African Braiding Salon Part 3

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My mouth was agape and I seriously thought about bolting before I allowed the stylist to cornrow my sweet daughter’s hair. The stylist showed me a jar of hair grease (no other way to describe it) and assured me that it was VERY good for hair. I asked to see the jar and looked at the ingredients. First ingredient? Petroleum. Um, really? How about we use this African Pride Oil over here? She oils my daughter’s hair and then begins to part it. Fortunately (for my daughter and the stylist), the stylist was surprisingly gentle as she parted my daughter’s hair. It may have helped that I was hovering right there ensuring that my daughter had a pain-free experience. Next the corn rowing. My daughter sat in the barber chair and gazed at her emerging hairstyle. I was surprised at how calm she was the entire time. I don’t know about you, but when I was a little girl just about every cornrow used to hurt my tender head. I would flinch and wince almost every single time a new cornrow was created. Not my daughter, a real trooper. I was so grateful that the stylist redeemed herself. My daughter’s cornrows were stunning and I was relieved.

Still, I was not out of the woods yet. Now, time to confirm the final price. I’d been quoted $60 for small cornrows with beads, plus $10 for the wash. Well, unbeknownst to me, I was supposed to bring in my own beads. I made a mental note that both hair washes and beads are a la carte. I informed Marcy and the stylist (ironically, her name is Tina!) that I’d be paying $60. They sort of rolled their eyes at me and begrudgingly agreed. I gave Tina a $7 tip (I was being nice, very nice) plus my daughter’s gleaming face said she was excited about her new style. As I said my thank yous and goodbyes (not about to break bad, I had my daughter and I was WAY outnumbered! Just jokes, I’m not the fighting type but I have been known to strongly voice my displeasure. This time, I kept my mouth shut and walked on out), I knew I wouldn’t be going back to that salon. However, I will take my daughter back to a more professional African braiding salon. Now, the hunt to find one!

African Braiding Salon Part 3

Image found at: http://syscomcyber.com/_free/HAIRblogspot/gimages/african_hairstyles_braids1294026681.jpg

My mouth was agape and I seriously thought about bolting before I allowed the stylist to cornrow my sweet daughter’s hair. The stylist showed me a jar of hair grease (no other way to describe it) and assured me that it was VERY good for hair. I asked to see the jar and looked at the ingredients. First ingredient? Petroleum. Um, really? How about we use this African Pride Oil over here? She oils my daughter’s hair and then begins to part it. Fortunately (for my daughter and the stylist), the stylist was surprisingly gentle as she parted my daughter’s hair. It may have helped that I was hovering right there ensuring that my daughter had a pain-free experience. Next the corn rowing. My daughter sat in the barber chair and gazed at her emerging hairstyle. I was surprised at how calm she was the entire time. I don’t know about you, but when I was a little girl just about every cornrow used to hurt my tender head. I would flinch and wince almost every single time a new cornrow was created. Not my daughter, a real trooper. I was so grateful that the stylist redeemed herself. My daughter’s cornrows were stunning and I was relieved.

Still, I was not out of the woods yet. Now, time to confirm the final price. I’d been quoted $60 for small cornrows with beads, plus $10 for the wash. Well, unbeknownst to me, I was supposed to bring in my own beads. I made a mental note that both hair washes and beads are a la carte. I informed Marcy and the stylist (ironically, her name is Tina!) that I’d be paying $60. They sort of rolled their eyes at me and begrudgingly agreed. I gave Tina a $7 tip (I was being nice, very nice) plus my daughter’s gleaming face said she was excited about her new style. As I said my thank yous and goodbyes (not about to break bad, I had my daughter and I was WAY outnumbered! Just jokes, I’m not the fighting type but I have been known to strongly voice my displeasure. This time, I kept my mouth shut and walked on out), I knew I wouldn’t be going back to that salon. However, I will take my daughter back to a more professional African braiding salon. Now, the hunt to find one!

