I unfortunately would not recommend booking with Yona for children's braids. Before the…read moreappointment, I sent her both the inspiration photo and a photo showing how thick my 4-year-old daughter's hair is, and she quoted me $70 and about 1 to 1.5 hours. We were running behind that morning, and I communicated with Yona throughout. Before we even arrived, I told her we were completely open to doing a quicker, simpler style because I did not want to inconvenience her. She assured me that the requested style was quick and that it was fine. My daughter's hair arrived completely washed, detangled, and blow-dried. At around the one-hour mark, only three braids had been completed, so I offered to stop the service and leave. I also offered multiple times to simplify the style, eventually suggesting just two French braids, and I was still prepared to pay the full $70. I was repeatedly reassured that she would be finished quickly, but we ended up there for approximately three hours for fewer than 10 cornrows with no beads. Yona was very nice, and my daughter sat very well for a 4-year-old with only normal occasional movement, but by the end of such a long appointment my daughter was understandably in distress, and I could sense Yona becoming frustrated with her. I had mentioned my concerns about excessive tension at the beginning of the appointment, which Yona initially took into consideration. However, when I got up toward the end because my daughter was distressed, I noticed an area at her crown being pulled very tightly. I pointed it out and explained that I've seen her develop bumps the following day from similar tension. My concern was dismissed by Yona and also defended by another person who had not even looked at the area I was referring to. Now, two days later, I can see redness and irritation in the exact area I was concerned about, with the hair visibly being pulled tightly at the roots. Unfortunately, after three hours, the finished style was also not nearly as neat or polished as I would expect from a professional service, especially considering the significant amount of gel/product used throughout her hair and scalp. I spoke with the manager afterward, and he was professional and receptive to my concerns, which I genuinely appreciated. Yona was also pleasant for most of our interaction, but ultimately I paid for a professional service to save time and receive a professional result, and unfortunately I received neither.
UPDATE: I had to remove another star because, unfortunately, the tension concern I raised during the appointment turned out to be warranted. A few days later, the area I specifically pointed out showed visible redness and irritation, with hairs being pulled tightly at the roots, so I had to remove the style much earlier than intended to relieve the tension. This makes the experience even more disappointing. Yona took 2 to 3 times longer than the time I was quoted, provided what she herself described as the "bare minimum," and the finished result was already below the quality I expected. Now, on top of the time lost during the appointment, the style didn't even last because I had to take it down early due to the unnecessary stress on my daughter's scalp and roots. I specifically raised this concern before leaving and was dismissed, which makes seeing the exact area irritated a few days later especially frustrating.
