**I just walked out... my kind of hair my not welcomed... smh**

[JinaRicci]

OP- So sorry that you went through this. That is just horrible. I'm glad that you didn't let them get to you and was able to walk away with your dignity intact.

If a salon doesn't know how to handle your type of hair then you don't want to give them your money. Many stylists of color including some/many AA stylists these days are not trained or experienced with the full range of afro textures. So as someone with hair on the far end of the "natty" scale I prefer a stylist who's honest and says s/he doesn't know what to do with it than to take my money and trying to style it and failing.

Thank you so much for this. We are our own worst enemies no matter where we're from. We still have a long way to go in just accepting ourselves. Like someone else said, we are fueling this industry and we need to demand more because we deserve better.

 

[yaya24]

Wow - Their loss.

I actually experienced something like this when I was referred to a new salon to get a sew in. I called in advance and told the lady I was natural. She told me it would cost more depending on the thickness of my hair (to cornrows and sew in some damn weave? Really?) and then went on to say that I need to comb my hair before my appointment (Like I would not have done that already..)

Needless to say-- I did not go to her

 

[UrbainChic]

I am so sorry you had to deal with this. It can be so frustrating and you just want to slap the hairdresser. Ive always consistently gone to dominican salons, and i find that it really varies on the salon (as you know since your normal stylist happily will do your hair). Some of them get really hung up on this whole PELO MALO nonsense and its really awful. Lately I have just been avoiding the whole salon mess except for a few highlight adventures at AVEDA .

I think that part of it is how they perceive you ethnically. I noticed some salons have a different way of treating black latinos vs other kinds of blacks. This has always made me nervous because my spanish has always been shaky growing up, and when I venture out without mommy to a new salon its a bit nerve racking.

For example I had an experience where my mom had been going to a more caucasian in appearance woman who had a salon near our house (closer than the other place) for perms and one day, after trying her out, she brought me in to also do my touch up with her. Me and my mother would both stretch at least 3-4 months so I had a lot of new growth. The woman briefly eyeballed my hair (from about 90 feet away) and said she would be right back..... disappeared for literally an hour. I was telling my mom, lets just leave the salon. lets just leave. finally after at least an hour while we were driving away we saw her reappear. She just didnt want to do my hair!!! the irony is, my moms hair was not only more tightly curled than mine as 4bcz, it was also coarser and more resistant to perms than mine..... the difference between us that I think made the woman decide to hide, is that my mother was a light skinned woman, who could speak spanish fluently, and i am brown as brown and barely articulate in espanol. She didnt even look at my hair, she just decided it was too hard off of my appearance. (ironically my latino heritage comes from my father who is very dark, NOT my mother!)

That said, the place I used to go (where they were nice) when i was relaxed stopped doing natural hair,bc it took too much time and they lost profit. I have found one great place where they did a great job but its a billion miles away. When looking for a new place I usually walk in extra aggressive, already doubting them with a quick NO RELAXER! NO RELAXER CAN YOU DO IT? ROLLER SET!? YOU SURE?! with my foot half out the door, and ive been able to weed out the problems in advance.

Its sad, but there are some racial identity issues within the latino community. That said, not everyone is like this. Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, all come in every shade, but not all have a chip on their shoulder.

 

[LisaMar]

WOW! All I can say is that Im sorry you had to endure this kind of treatment. What a shame! I am Soooo happy you decided to walk out girl, you did the right thing. Let this be a lesson to all of us, the truth is the truth, some salons just "do hair" they dont care for hair. You should be THANKFUL, that they revealed themselves to you in such a blatant way, because had they not, and hide it and decided to just "do you hair" you probably would not have been happy with the end result, they would have pulled out you hair, applied extra, unnecessary tension..... Something similiar happened to me a while back, a dominican salon owner told me never to come back to the salon, if I do not plan on perming my hair, because they cannot "deal" with my type of hair. Unlike you I stayed, and endured the humiliation...the stylists were talking about me in their language. The one stylist who did my hair, was making negative facial expressions the entire time she was doing my hair....Never again...

 

[Chaosbutterfly]

Not mean at all. I would have expected this reaction if I had gone into maybe a white salon. But some of these women have a similar hair texture to mine. I think some people seem to think taking care of natural hair is soooo difficult. Granted, they may not know good techniques for doing natural hair. As far as my hair is concerned, it takes more time and products because it is long. When my hair was shorter I used very little products to style it. My usual stylist (who is Dominican by the way) can rollerset my hair in under 15 mins. I can rollerset it myself in about 30 mins. If you click my blog you can see the result of my hair in a rollerset.
The pics below were taken at the salon that I usually go to.

