Join us today in New York, as we meet Kim Jones, the founder of Roots Radicals Salon to chat about all things hair, beauty, and fashion in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Brewster, and beyond.
We cover how the hair and beauty industry is changing for the better, how to care for natural hair, and why running one of the best salons in New York is so much fun when you put your clients and team first.
Enjoy!
Kim, tell us more about yourself
Hi, I’m Kim Jones, founder of Roots Radicals Salon.
I’m super passionate about hair health and individuality. My mantra is “Don’t follow trends, set them!”
Find what flatters your face and vibe and make sure you have a hair routine that ensures optimal hair health, that you’ll follow each day.
Healthy hair never goes out of style. I go out of my way to make sure everyone who sets foot in our hair and beauty salon feels welcome, at ease, educated, and able to understand and duplicate the styling achieved in Roots Radicals salon, at home.
Getting your hair done doesn’t feel like a task when in my chair at our salons. We’ve created an environment where you want to come just to hang, laugh and the extra perk is the awesome hair service.
What will clients experience at Roots Radicals Salon NYC?
We have locations in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and Brewster, New York. and my vision for Roots Radicals was simple. Do great hair and have fun doing it!
The vibe in our Brooklyn salon is mid-century modern. It’s homey and chill. The Brewster salon is airy, bright, and serene. Our salons are inviting and never intimidating. We are stylists from all walks of life and encourage individuality.
It is our mission to serve our community so that all hair types and textures are acknowledged and praised. We want to facilitate change in the beauty industry.
We strive for all textured hair individuals to feel seen, and beautiful with how their hair is naturally. We do all hair types but curls are our passion. We specialize in lived-in looks, natural color, and balayage. We truly believe healthy hair is the best type of hair. So at our in-depth consultations, we always start there. Client education is a major part of our salon ethos.
What specialties does Roots Radicals Salon offer?
We are known for how different a salon experience we create. From the minute you walk in our goal is client comfort. We strive to get a full picture of what it is you currently do, what you desire to do, what your hair goals are, and check-in to see if you are content with your routine or are looking to enhance/simplify/start one.
It’s an attention-to-detail and thorough approach that has everyone singing our praises on Google and even Reddit! We are passionate about curls and it shows.
It is impossible to just take 5 minutes of chatting to change someone’s hair for the long term. That first consultation with a client (who is essentially a stranger at first), trying to figure out how they want to walk the world. How they want to be perceived and how they want to achieve that! To show them how to recreate it at home.
That is artistry and we love it! It’s the funnest part of the job!
I don’t care about sounding cheesy, as we are seriously changing lives over here. People who’ve grown up not knowing how to care for and style their hair are leaving feeling confident and beautiful, with the tools to feel that way always, not just after leaving our salon. That is what the hair and beauty industry should be about.
What is your number one tip for a happy, healthy hair and beauty routine?
Confidence is the sexiest thing you can wear. There is only one YOU!
Water is life.
And shampoo and conditioner are the MOST important step in your hair care routine.
What you use and how you use it is also equally important. Most people don’t shampoo properly. I’d like to change that. I have a blog post on our Roots Radicals website called The Art of the Shampoo and I talk about how to shampoo for your hair type.
Healthy hair will always look its best, style the easiest, and NEVER go out of style.
A healthy scalp=healthy hair (for the most part)…so don’t be afraid to cut your hair and invest in salon-quality products. Your hair is always with you. Invest in it. Find a stylist who is invested in your hair as much if not more than you are!
If you’re looking for more tips about hair, beauty industry, mindfulness, and some laughs check out my podcast Zen and the Art of the Shampoo.
What New York hair, beauty, and fashion trends are you seeing right now?
Embracing natural texture is on the rise and I’m so here for it!
Gone are the days of feeling beholden to a weekly blowdry and your flat iron. Don’t get me wrong I am not militant about not blowdrying your hair. Do all the things you want to your hair. Trash it even. It’s hair. It grows back. It’s meant to be fun and played with. I’m not part of that curly hair cult of dos and don’ts. But know that you might have to start from scratch if you’ve gone too far and it will cost you haha.
This movement is about freedom and individuality. Reclaiming time back out of your day to feel beautiful the way you naturally are. Time is so precious. Let’s stop wasting it trying to fit into someone else’s standard of beauty. There is so much texture education and products now. So exciting! There is also a lot of noise on the internet of people giving unqualified advice.
I’m launching digital education called Zen and the Art of Beauty to teach all the things we didn’t learn growing up, so no one has to fumble their way through finding their routine. It’s all about giving you the precious gift of time back!
What hair and beauty products do you think should be in everyone’s day-to-day routine?
Satin wrapped everything. Scrunchies, pillowcases, turbans. If you are going to flat iron your hair, steam irons are great for that.
Aiir Products are the TRUTH. I swear by that line. NTRL by Sabs and Ouidad styling products are our other superstars in salon. NTRL has the most amazing rose oil for hair and skin. It’s divine. Check out these lines and you’re welcome
Beyond Roots Radicals, who else would you like to give some love to?
NTRL by Sabs was created by kick-ass celebrity stylist Sabrina Rowe Holdsworth and their ethos is amazing. Her line is carefully crafted and the scents are out of this world.
The El Jardín shampoo bar is an intoxicatingly addictive scent that I can’t live without. I’m a huge scent person and I can’t stand overly chemical-strong manufactured scents. I’m highly allergic and it’s hard to find hair products that aren’t offensively strong.
So I carefully and painstakingly try new things to find the right products I stand behind and believe in to carry in my Roots Radicals salon. If I sell it. I love it. And the Rose oil and El Jardín are must-haves!
It’s a clean beauty brand that cares about its footprint on our earth. And it’s Black female-owned! Go check it out.
Who is your all-time hair, beauty, and style hero?
Tracee Ellis Ross. She’s just effortlessly fabulous. Her hair. Her laugh. Her everything. Her vibe. She’s just effortlessly chic, chill, funny, goofy, and confident in her gorgeous skin. In my mind, we are best friends. For me, she is just TOP-notch. Her hair is always a fucking VIBE!
She’s just crushing it. Living her best life!
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our SalonOtter readers?
I’d love to thank my team. I love coming to work and creating beauty alongside them. We laugh a lot and that’s my goal in life. I really do laugh as much as I can. So I am so grateful we get to make a living doing what we love and having such a fun time doing it.
A celebrity stylist I went to beauty school with Naeemah Lafond is someone who I think is doing the damn thing right now. Her ability to manipulate hair in such ways is extraterrestrial. Her artistry with texture is just out of this WORLD. Her stance on the changes that need to be made in the fashion and beauty industry is perfect! She’s iconic.
The changes happening in the beauty industry are inspiring but we’ve got a long way to go! To the people pushing their way through and making their mark, big or small, Keep it up!
Where can people find Roots Radicals Salon?
We have multiple locations including 434 Graham Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Check out our website to make a booking and we’re also on Insta
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Thanks so much Kim, we can’t wait to visit you and the Roots Radicals salon team again soon!
