Yelp removed my review because I had a link to the photos on my blog. However, I am adding it back…read morewithout the link. Photos were on Yelp (11/19/2013 Yelp removed the photos of my hair before, during and after the service, presumably at the owners request). I've never seen a Yelp review where the option to add photos was removed so this was clearly done on purpose. The service was originally in July 2012. Photos are on my blog (yelp allows links in profiles). Just search Red Room.
I so wanted to like OMHH Red Room Luxe Salon for my straight styles but unfortunately this natural salon just did not prove to be a positive experience. I had been checking out this natural hair salon (advertised as a "blow dry bar") for a while and met the owner, Debra, a few times, including at the African Street Festival at Commodore Barry Park, where I was given a sample of the herbal hair & body wash. She had natural hair (extensions) so again I thought I hit the jackpot. I mistakenly believe that women with natural hair know how to deal with my hair. I have been proven wrong time and time again.
I had been wearing twist outs for a few weeks, trying out different products, and the twist out I wore to the salon was done with my own whipped shea butter and aloe mix. My hair was combed out a bit with a wide toothed comb (looked like a shower comb) and rinsed with warm water then washed, twice, with the same hair & body wash that I stated was drying to my hair the prior week. I suspect that the shea butter coating on my hair stopped it from acting as a clarifying shampoo. An OMHH herbal conditioner was used as well as an OMHH light oil and I was placed under a hood dryer for about 15 minutes.
I had expected that Hair Rules product would be used in my hair since Debra mentioned several times when we spoke that she uses and likes the Hair Rules line, which is also sold at her shop. Instead she used her own brand, OMHH. I was NOT given the option to choose my own products from her collection and I was not given the option to use Hair Rules products. The conditioner was rinsed out and I was then placed back under the hood dryer to recline for a bit with loose hair. When I asked Debra about this technique, since I was getting a blow out, she said that she likes to remove some of the moisture from the hair before blow drying. I immediately became worried since I know it's more difficult to blow dry my hair once it's already dry i.e. Dominican blow outs on dried, roller set hair use a ton of heat to get my curly roots straight. My hair dries really fast. Although my hair was loose (not roller set) I went along with it to see how this dry before blow drying technique would work.
During the blow dry no heat protectant was used; however, my hair was blown out on a cool setting for the majority of the blow out. There was no brush or comb attachment used - just a shower comb. I asked Debra about this and she said she does not like to use a comb attachment since it pulls too much on the hair - breakage presumably? I rarely lose hair when I do my blow out at home so I was unsure of this reasoning. Most salons blow out my natural hair with a brush or comb attachment to make it more smooth, which means less passes of the flat iron.
The blow out was not comfortable at first. Debra did listen to me and was more gentle; however, I still was not pleased with the technique of trying to blow out dry natural hair.
After the blow out my hair felt very dry, which is not normal for me after a blow out. I mentioned that my hair was looking rough and it felt dry and was told that next time I should get a steam treatment. There was a steamer in the corner near the wash basins. Debra stretched a section of my hair down to show me how much she thought should be trimmed, which was at least 1 inch. I said no, I was not willing to trim that much. We then got into a discussion about the knots in my hair, sections of hair that were not really knots at all but hair that had not been combed out well. She wanted to cut my hair up to the "knots". I explained that I have single strands knots since my small curls, some 1/8 of an inch, wrap around themselves and form tiny knots on individual strands. I told Debra that I rarely wear my hair straight so the single strand knots do not bother me. I then began to pull apart the "knotted" sections of hair to show Debra that it was just tangled hair that was not combed out. I did not feel that my hair required a 1 inch cut. I had not used heat in six months and for 3 of those months I was in twist extensions.
My blow out looked like a fluffy afro from the 70s, not like a sleek salon blow out that was prepared for flat ironing. I even said that out loud that I had a 70s afro. When the flat ironing started, I was again worried. No heat protectant was used. I ended up leaving the salon without letting her finish. I washed, blew out and flat ironed my hair when I got home since I wanted to make sure it was not dama