She did a really beautiful job.

But.
I feel that you can't really compare your regular stylist to some random stylists who only did your hair in it's relaxed days, because not all stylists can do the same things. Some can do a touchup and make you feel like they're only using conditioner, but many cannot. Some can do a fierce blowout without damaging your hair or burning your scalp, but some cannot. And some can rollerset natural hair into straightness, which others can't. It all really comes back to skill set, and not all stylists have the same ones, unfortunately. Which is why I think that expecting them all to or assuming that they all do is just setting yourself up for disappointment, or at least it has been in my experience. It's important that you know from the jump that they can do what you need them to do, and if you don't know that, then in my opinion, you shouldn't go there.

Additionally, both you and your stylist know your hair. You guys know what to do with it, which is why you probably don't perceive it as difficult. But perception is everything and those ladies in the shop don't know you or your hair. They just saw that it was natural and wasn't type 1-3, so they assumed that it would be harder work to straighten it out. Or they knew that for them, it would be harder work because they didn't know what they hayell they were doing. Either way, most people don't like to work hard, hence the unwillingness to do your hair.

It's the same way that you might see a tiger walking in the street and assume that it's a dangerous animal, so you don't go near it. Maybe the tiger actually thinks you're cute and wants to be your friend. Maybe it busted out the zoo just to see you. But you probably won't be willing to go over and find out.

I don't find the bolded to be true AT ALL. A rollerset on my natural hair takes about the same amount of time as it did for my relaxed hair. I don't know where people get the misconception that natural hair is so much more difficult to style, rollersetting aside, than relaxed hair. And considering that I have a very similar hair type to Luna's, I'm assuming there isn't much styling difference.

...which is why I said generally. Generally as in, your mileage may vary.
You and LunadeMiel may not even have the same experience, because texture is only one thing. Ease of styling also depends on coarseness, porosity, density, thickness (of hair strands), and a bunch of other factors that vary from person to person.
But from what I've seen, and in general, the tighter the texture, the more effort it takes to straighten it out.

 

[e.lauren]

SOrry to hear that Take the trip into Hartford hun.
THis is ridiculous though because MANY Dominicans have extremely curly hair much like ours =\. I guess they expected you to perm the hell out of it or heat train it into submission like so many of them on the island do. I wish they would just embrace their curls and not look at it as "bad hair" <-- which some of them called my hair when I was there.

 

[Forever in Bloom]

Now that is a crying shame. The one thing that I can't get over is the fact that she handed you a cheap comb, as if to tell you, "Comb it out first, then we can talk".

You'll never see me visiting a Dominican salon from this story alone

I once made the mistake of going to a natural salon . I needed my hair done asap. All I wanted were twists So I called (after a Google search - YIKES! Don't do it) and the owner told me she was open until 9 pm. Sweet! I could go right after work. As soon as I walked up to the building, the owner was chilling outside smoking a cigarette. She took one look at me, and said "Were you the one who called?" I said yes. She then looked me up and down and said, "I can tell...with all that nappy hair on your head!"

Um...you're natural too - with locs...can you say similar?

Why didn't I leave? I was desperate. So I endured her snide remarks as she raked through my hair with a comb. "Ooh, Lord, your hair is so nappy!" Meanwhile, her man/girl boyfriend comes in to hang out in the booth with both of us while I am getting my hair done. She introduces her to me as her fiance. I could care less, my brain is being pulled through my scalp.

She then charged me $60 - for twists. I pull out my credit card, and she says she takes cash only. So I have to drive to an ATM at 9pm to get her her money - in a bad part of Memphis. Sheesh.
Then at the end, she throws a whole bunch of business cards at me and tells me to recommend her to all my friends.

I tell her I don't have any and drive off never to visit again. Since then (a year and a half ago), I have been styling my own hair and letting my real stylist do all the rest.

I learned that no one will be as patient with my hair than myself - and my fab stylist, who is one in a million

 

[Shay72]

My issue is not even the charging more. It's that she handed you the comb and expected you to comb your hair. Seriously? WTF are you paying them for???

 

[Forever in Bloom]

I forgot to mention that my stylist can shampoo, condition, detangle, deep condition, blow dry, and flat my hair in an hour and a half. Sigh...

