This was my first visit and I was excited because her salon seemed to be a one stop shop for everything I needed. My appointment was at 2pm and I arrived at 1:40pm. She greeted me and around 2:20pm, let me know that she was going to clean up from the prior client then we would get started.
While she was taking my braids out, another client came in that had an appointment around the same time and she told him to come back at 3pm. She said that she forgot she told him to come in, so clearly double booking and the inability to mange her schedule were loud on my radar. Hearing that, I wanted to help taken braids out so she could save a little time and that was a good experience. She washed my hair 3 times and said she put conditioner on it, but I didn't feel any conditioner. After she washed it, she dried it with a towel but never combed through it.
She put me under the dryer for almost an hour with my hair still mangled from the braids being taken out, as she worked on another client. In over 30 years of getting my hair done, I have never had my hair washed and not detangled while moisturized in conditioner before going under the dryer. I asked her about it and she kept saying "This is my technique and th hair should be completely dry before detangling". I tried to trust the process but I was beyond irritated at that point. Over an hour under the dryer, she sits me in her chair and using a hand dryer, she combs through my hair to detangle it.
I asked a few times about her process because my scalp was sensitive from the braids being taken out and my hair did not feel good. She reminded me again that this is "Her process", but I was visibly uncomfortable. She said that we could stop if I didn't like her process and at that point, I gave her constructive feedback. For one, a "Process" is not a one size fits all and an experienced and even beginner stylist, knows to listen to their clients needs.
To detangle Type 4C hair AFTER washing and drying under very high heat, is what made me question the quality of training that she received. I had to be honest with what I was feeling in that moment and everything about the experience told me that she is not used to doing this hair type and it felt like she was winging it. She had another client come in while she was detangling my hair and she told her to come back in 30 minutes cause she would be done with me.
There was no way she would have detangled, pressed and styled my hair in that amount of time, as i had been in the salon for over 3 hours. It felt like she completely overbooked and I was inconvenienced. She didn't even get 1/4th of the way through when I just asked her to stop. She then tried to give me tips on how to detangle, reiterating that the hair should be dry and I let her know that I KNOW how to do hair, I just wanted to treat myself to someone doing it.
In the end, she charged me only $105 for the braid takeout, which I helped her with and that was a waste. A good stylist would have let that be on the house due to the many issues seen during the visit, so that surprised me as she said she had around 10 years of experience.
I will definitely not be back, because I value quality, professional and alignment when it comes to doing business with someone. Now, maybe other hair types have had successful outcomes, but this was not for me. Looking at her website, the pictures of her doing color and non-black people's hair, seems to be in her lane but I will not be going back and wouldn't recommend anyone, even if the service was free. My time is valuable and I do not get that back, so I'm disappointed, along with her STILL charging me.
To make it even worse, I walked out with my hair dry, matted to my head and very undone. I was embarrassed, disappointed, frustrated and have NEVER left a hair salon with my hair undone. As I went back to dig deeper into the reviews, which I should have done very thorough research beforehand to see that 4C hair types were NOT her specialty, I was mad at myself for not taking heed. She is a nice woman, has good chair side manners though. read more