African Braiding Salon Part 2

I was shocked by the unprofessionalism I saw when I entered a particular African hair braiding salon. I was greeted by a woman eating her malodorous meal and a woman stretched out on the floor dead asleep. Wow, so why did I stay? Well, my daughter was going out of town for a few days with her Dad and I needed to get her hair done (as she said, “Daddy, you don’t even know how to do a puff”). When my daughter sat down in the chair, they took her puff down and the negotiations began. On the phone, I anticipated that I would get her hair cornrowed (small ones) and put beads in her hair. That came to a grand total of $60. However, once in the store, I was informed that it was $10 to wash her hair. I’d never heard of such a thing. Really, a wash is now a la carte? Ok, but what am I to do? So, my daughter goes to the bowl which is too big so the stylist asks my daughter to get on her knees and face the bowl.

Ooooooookkkkkkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy. What is up with that? No booster seat? I know, I sound like a judgmental person, I’m really not. Just sharing what I thought. It was crazy to me that I was being charged to subject my daughter to what basically amounted to a sudsy facial. Thank goodness, the wash was soon over. I’d instructed my daughter to let me know if anything, ANYTHING about her hair was hurting, thank goodness because the next phase, blowdrying, was sheer torture. I knew something was wrong when the stylist broke out a wide tooth comb (yeah!) and began, without sectioning her hair, began to rake it through my daughter’s shrunken tresses. I asked my daughter if it was hurting and she told me no. Then, the stylist broke out a blow dryer. She placed it on the highest heat and began to wack at my daughter’s hair. I gasped, again, no sectioning! This was going against every natural hair routine I’d ever been advised to use.

Again, I asked my daughter if it hurt, more frequently now. Finally, she admitted that it did and began to cry. Ok. Here comes Super Mommy. I jumped up out of that seat, asked for the blow dryer and talked to the manager who then came over to show the stylist how to section and properly blow dry my daughter’s hair (you know, hold it at the roots so that blow drying the ends doesn’t lead to as much pull, putting some oil in it, etc.). I ended up blow drying my daughter’s hair. Next came the actually cornrowing.

African Braiding Salon Part 2

I was shocked by the unprofessionalism I saw when I entered a particular African hair braiding salon. I was greeted by a woman eating her malodorous meal and a woman stretched out on the floor dead asleep. Wow, so why did I stay? Well, my daughter was going out of town for a few days with her Dad and I needed to get her hair done (as she said, “Daddy, you don’t even know how to do a puff”). When my daughter sat down in the chair, they took her puff down and the negotiations began. On the phone, I anticipated that I would get her hair cornrowed (small ones) and put beads in her hair. That came to a grand total of $60. However, once in the store, I was informed that it was $10 to wash her hair. I’d never heard of such a thing. Really, a wash is now a la carte? Ok, but what am I to do? So, my daughter goes to the bowl which is too big so the stylist asks my daughter to get on her knees and face the bowl.

Ooooooookkkkkkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy. What is up with that? No booster seat? I know, I sound like a judgmental person, I’m really not. Just sharing what I thought. It was crazy to me that I was being charged to subject my daughter to what basically amounted to a sudsy facial. Thank goodness, the wash was soon over. I’d instructed my daughter to let me know if anything, ANYTHING about her hair was hurting, thank goodness because the next phase, blowdrying, was sheer torture. I knew something was wrong when the stylist broke out a wide tooth comb (yeah!) and began, without sectioning her hair, began to rake it through my daughter’s shrunken tresses. I asked my daughter if it was hurting and she told me no. Then, the stylist broke out a blow dryer. She placed it on the highest heat and began to wack at my daughter’s hair. I gasped, again, no sectioning! This was going against every natural hair routine I’d ever been advised to use.

Again, I asked my daughter if it hurt, more frequently now. Finally, she admitted that it did and began to cry. Ok. Here comes Super Mommy. I jumped up out of that seat, asked for the blow dryer and talked to the manager who then came over to show the stylist how to section and properly blow dry my daughter’s hair (you know, hold it at the roots so that blow drying the ends doesn’t lead to as much pull, putting some oil in it, etc.). I ended up blow drying my daughter’s hair. Next came the actually cornrowing.