 

[kblc06]

She did a really beautiful job.

But.
I feel that you can't really compare your regular stylist to some random stylists who only did your hair in it's relaxed days, because not all stylists can do the same things. Some can do a touchup and make you feel like they're only using conditioner, but many cannot. Some can do a fierce blowout without damaging your hair or burning your scalp, but some cannot. And some can rollerset natural hair into straightness, which others can't. It all really comes back to skill set, and not all stylists have the same ones, unfortunately. Which is why I think that expecting them all to or assuming that they all do is just setting yourself up for disappointment, or at least it has been in my experience. It's important that you know from the jump that they can do what you need them to do, and if you don't know that, then in my opinion, you shouldn't go there.

Additionally, both you and your stylist know your hair. You guys know what to do with it, which is why you probably don't perceive it as difficult. But perception is everything and those ladies in the shop don't know you or your hair. They just saw that it was natural and wasn't type 1-3, so they assumed that it would be harder work to straighten it out. Or they knew that for them, it would be harder work because they didn't know what they hayell they were doing. Either way, most people don't like to work hard, hence the unwillingness to do your hair.

It's the same way that you might see a tiger walking in the street and assume that it's a dangerous animal, so you don't go near it. Maybe the tiger actually thinks you're cute and wants to be your friend. Maybe it busted out the zoo just to see you. But you probably won't be willing to go over and find out.




...which is why I said generally. Generally as in, your mileage may vary.
You and LunadeMiel may not even have the same experience, because texture is only one thing. Ease of styling also depends on coarseness, porosity, density, thickness (of hair strands), and a bunch of other factors that vary from person to person.
But from what I've seen, and in general, the tighter the texture, the more effort it takes to straighten it out.

But that's why I said the properties of our hair are very similar (including density, although I think the OP's hair is medium-coarse whereas mine is fine-medium). If I can rollerset my with relative ease and get really good results, why shouldn't I expect someone who is a STYLIST and LICENSED to supposedly do all types of hair to possess the same level of skill. After all I'm not the one who holds beautician license , why is wrong for me to expect you to be able to do your damn job? I think most of the time this is a cop-out IMO. But I respect your right to hold your opinion as well

BTW- I think the OP's hair is type 3 (b/c) based on what I've seen.

 

[Nayna]

@chaosbutterfly: I think what you're basically saying is every stylist has a niche. They actually encourage it in school. This board has made my niche healthy hair.

There's nothing wrong with that but folks don't have to be rude or stank about it. It boggles my mind that they handed op a comb. Unprofessional and tacky. Not for nothing but a lot of salons have one or two licensed professionals and then a whole bunch of "others" that have never stepped foot in a school. There's a right and wrong way to talk to people.

 

[girlcherokee]

see ive had my hair jacked up by stylist before and i tell ya - i wish they had just let me know they didnt know how to do my hair BEFORE doing my hair! i think you should consider yourself lucky....

 

[bride91501]

I am SO sorry this happened to you. I thank God I was never too dependant on stylists for regular maintenance and upkeep. I have many a gf who do....many of them don't even wash their own hair.

I know we all have our own ways of dealing with conflict, and it definitely sounds like you handled it in the best way for you. However (and I mean this with no malice, judgement or disrespect toward your approach), I have always been of the opinion that folks can't change what they're not confronted with. Whenever I find myself in a conflict situation such as this, I gather my thoughts and am sure to express in the most professional, intelligent tone I can muster my displeasure for how I was treated. They may pretend not to listen at the time, but trust me, they'll remember me, the situation, and their response the next time they're confronted with it.

 

[Chaosbutterfly]

@chaosbutterfly: I think what you're basically saying is every stylist has a niche. They actually encourage it in school. This board has made my niche healthy hair.

There's nothing wrong with that but folks don't have to be rude or stank about it. It boggles my mind that they handed op a comb. Unprofessional and tacky. Not for nothing but a lot of salons have one or two licensed professionals and then a whole bunch of "others" that have never stepped foot in a school. There's a right and wrong way to talk to people.

Ahhh thank you so much!!
Lol, everything here was exactly what I was saying.

 

[FearfullyMade]

Experiences like this is why I prefer doing my OWN hair. I've gone to salons in the past ( I used to like the pampering of someone else washing my hair). But NOW, I know that NOBODY will pamper my hair like MYSELF.

