Vissa Studios celebrates ethnic hair care and hair fashions. It essentially provides information on ethnic hair through web, video, events and other multimedia platforms.

In short, we love to eat, breathe and sleep hair. We’re so obsessed with it; we love to share the latest hair trends, celebrity hairstyles, tips and more.

The Beginning

It all began in 2007 in Shauna Faith’s apartment, midday, when her partner Ronnie came up with an idea to have a mobile hair salon and sell hair weaves and front lace wigs online. They both adored doing each other’s weaves and were very knowledgeable because of their experience working in salons. So, to get things started, they thought a blog would be a cool way to start introducing their ideas online. Vissa Studios was the result and hair junkies Shauna and her then partner Ronnie started it all in the summer of ’08 with a blog. With limited research online they started it to gain some traffic. The numbers soared because the demand was there, so in 2010 Shauna revamped the site and created a community for hair.

The Name Vissa Studios (pronounced Vihs-sah)

They initially invented the name Vissa for the salon and to sell the products. They thought it sounded cool and wanted an original name for the salon as well as for selling the products. It doesn’t mean anything but us.

About The Founder

Shauna Faith

Shauna Faith is a former hair model and currently a yoga teacher and UX (user experience) consultant for her digital company The Alfam. Shauna has been “natural” for more than 10 years and probably has had every hairstyle in the book. Yes, every single hairstyle. She started Vissa Studios to share her passions of all the hair fashions hair can offer.

She states, “Not a hair guru but a hair lover. Having tried every hairstyle in the book, I adore the hair fashions from natural, weaved, bunned, twisted and locked.”

She started her hair journey at 10 years old when she learned everything from braiding to cornrows to wrapping and then some. She got her first weave at 12 and got really good at braiding and started braiding people’s names in their hair as a side hustle. She eventually landed a job at a shop during her senior year in high school.

She experimented on her own hair first and moved on to doing everyone’s hair. She had a relaxer at eight years old and had the last one at 18. Shauna has been natural ever since, but she’s still rocking by weaving, dying, twisting and turning her locks ever since. She loves all hairstyles, and has done everything but dreads.

She started Vissa Studios to share the knowledge, display the hottest hair fashions and feature talented gurus to create one of the hottest multimedia platforms for hair online.

Fan Page: http://facebook.com/thevissastudios Twitter: http://twitter.com/vissastudios Instagram:vissastudios Email: shauna@vissastudios.com

Contributors

Ashley Hobbs a.k.a La Truly

La Truly is a late-blooming natural-haired Aries whose writing is powered by a lifetime of anecdotal proof that awkward can transform to awesome, and fear can cast its crown before courage, meaning fear loses out to courage. Armed with the ability to purposefully poke fun at herself, La seeks to encourage thought, discussion and change through her writing. Check out on her blog: http://www.hersoulinc.com and Twitter: @AshleyLaTruly.

Brittany Basden

Brittany Basden is the creator of Kyss My Hair and Ms. Brittany Bass, the former being a blog she uses to document her natural hair journey and those of others, and the latter, a blog where she documents her beauty and fashion escapades. Because she is a believer in the statement, “If it makes you feel good, wear it,” she encourages women to wear their hair anyway they desire and dress in clothing that prompts the phrase, “I like the way I look”. In her spare time, she reads, writes, and watches Beyoncé videos on YouTube.

Learn more by subscribing to her blog www.kyssmyhair.com, liking her fan page www.facebook.com/kyssmyhair, subscribing to her YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/kinkyislandgirl, or following her on twitter @msbrittanybass. Her fashion and beauty blog is called www.msbrittanybass.com and the supplemental YouTube channel for the blog can be found at www.youtube.com/msbrittanybass

Jonna Scott-Blakes

I’m a 30-something born and raised, and still living in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia.  As I approached 30, I embarked on a few lifestyle journeys – natural hair, health, fashion and beauty.  None of which I spent any significant amount of time and energy on before.  But as I get older and wiser, I felt this is the time to “do me” and do it well – but on a budget.

Check out my blog for posts from me and my favorite bloggers and vloggers, as well as my latest YouTube videos on my natural hair journey, healthy lifestyle journey, “chic for cheap” fashion & beauty, and my cute dogs.  I also share places to go and things to do right here in the 757.

Sasha Manley

Believe it or not, Sasha started her journalism career in primary school. Yup!, she was the long time host of a local morning show in her home town. Years later she would graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University, with a major in Women Studies and Broadcast Journalism. During her time there she was a contributing reporter, once featured on PBS. She also contributed print writing for The Commonwealth Times; An Independent Newspaper with VCU.

