Yekaterinburg woman turns maternity leave hobby into profitable business

Yekaterinburg resident Daria Zhukova earned an honorary title at one of the most unusual championships — she became a silver medalist in braiding competitions. This hairdressing specialty is called braiding, and it emerged relatively recently.

E1.RU correspondent Polina Krasnopevtseva visited Daria«s workshop and learned how many hours (and money) it takes to create a scorpion from hair on a head, what the pros and cons of this craft are, and why braiding championships even exist.

«I just had a baby, maternity leave feels a bit gloomy»

Clients in Daria«s workroom are greeted by curls of colored hair from the threshold. Some are braided into plaits, others are curled into locks and hung on hooks on the wall. All other materials are carefully arranged on shelves: on the top are the favorite colors of little princesses, and below — shades for their mothers.

«Usually clients come and ask for something to match their natural hair color. Although there were a couple of cases where I was genuinely surprised. Last year, a girl came in and said: »I just had a baby, maternity leave feels a bit gloomy to me« — and asked to braid bright neon red kanekalon, but that»s more of an exception. Colored hair is more often chosen by children,« Daria says.

Braiding masters use artificial hair in their work. It«s called kanekalon. This fiber is as close as possible in texture to natural hair. Its base is a heat-resistant synthetic material, most often modacrylic.

However, before artificial strands are woven in, several steps must be taken, and the first is diagnosis, because braids also have contraindications.

«Often people come with a picture from the internet and say: »I want this!« And I look and understand: due to hair growth patterns or skull shape, it won»t work. Some things we can«t do for safety reasons, because it can be too tight. Circulation is impaired, hair can fall out, bald spots appear. So sometimes you literally have to solve a problem, like in math: how to meet the request so it»s beautiful, safe, and the person leaves satisfied,« the master explains.

Not only girls and children come to the studio as clients. Men are occasionally interested in dreadlocks and braids, and they can be tricky. The other day, a young man booked an appointment with Daria, first asking how much a hairstyle costs. The craftswoman replied that on average it«s about 300 rubles ($3 at current rates) per dreadlock.

«He comes and says: »I calculated: I need 15 dreadlocks.« I explain that it doesn»t work that way, because you need to braid about 55–60 pieces for a full head. He was silent, calculated, and said he doesn«t need that many: just make me 15. For men, apparently, the beauty sphere is a separate universe. He thought it»s like in a store: there«s a certain amount you can buy two braids for, like milk or bread. But of course, it doesn»t work like that,« Daria clarifies.

You can wear such hairstyles from one week to several months. They don«t require special care: wash with a special foam once a week and re-braid if necessary. These services cost from 3,000 to 8,000 rubles ($30 to $80 at current rates), depending on complexity.

Because this direction is relatively new, many myths live in people«s heads: supposedly hair will start to smell bad, get damaged, and eventually all fall out. Clients come to the salon with caution, and mothers worry if trendy braids will harm their daughters.

«A person normally loses 80 to 100 hairs daily. When hair is loose, you don»t notice it: strands are lost throughout the day on clothes, in the shower, on a comb. But if they are in a braid, they physically cannot fall out; they remain «locked» in the weaving. Over a month, about 3,000 of these naturally shed hairs accumulate, and at the moment of unbraiding, you see them all at once. Braiding is beautiful and safe if done by a professional,« the expert explains.

If you wear the added volume from artificial kanekalon for several weeks, your own hair after removing the hairstyle will seem light, thin, and sparse. The brain interprets this as if they «got damaged,» although you«ve just returned to your natural thickness. The only thing that can cause problems is poor hygiene.

«In my practice, lice were found only twice, but each time it happened during diagnosis. You start checking the hair with a comb, and insects almost jump out at you. I said directly: »Sorry, you came to me with lice, I won«t braid you,»« the craftswoman recounts.