 

[BostonMaria]

I do my own hair because I don't want to deal with salons.

BTW there are Dominicans on this site and it's very disappointing to see posts about Dominicans this and Dominicans that. Yes I know some stylists are straight up rude, but to generalize is a bit much. I usually just close the post and move on.

OP my only word of advice is next time try going to a salon based on a recommendation. I have 3C hair WSL and I'd say 99% of salons would send me packing.

 

[LunadeMiel]

@chaosbutterfly: I think what you're basically saying is every stylist has a niche. They actually encourage it in school. This board has made my niche healthy hair.

There's nothing wrong with that but folks don't have to be rude or stank about it. It boggles my mind that they handed op a comb. Unprofessional and tacky. Not for nothing but a lot of salons have one or two licensed professionals and then a whole bunch of "others" that have never stepped foot in a school. There's a right and wrong way to talk to people.

I wouldn't qualify this salon as any type of niche salon. I went to the salon for years (before I decided to go natural) so I know what their clientele looks like. This wasn't some random salon that I had no experience with. I posted about his on facebook and so many people commented on the treatment that they received at this salon. You cannot be a salon whose clientele is 90% black but can't handle afro hair

I'm lucky though that I was able to see their disgust prior to any one of the touching my hair.

@bride - I'm not very confrontational at all. I don't think I could have confronted them gracefully.

 

[LunadeMiel]

I do my own hair because I don't want to deal with salons.

BTW there are Dominicans on this site and it's very disappointing to see posts about Dominicans this and Dominicans that. Yes I know some stylists are straight up rude, but to generalize is a bit much. I usually just close the post and move on.

OP my only word of advice is next time try going to a salon based on a recommendation. I have 3C hair WSL and I'd say 99% of salons would send me packing.

Maria,
I didn't mean for this to be a Dominican salon bashing thread. It was just these two particular salons that were horrible to me. My regular stylist is Dominican and she is great. She's very gentle and efficient. She also give great hair health advice.

 

[sheba1]

How can they not SEE all that fiyah?! Wha???? Good thing you didn't let those blind hefty's do your hair anyway. They are obviously blind if they can't see the loveliness that is your hair. Heck, I wanna roller set it right now

 

[sheba1]

I'd like to say that there are really some dominican salons that discriminate because they are ran by people. Just like there are some black stylists that are the bomb diggy, there are some that are ridiculous... because, again, they're people. People run the gamut from gutter to divinity, no matter the race, so everyone on this board will just have to remember that.

I was discriminated against when I interviewed a couple dominican salons to get my BKT. No one wanted to touch my hair unless I was willing to relax first.

A natural 4a/b girlfriend just came from a highly recommended dominican salon in our area that "gently" tried to coerce her to either relax or bkt if she was going to continue coming for roller set and blow out. Her hair is barely SL so I'm not going to even bother going up there.

So... it's a struggle to find the right salon for anyone. Personally, I'm happy when they make themselves known right up front. So I don't have to find myself walking out mid service. I want them to act a straight fool as soon as I walk in, if they're going to. So I can keep it movin...

ETA: I'm not bashing dominican salons. I can't wait to begin wearing my hair down on the regular so I can roll up in the spot for regular roller set and silk wraps. I will, however, bash any salon that discriminates against afro textured hair and would make me feel anything less than welcome just because of the length/texture of my hair.

 

[southerncitygirl]

Well if they normally do so, then it was just a cop-out. Stylists can have horrible attitudes. From my experience and from what a stylist told me, naturals take much longer. Relaxed hair is straight when wet (well, maybe most?). I seriously wish I could have such a business.

this is not true , my stylist (is black & from belize) has gotten me in and out of the salon in an hour(wash,blowdry, flatiron and dust) and my hair is 3c....its all about technique. my stylist has thick 3a/b hair and if she goes to the dominicans they tell her she needs a relaxer too...they are lazy and greedy for money. i've heard from some folks that they put signs in the window that they don't natural hair in some places...then the turn around and take folks that are type 1- 3b...smdh!

 

[southerncitygirl]

Domincans are Black. SO you would think...
Would you really want them touching your hair anyways? I would definately give them as many bad internet reviews as possible!

Sorry that happened to you!

dominicans and puertoricans have serious issues with hair color and skin texture.... ask them about the fan test or the 5 generation curse and watch them squirm. i could get into more of their foolishness but that would be a whole "nother" thread. i'mn so sorry this happened to the op, but its great that she walked out and is gettig the word out about their nonsense.