After graduating she headed to the Queen City and worked as a News Assistant and fill in Associate Producer for Newschannel 36′s morning show. In 2009, she began writing for Charlotte Style Magazine.  She has covered print and online editorial write ups for local events, hair/beauty and Lifestyle.

In addition to her writing opportunities, she has created Natural High. An Independent Hair and Lifestyle blog created to inspire audiences with self-love, quality of life and purpose.  It has a funky mix of art, lifestyle and hair love.  It’s through her blog she gets inspiration for all her writing to share with everyone.

In any spare time, she likes to draw, paint and work on her DIY projects. This year she is working on her latest projects with Natural High, book writing, graduate school and business ventures.

You can learn more by visiting her website www.thenaturalhighblog.com or her fan page www.facebook.com/naturalhighblog or twitter @naturalhighco or instagram @naturalhighco or pinterest @naturalhigh

Tiffany Coates

Tiffany Coates’ talent for styling hair runs in the family. Her grandmother was the first deaf woman to receive a license at Apex Academy in the ’80s. As a little girl Tiffany and her baby sister Nicole did hair for friends and family. Nicole eventually made the first step to the Jon Louis School of Beauty, then Tiffany followed suit. She received a cosmetology license in 1999 from Hair Design and knew styling was her dream career. Upon entering the industry, she experienced all the aspects of this career including the ups and downs from salon to salon. As hard and discouraging as the industry can be, she did not let anything stop her.

Through her travels, she met people who inspired and exposed her to more of the beauty industry. Doing photo shoots and being featured in Black Passion, Hype Hair and Style Q & A, today’s black woman style report magazine, and also acting as the beauty coordinator for BK fashion weekend, Coates has come a long way from childhood days using her father as a guinea pig, God rest his soul. As a freelance artist Coates wants to work with creative professionals and open her own business.

She says. “My goal is to grace movies and magazines, touching as many people as I can with my winning personality and creative skills, which include natural hair styling (braids, locks, twists), weaves (sewn extensions, partial, net, closer, wig caps), relaxers, cuts (short, mid-length, long, layers, bobs, razor cuts), color (permanent, semi-permanent, rinses), sets (rollers, straw rods) and updos (pony tails, wedding styles).

“I have been blessed with a supportive family that has stood strong and carried me through everything. I’m grateful to have worked with women of many colors and with different hair textures. I treat my customers with respect and care, like sisters, and I do quality work to bring out the beauty in everyone I touch. I intend to take my career further and expand on everything I’ve worked so hard for up to this day. Today, I’m an independent beauty artist.”

Contact 718-221-4218; 347-263-1903

Twitter: @Ticobeauty4life & Email:ticobeauty4life@aol.com

Ijanei Smith

Ijanei’s mother once told her a story about when she was still an infant. At the time she was six months old. Her mother had propped her up on the couch because she liked to watch “The Muppets.” Well one day, sitting there propped up on the couch, her mom, eyes glued to the book she was reading, happened to look over because something moving caught her eye. Sitting there, Ijanei’s eyes were riveted on the TV, but she was brushing her own hair with her little baby brush. Amazed, her mom couldn’t move and just watched her little six-month-old baby become a diva. Mom said she knew then that her baby was going to be fascinated with everything hair-related.”

Ijanei says, “I’ve been doing hair since the age of nine. I love healthy hair, short hair, long hair, permed hair, curly hair, every type of hair, as long as it can grow. I love the versatility of African-American hair in particular. As an African-American woman I aim to teach other AA women to embrace our kinky coils. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. There’s no such thing as ‘bad hair’; the only hair that’s bad hair is unkempt hair.”

After many hair disappointments, she began her healthy hair journey in February 2010. She cut all the relaxed ends off in March 2011, which left her with neck length hair, and she’s glad to have found what works for her hair, which is at bra-strap length today. She wants to help others who are struggling with their hair.

Lovely Twinker

Twinker Davis loves God, collard greens with cornbread, and her hometown Detroit. Current endeavors include writing, http://www.lovelytwinker.com, and the promotion of practical, applicable advice. Want to know more? Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LovelyTwinker and visit twinkerdavis.blogspot.com!

Tiffani Davis

Tiffani Davis, founder of the Natural Hair Guru, is an enthusiastic hair lover who has even been described as a total hair geek! Intrigued with hair ever since she was rocking pigtails, she is ever so eager to help any and everyone on their hair journey. Tiffani aims to help people show off their true potential with amazing, vibrant hair for as she says “There’s gorgeousness in every hair strand, the trick is to unlock it; I have the key.” Visit the Natural Hair Guru Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/thenaturalhairguru or contact her at NaturalHairGuru@gmail.com.

The Team & Contributors