Ruka – meaning ‘doing hair’ – has been voted the number one Afro hair extensions brand, is the first Black-owned hair extension brand in Selfridges and serves more than 5,500 customers nationwide.
Four years into their journey of ‘firsts’, co-founder Tendai shares more on what she hopes for the future of beauty…
Launched in the midst of the 2021 Covid-19 lockdown, Ruka hair has grown from hair extension start-up to cult 360 brand thanks to its passionate founders, powerful sense of history and perpetual innovation.
With an ambition to ensure those with curly and coily hair have access to products that allow them to live true to their texture pattern, the brand founders want to offer something that their mothers and previous generations couldn’t pass down.
‘The textured hair industry has long been under-researched and underserved, with minimal innovation or investment, especially for tightly coiled hair,’ starts Tendai Moyo, co-founder of the brand and British Beauty Council Advisory Board member. She continues: ‘For decades, coily and kinky textures were excluded from mainstream beauty. Our mission is to centre those textures, not just accommodate them. Realistic curl pattern matching is essential to self-expression, confidence, and cultural affirmation — it’s about creating hair that feels like you, not a compromise.’
Ruka hair is founded on a dedication to ‘making outsiders (its) insiders’, driving authentic representation and innovation. The Black-women owned business also taps into its 500-strong ‘village’ of brand followers to gather feedback from the people clipping in extensions, taming baby hairs with the Hold Me Down gel, and cleansing their curls.
This, Moyo says, is what has enabled her to cut through. She continues: ‘Building trust with a community that’s been historically overlooked takes time, especially when you’re challenging legacy norms with better product standards, biotech innovation, and authentic representation.’
Building trust isn’t the only challenge the brand has faced in its journey to £7 million funding. ‘Our biggest challenges have been navigating a fragmented supply chain and overcoming the lack of industry safety standards,’ explains Moyo, pointing towards the top-down gaps that exist in the wake of long term hair discrimination in the homogenised hair sector.
Moyo doesn’t stop at serving her community, she is also dedicated to creating products that have a lesser impact on the environment. In fact, they’re pioneers when it comes to planet-friendly extensions. ‘We’ve developed a first-of-its-kind synthetic fibre that is hypoallergenic, biodegradable, and biomimetic — replicating the look and feel of real hair without harmful additives like PVC or endocrine disruptors, she explains.’
Launched in June 2025, Synths 2 is the brand’s new hair extension material which pushes its first iteration into new realms. ‘It incorporates shape memory tech and collagen-based polymers, setting new safety and performance standards in extensions,’ explains the founder.
You thought the pair stopped there? In October 2024, the duo launched the Ruka Pro Academy which ‘was created to bridge the knowledge gap around textured hair in the professional space’.
After finding out that around only 0.8% of salons cater to Afro-Caribbean hair, the pair diversified their brand to train as many people in Afro hair as possible. ‘Many stylists aren’t taught how to work with coily textures. Our Academy offers hands-on training, in partnership with brands like Got2B, to elevate industry standards and equip stylists to deliver excellent textured hair services,’ Moyo confirms.
Let’s face it, the brand is already innovating on the front foot and is paving the way for future generations, but what does Moyo hope for the future of beauty? ‘We expect textured hair to stop being a niche and start being central to beauty’s definition,’ starts Moyo. She concludes: ‘We hope to see a shift from performative inclusivity to systemic change — in funding, product innovation, and education. The future should prioritise safety, sustainability, and representation not just as trends but as standards.’
You can shop Ruka hair products here.