 

[gadgetdiva]

I'm so sorry you experienced that! What is confusing is that aren't there Dominicans with all sorts of hair types like American people? ...I pray that you never experience this again. Another reason why I won't be going to a salon... I don't want to end up on Fox News, Inside Edition, 20/20, Primetime Live...I have a difficult time understanding going to a hair salon and they ask you what you want done yet they do what the heck they want anyway (speaking from my experience when I was 8 yrs old going to my grandmothers hairdresser). OK let me stop ranting...apologies

 

[MarieB]

@LunadeMiel I am so sorry this happened to you. I don't care what your hair length or texture is, no salon has the right to give you that kind of attitude, especially in CT, where they should be grateful for every sister who walks through the door. On the other hand, stylists with 'tudes are the main reason that I became a DIY'er in the first place; I'd rather jack up my own ish than pay some spiteful heifer to do it.

 

[butterfly_wings]

Shocking! they should be able to work with all hair types

 

[longlady]

WOW I have never heard of anything like this before.. I have been to about 9 different Dominican salons in Manhattan and all of them were very nice. Of course I am Dominican and speak spanish so I understood everything but I always saw blacks & NATURALS coming in to the salons and they were treated just like everybody else. But they are charged a lot more because it takes more time to do their hair. Even if you are not a natural but have long relaxed hair you will be charged more..for example I always went to the salons with my bestfriend and she has very long naturally straight hair and they charged her $35+ while I was always charged $25 or less because I had shoulder length relaxed hair.

My little sister has the SAME type of hair as the OP and maybe even a little longer and she always charged $40 plus at the dominican salons because this type of hair takes a while to get it done.

 

[Dominican09]

dominicans and puertoricans have serious issues with hair color and skin texture.... ask them about the fan test or the 5 generation curse and watch them squirm. i could get into more of their foolishness but that would be a whole "nother" thread. i'mn so sorry this happened to the op, but its great that she walked out and is gettig the word out about their nonsense.

What kind of test is that???? never heard of it.

 

[lilsparkle825]

It disheartens me that I see a BUNCH of generalizations in this thread that don't always ring true. My favorite stylist works in a Dominican salon, and while I have to say that the other girls aren't as skilled with 3c and type 4 hair as she is, there is no washing hair with dish soap or any of the other things I've seen in this thread. You don't have to be disrespectful and spread falsehoods just to get the point that you don't like their salons across.

Anyway, I'm glad you had the guts to get up and leave, OP. I have been going to the Dominican salon since I was transitioning, and I have never had any issues with any of the stylists doing my hair, so I know what you mean about having that expectation of not running into trouble. Sure, there are times when I get stuck with the "new" girl and she charges me $5-10 more solely because I am natural, and it's funny how sometimes I get charged the long hair rate and sometimes I don't, but I have never noticed that it takes longer for my hair to be set than anyone else that comes in there. If someone who had relaxed BSB hair and I both sat at the shampoo bowl at the same time, we'd probably leave the salon within a few minutes of each other. The only time I have felt that anger bubble up is when the light skinned 3a stylist looked at my 4b little sister like she was some sort of four-headed creature, then asked if she wanted a relaxer. My fave stylist quickly came over and rectified the situation by pushing the incompetent stylist out of the way (all while cursing at her in Spanish) and doing my sister's hair herself. Instead of rollersetting it, which seems to be what confused the girl, she had to bantu knot it to stretch it, and it was then that I realized the first girl's lack of experience with 4b natural hair is what made her screw her face up, not any type of prejudice or laziness. Some stylists, Dominican or American, are not that experienced with natural hair, but they should have just said so instead of making it seem like YOU had the problem.

So what happened? Did you end up going somewhere else? Did you do your hair at home? You can't leave us hanging without pics!

 

[Dee Raven]

Good for you that you walked out. I wish I would have had the courage to do that the last time I went to the salon, I would still have 3.5 inches of my hair back.

 

[BillsBackerz67]

Im not a fan of the dominican salons I have went to in the past. I never got bad treatment but they use wayyyyyyyy too much heat for me I guess they assume since I have super curly hair that it takes 1000 degrees of heat to get it straight The current stylist I go to doesn't have to torch my hair and I get straighter sleeker results without having to fry my hair. Consider it a good thing that they turned you away.