up the mountain and establish itself 60km from home, in the state capital, the immense city of São Paulo, with all the fears and anxieties that came with it. At this stage, the Salão Bella Fonte was 9 years old. Since all the most important groups were in the capital, growth was gradual and rapid.
My story with straightening treatments began in 2004 , still at Bella Fonte, with the Japanese straightening, as it was called, followed in 2005 by the emergence of the progressive brush. The latter appeared in Rio de Janeiro and the formula was very rich in formaldehyde, which was later banned in large quantities and became highly controlled, generating new products, "cleaner" and more efficient.
In 2011 , with new ideas and a strong desire to grow and bring new techniques and solutions to my clients, I opened my own space, Vinci Hair , in the picturesque Pinheiros neighborhood of São Paulo. The following year, 2012, always innovating, we entered into a partnership with a super nightclub in São Paulo, where we set up a mini hair salon inside the club, created for female customers. A touch of luxury in the richest city in Brazil and Latin America.
Another step forward was taken in 2014 with the growth of the company and the opening of the second Vinci Hair branch , on Frei Caneca Street, in the highly sought-after Bela Vista neighborhood and just a few minutes' walk from São Paulo's most famous avenue, Avenida Paulista. In this location, through hard work and always done with care and affection, we have gained a good customer base.
However, a family situation combined with complicated years in the Brazilian economy combined with the lack of security in Brazil, brought me to Portugal in 2018, where I was able to implement and improve straightening techniques, also showing the Brazilian way of serving and which has pleased many customers.
Written by Mauricio Chuva
Over the years I have been doing various training courses in different areas, the most important of which are:
-
Training in Japanese Straightening
-
Professional makeup artist from Senac São Paulo
-
Highlights Specialist - L`Oreal Institute - São Paulo
-
Braiding Training
-
Meta Men - Men's haircut and beard at the Pivot Point gym in São Paulo
Photos by Arnaldo Cellani Junior
@arnaldocellani