Zeal
Well-Known Member
The lines between styles for natural and relaxed hair are fading. Amazon Smiley of Amazon's Braid Sculpture Salon, Chicago, is giving her African braiding techhiques Western flair by copying some of today's relaxed styles, like the bob. Barry Fletcher, owner of the Avant Garde Hair Gallery in Capitol Heights, Maryland, braids relaxed hair and lets it air-dry for texturized effect. He predicts that side parts, spiral sets, flips, face-framing fringes, softer, touchable, more artistic French rolls and upswept styles will be among fall's most flattering and fashionable styles for long hair.
Partnering with a pro Two and a half years ago, when Hollywood Pictures creative executive Tracy Kemble moved from the East to the West Coast, she was extremely concerned about finding a stylist who would understand her specific hair needs. Her thick mane is well past her shoulders, so she relaxes it only twice a year. It took her some time--and a friend's referral--to find Hair Do's in Los Angeles, and a stylist who wouldn't try to blow-dry her hair. "The hardest thing was to find someone who would stay with me for up to three hours," she says. "I spend at least an hour and 15 minutes under the dryer."
All salons are not created equal. Some are geared toward styling, others toward customer volume. Kind a stylist with whom you can communicate freely. Before you have a consultation, it's a good idea to visit salons and watch. "See what's coming out of the chairs, how stylists interact with clients and with one another," suggests Atchinson. And it should be a welcoming environment." Rhonda Hicks of Emages by Hair Station U.S.A in Houston says you should never sacrifice professionalism for thrift. "Don't try to save money by applying chemical products at home," she warns. "It only takes one mistake to put you back at square one." Taking responsibility "I see my hair as a work in progress," says Howard University psychologist Nickole ScottConnerly, Ph.D. She has sported her shoulder-grazing natural for more than 15 years and often wears it in braided styles she creates.
If you want long hair, you can't rely solely on your stylist when the hair in question is on your head. "You can't take a part-time interest in your hair and then expect growth," says Barry Fletcher. Recognizing the need to educate clients about how to handle their hair at home, many salons offer free hair-care seminars.
"Sometimes we even lose clients because they don't need us anymore. But it's a chance that I'm willing to take," says Sharon Abney of Twists-N-Turns, a natural-hair-care salon in Washington, D.C., that offers monthly hair-care workshops. Ultimately, if longer hair is your choice, you must make the commitment to take the best care of your hair, and you must be patient. Says Wanakee, "There's no such thing as a get-long-hair-quick me."
Partnering with a pro Two and a half years ago, when Hollywood Pictures creative executive Tracy Kemble moved from the East to the West Coast, she was extremely concerned about finding a stylist who would understand her specific hair needs. Her thick mane is well past her shoulders, so she relaxes it only twice a year. It took her some time--and a friend's referral--to find Hair Do's in Los Angeles, and a stylist who wouldn't try to blow-dry her hair. "The hardest thing was to find someone who would stay with me for up to three hours," she says. "I spend at least an hour and 15 minutes under the dryer."
All salons are not created equal. Some are geared toward styling, others toward customer volume. Kind a stylist with whom you can communicate freely. Before you have a consultation, it's a good idea to visit salons and watch. "See what's coming out of the chairs, how stylists interact with clients and with one another," suggests Atchinson. And it should be a welcoming environment." Rhonda Hicks of Emages by Hair Station U.S.A in Houston says you should never sacrifice professionalism for thrift. "Don't try to save money by applying chemical products at home," she warns. "It only takes one mistake to put you back at square one." Taking responsibility "I see my hair as a work in progress," says Howard University psychologist Nickole ScottConnerly, Ph.D. She has sported her shoulder-grazing natural for more than 15 years and often wears it in braided styles she creates.
If you want long hair, you can't rely solely on your stylist when the hair in question is on your head. "You can't take a part-time interest in your hair and then expect growth," says Barry Fletcher. Recognizing the need to educate clients about how to handle their hair at home, many salons offer free hair-care seminars.
"Sometimes we even lose clients because they don't need us anymore. But it's a chance that I'm willing to take," says Sharon Abney of Twists-N-Turns, a natural-hair-care salon in Washington, D.C., that offers monthly hair-care workshops. Ultimately, if longer hair is your choice, you must make the commitment to take the best care of your hair, and you must be patient. Says Wanakee, "There's no such thing as a get-long-hair-quick me."