Daughter — the best model

Daria started creating masterpieces on heads by chance — when she gave birth to her daughter and went on maternity leave. Before that, she had worked as a business trainer and teacher her entire conscious life and couldn«t even braid a simple »cornrow.«

«Already at the discharge from the maternity hospital, my daughter had long hair, and, sitting on maternity leave, I tried to make pretty things from ponytails. Then I returned to work, and my colleagues say: »Why struggle, you can just braid it.« I immediately said this isn»t my thing, and they offered to gift me courses. It was my birthday,« Daria says.

Her daughter Milana was the best model for her mom for a long time. Recently she turned ten — about the same amount of time Daria has been braiding. But lately, she agrees less often to experiments with kanekalon. The girl is into sports, and wearing artificial hair for long becomes heavy. However, now she actively participates in developing her mom«s business and weaves braids for accessories herself.

Tens of thousands for a hairstyle

Besides hairstyles that can be worn for months, Daria also braids unusual plaits, for example for creative photoshoots or master competitions. For these, the craftswoman typically doesn«t get paid, but if converted to money, it would be a substantial sum.

«I had a client who asked to replicate the most complex hairstyle — a mermaid look. I was genuinely surprised by the question, but wrote that if I were to repeat this work, I»d charge 40,000 to 50,000 rubles ($400 to $500 at current rates). After that, the person vanished instantly. And if talking about the most expensive hairstyle I was actually paid for — it«s 29,000 rubles ($290 at current rates),» the Yekaterinburg resident recalls.

Weaving such work can, without exaggeration, take days. It has happened that one head took three full days — seven working hours each. And the mohawk that brought Daria victory at a hairdressers« competition, she made almost without sleep breaks.

This refers to the World Championship of Hairdressing Art, Makeup, and Nail Service. It took place in late November 2025 in Sochi. The competition included three categories: «De-curl on a mannequin,» «Decorative braids,» and «Creative look.» As a result, Daria Zhukova became the silver absolute champion in the «Braiding» direction.

The event was organized by the Georgy Kot International Beauty Academy. Over 1,500 participants from around the world gathered at one venue.

«The World Championship is something incredible. We returned from there completely thrilled. We couldn»t tear ourselves away from the phone, constantly reviewing and discussing what we saw. It lasted five days, and during that week we probably slept a total of nine hours. Braiders at the competition could easily be distinguished from everyone else by their red eyes,« the craftswoman recalls.

The look with a mohawk of braids, decorated with flowers, brought Daria second place in the «Decorative braids» category. All elements of the hairstyle were made using kanekalon, and even the flowers were created from this material: moistened in a sticky solution and heated with a flat iron. The craftswoman needed many hours of preparation — and a large sum of money.

«I recorded all expenses, down to the ruble. Bought beads, ribbons, paid the model. Together with flight and accommodation, it came out to about eight of the most expensive hairstyles. But I don»t regret anything. I surpassed all my own expectations for myself. There I hardly heard Russian speakers, feared competition from masters from Africa: this whole direction historically came from them. But in the end, all prize places were taken by girls from Russia,« Daria added.

Now Daria has her own braiding studio, she regularly conducts training, and dreams of attending hairdressers« championships already as a judge, not a participant.

«I would, of course, like to make the studio work independently, without my constant involvement, and then only focus on training, developing those who want to improve their level. And, of course, judging championships. I think they will now appear in increasing numbers. We»ve proven ourselves well, and it«s great that we»re appreciated,« Daria shares.

Did you like Daria«s story? Then also read about Tatyana Sadovnichaya. Two years ago she moved with her son to the remote Urals from her hometown, where she had her own apartment. They are refugees from Ukraine. Here she is building a new life and makes kokoshniks (traditional Russian headdresses) and jewelry to order using ancient Russian techniques.

Or look at Milana Khlyustova«s works: at first glance these drawings are impossible to distinguish from photographs. The secret of her skill is in using an airbrush, a special tool that sprays paint in the thinnest layer. Her canvases are not classic paintings but car bodies, motorcycle fairings, and protective helmets.