DENVER — Opening Fairy Hair Spa took more than a year and a half for owner Chris Swiney. Now, they have a full-service salon in the center of downtown Denver.
"I mean, it’s something that’s always been a goal of mine and something that I’ve wanted," Swiney said. "That’s one of the reasons I became a hairdresser. I started doing hair when I was 14, 15."
They moved to Colorado from Alabama two years ago. They said they knew what kind of space they wanted to create, but wanted it to be in a safer place to be expressive.
"Especially here, it’s so much more easy to be openly queer in whatever that looks like or just funky and artistic in your expression whereas there, there’s more bubbles and boxes you’re put into," Swiney explained.
When they came to Colorado, they were working in a traditional-style salon with large overhead lights and nearly two dozen other stylists.
Swiney said they have ADHD so they would come into work and be overstimulated. They designed their salon with sensory sensitivity in mind.
"I just function better on my own person, in my own space, when I'm my own boss," Swiney said.
In addition to opening a salon that served them, they wanted it to best serve others.
"A lot of people have trauma with hair and get really anxious so I wanted it to be a calm kind of energy in here so they could relax because a lot of people come in and you can feel how anxious they are because someone did them dirty when they were like 10, 12, whatever, couple months ago," Swiney said.
At Swiney's salon, all are welcome. They said they're happy to cater to people who are looking for gender-affirming haircuts or people who haven't gone to a salon in months.
"With gender and sexuality and all those things, sometimes it’s scary to talk about how you want to present when you’re not able to present in that moment because of a haircut and then you’re also in a salon surrounded by people who are very cis-het or isn’t what you normally look like or your friends – it doesn’t look as visibly queer."
Swiney said coming into their space, they hope their clients feel comfy and safe. Leaving their space, they hope they feel seen and heard.