Penguin Life snaps up Mensah’s hair guide

Penguin Life will publish Good Hair: The Essential Guide to Afro, Textured and Curly Hair by British-Ghanaian hairstylist Charlotte Mensah.

Editorial director Emily Robertson acquired world rights directly from the author. Assistant editor Marianne Tatepo is working as editor on the title.
 
The book is set to publish on 17th September 2020 to coincide with World Afro Day, London Fashion Week and Black History Month and will aim to answer "everything anyone has ever wanted to know about hair, from the best protective styles to sport to how to prevent hair loss and which products to avoid" according to the synopsis.
  
The publisher said: "This feels long overdue – the first of its kind, this book is a comprehensive and elegantly designed guide to healthy curly hair. Charlotte Mensah’s expertise is second-to-none: her advice will act as a corrective to the conflicting and sometimes misguided advice that can be found online. Black women in particular spend six times as much as their white counterparts on hair products – we know that there are many people out there looking for guidance. We believe that this will become the definitive book on hair for anyone in search of answers. We’re so thrilled to share this gem with the rest of the world."
 
Mensah has been a columnist and writer on the subject of natural hair for Elle and Black Hair Magazine. She is the owner and artistic director of the Hair Lounge salon in Notting Hill and the founder of Charlotte Mensah Manketti Oil product range. She is a patron of the Prince’s Trust, member of the British Beauty Council and founder of L.O.V.E charity (Ladies of Visionary Empowerment) aimed at furthering opportunities for young women in Africa.
 
Mensah, whose clientele includes Zadie Smith, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Reni Eddo-Lodge and Natalie Dormer, said: "When I started out as a hairdresser, Afro specialists were far and few between. Good Hair is the culmination of nearly three decades spent working with curly hair types. Good Hair is an education, a call to empowerment and a lesson in looking after – and therefore loving – our hair."