When Malika Serrar first moved to Bermuda from Canada, she was shocked by the price of a haircut.

“I went to one place and they charged me $200 for a wash, cut and blow dry,” she said. “I was really surprised you could not get an affordable haircut in Bermuda. I said if I ever have a salon of my own I will never charge people that much.”

Six years later, she is sticking to her word.

When she opened Pull My Hair at 95 Front Street this month, the starting price for a basic wash and haircut was $40.

“Full hair transformation can go up to $400,” she said. “The price range is very affordable. I want to show people in Bermuda you don’t have to fly away to get hair done for cheap.”

And she is determined that Pull My Hair will service all types of people with all types of hair.

Ms Serrar started Pull My Hair in 2018 by renting a booth from a barber shop on Reid Street. She specialises in environmentally friendly beauty products.

“Everything is organic and vegan and natural,” she said. “Even our hair colour is 99.1 per cent natural.”

Then she started her own Pull My Hair natural hair care line of shampoos, conditioners and hair and body serum.

“It has been going very well,” she said.

She grew up in Montreal, Quebec. Her grandmother could not afford to go to a salon, so she taught Ms Serrar how to cut and dye her hair when Ms Serrar was just ten years old.

“Once she had me dye her hair orange,” Ms Serrar said. “My brother and I also had to learn how to do things like change a tyre. I was like the only ten-year-old girl who knew how to change a tyre. We used to cry about it then, but now we are grateful.”

Her grandmother died last year.

“She always pushed me so hard to succeed and do my best,” Ms Serrar said.

But in her early twenties, Ms Serrar was praying for a better life.

“My friend knew I always wanted to travel and get out of Montreal,” Ms Serrar said. “One day she showed me a newspaper advertisement for a nanny position in Bermuda. I didn’t even know where Bermuda was. I thought it was a trap.”

Her friend convinced her it was not, and Ms Serrar successfully applied for the job. A year and a half after arriving, she married a Bermudian. Then she started taking hair care courses in Montreal at the Blooms Academy.

“I went back and forth from Bermuda to Canada every six weeks for two years,” she said.

Her products all contain Argan oil. It is said to fight dandruff, reduce scalp irritation and add shine to hair. Another plus for her was that Argan oil comes from the Argan tree which is native to Morocco.

“My father is Moroccan,” she said. “I wanted to show my roots.”

Since opening her new space, Ms Serrar has seen a steady mix of old clients and new.

“My clients have become like family,“ she said. “They have showed me a lot of support.”

She is looking forward to the start of cruise ship season, when ships will dock directly across the street from her.

Finding Bermudian staff was a hurdle, but she now has four employees, all Bermudian. She also rents space in the salon to other beauty specialists such as hairdresser Anthanay Steede.

The shop previously housed Swiss Timing. It took Ms Serrar five months to get it up to scratch. All furnishings are upcycled. Along the way she ran into the supply-chain issues that have been dogging a lot of local businesses since the pandemic began.

“You place an order for a mirror from the US, for example, and it takes three months to come here,” she said.

For more information call 707-9569 or see pullmyhair.co.