She’s become synonymous with musician Makhadzi’s laid edges and sleek tresses.
With a celebrity clientele featuring the likes of Winnie Mashaba and Kelly Khumalo, hairstylist and owner of beauty salon Vintage Sky Studio Ndivhuwo Mpfumba has her sights set on success.
The Limpopo-born businesswoman has always had a passion for beauty since her school days, with a special focus on hair being her forte.
“Beauty is everything to me. It’s my passion, it’s my life, it’s everything to me,” Ndivhuwo expresses to TRUELOVE.
Ndivhuwo started Vintage Sky Studio in 2011 at just 18, a goal of hers she fast-tracked after finding out she was pregnant with her son and had to drop out of high school.
For the past 12 years, Ndivhuwo has built her brand from the ground up after moving to Pretoria from the humble village Muila, Limpopo.
“At high school, people used to call me Rihanna because I would cut my hair and do different styles that they’ve never seen in the village.”
From there, Ndivhuwo met with Makhadzi in 2017, agreed to be her resident hairstylist and the rest was history.
“Our villages are not that far from each other but I met her when I was in Pretoria and then that’s the time when she dropped Matorokisi and she didn’t have a hairdresser or a makeup artist. She wanted me to do makeup and wardrobe styling and hairstyling. So, I called her, I said, ‘You know what, I’d like to work with you because I see huri (that) you are from the same village as me’.
“So, I’m like okay come let’s work together. And then she was like, ‘I don’t have money to pay’ but I said to her no it’s fine, I know that you are going to win so when you win, I know I’m going to win. That’s how I started with Makhadzi,” Ndivhuwo reveals.
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"I'm only working with only two people, I don't change people, only if sometimes they are not available maybe [for] emergencies. So, it's Vintage Sky Studio," Makhadzi mentioned to us in a previous conversation with her.
Although Ndivhuwo no longer does Makhadzi’s makeup, she assists with her wardrobe styling when her designer isn’t available.
Ndivhuwo works her magic on Makhadzi’s crown as many as eight to 12 times a month, whether she has one of her explosive performances and gigs, an all-star appearance or red carpet look to slay.
It’s apparent that the 30-year-old salon owner takes her craft seriously, seeing as she just returned from a trip to China to source the hair she uses for her wigs and hair pieces.
Ndivhuwo explains how she ensures every piece she gets from abroad is at its best quality by saying, “I know everyone is selling hair, but I want to be unique. I want to be known for selling good quality hair … I want raw hair, virgin raw hair, I want double drawn. Those are the kinds of hair I try my best huri I have them at the salon because I don’t want people to come back and complain about the hair.”
Double drawn hair means that all the strands of hair in the wig are the same length and give that full volumised coverage that we see on Ndivhuwo’s clients.
From styling Kelly Khumalo’s hair for her Empini music video to claiming her spot as Makhadzi’s go-to hairstylist, Ndivhuwo isn’t afraid to go back to where it all began and give credit to the clients who believed in her business when she first started out.
“I have to give thanks also to Kay Yarms … an influencer who I worked with when she was starting and Nomvelo Makhanya and Mpoomy Ledwaba.
“They are the ones who helped me grow my page and I would like to give like a good thanks to Kay Yarms … and Nomvelo Makhanya because those are the people I started with when I started operating in Gauteng,” Ndivhuwo shares.
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She is very open about her journey getting to where she is now with her beauty studio but her whole dream was nearly derailed after a robbery where an unknown suspect broke in and stole 80 of her wigs.
“Two years back I wanted to quit the business because there was a time when I was robbed - nearly 80 wigs at the shop… after they robbed me, they took almost everything and then I was owing clients, and I could not afford to go and purchase these wigs or to spend money to purchase the wigs so that was my biggest challenge. Because I had to even delete my Facebook because clients, they wanted their hair.
“So, I had to start from scratch and give each client their hair. Work on that and then until now giving them hair almost every month but now I’m fine.”
One of the biggest lessons she learnt from the unfortunate experience and what she advises all small business owners to get a business insurance.
Now that she is finally back to making a profit, Ndivhuwo says what kept her going was prayer and of course her passion for hair.
“It’s for the love of the hair, I love hair. I don’t see myself doing any other thing but hair, seriously. That’s the only thing – the passion, the drive, the consistency.”
