Moniquenuss
Active Member
OK so I really do not post much, but I've been on my hair journey for a little over 4 years now. I started off with relaxer broken off barely there SL/NL hair. In 2009 I decided to no loner relax and transition to natural. Yesterday morning after being natural for a little over 3 years, I was finally at my ultimate goal of BSL(I wear mine low, so it was about an inch or 2 past BSB)..... Ok let me get into my story.
I set an appointment with an "Advanced" stylist named Christopher for 3pm. Now I do not live in NYC, but I was going up there to visit family for the day. After taking the train I realized that I was going to have to walk a few blocks and connect to another train because it sat further down on Broadway than I had expected. I called to let them know I was running late, and the guy who answered the phone didn't even ask me my name! He rushed me off and then said ok I will tell him. This in its self should have been a red flag!
So once I get there, a half hour late, the lady at the front proceeds to tell me that Christopher had to leave for an emergency and I will now be seeing Melanie. This was a complete LIE!!!! Little do they know, I did my research and on their YouTube page they have videos of all their stylist and I knew what he looked like! Christopher was standing behind the wall stocking product glancing at me throughout the cracks! Truth be told I think they looked at my Facebook and one they realized I was black, they try to stick with the only black person working that day! Red flag #2!
Unlike all the review I read online, I was not whisked away as soon as I got there, I was sitting in the waiting area for almost 15 mins. Once Melanie finally comes to get me, I noticed she had a texture like mine, but does not wear it as defined as I like to wear mine. She takes me to the chair and asked me: How did I hear about them, what do I use in my hair, what I was in there for and have I read he book. I told her I was here to get a trim and maybe a little shaping but I wanted to keep my length. I mentioned I had a few different textures and a few random straight sections that don't curl. If you all did not know, they do everything with you facing the mirror. As I'm talking to her her expressions were that of disgust! When I comment on them, she turned on a fake smile and said it wasn't that and my hair looked healthy although I had a few straight pieces. Red flag #3!!!
As she begins to CUT I noticed that she was not cutting the Deva way! Instead of cutting curl by curl as I have seen in countless videos and read countless reviews and as the book states, she was cutting my hair as if it was straight without combing it! SMH Red Flag #4!! I noticed that she was cutting of A LOT of hair and tons of full curls were on the floor! Now I have a mixture of 3c/4a hair so it you cut a curl that wraps around 2-3 times and looks to be an inch when curled, it's most likely 3-4 inches when straight!!!! When she got to the font where my damn there straight section is, she cut like 6 INCHES off!!!!! (I feel like crying just typing this out!) I kept a blank stare on my face the hole time because I couldn't believe that this was happening. I specifically said in the beginning I will meet to be able to put it up in a ponytail for work! When'd she was don't cutting I asked if I still had enough for a ponytail and her reply was "yes you have plenty for a ponytail". I don't know what kind of ponytails she is use to seeing, but that was a bald face lie!!!!
She takes me over to the wash area (best part of the experience) and I was expecting her to tell me about each product and why she was using them and.... There was silence! I will add she was not friendly or talkative at all through this whole process. I observed her with her other clients that were not as pigmented as myself, and she would smile, laugh and talk it up with them. Ok now back to my wash. As some my know, they do not use combs or brushes here so it took here forever and tons of product to detangle my hair. The only thing she explained to me was the deep condition.
After my wash, she left tons of conditioner in my hair, a lot more then I would have likes. The takes me back to the chair and all she does is put some oils in it. I asked her about some gel because I like me hair to be defined. Her response was gel was not necessary. She stuck some clips in my head without even asking what side I like my part on and stuck me under the dryer. Reg Flag #5! She did however tell me that once I was dry, she will possibly trim me up a little more. At this point I have already hated my hair, but I wanted to let it dry so I could see the full effect. I did notice however that the length it was soaking wet was shorter than my length when it was bone dry.
So after being under the dryer for ~30 mins. She takes out the clips has me flip over my head and proceeds to blow dry the rest. The she began to cut off some more!! About another inch or 2 in some places!!!! As I feel my hair I noticed that it felt dry and coated. I contribute this to leaving entirely too much conditioner in my hair. There was little to no definition and it was extremely big and short! It was written all over my face that I did not like it, but refused to cry and or be rude. I go to check out and only one male stylist (Go figure it was Christopher) said they liked my hair. I honestly think he only said it because he could read the disappointment on my face. None the less at check out they then ask if I needed any of the products and handed me a bonus card. At this point when they charge me, I find out it was cheaper because she was a junior stylist! This in my mind explained why she did what she did.
After leaving I had no choice but to put on my game face and own this hair cut. I met up with my friends and family and they all gave that awkward smile. I will post a pic of what it looked like yesterday after spending $80+ on it.
So this morning I go to wash it because I do not like the feel of it and the lack of definition. This is where the tears came rolling. I realized that my beautiful hair they was BSL yesterday, is now barely even SL!!!! or it can't even fit into a ponytail like I asked!!! Now I have this little puff at the end where this big beautiful bun use to sit! All these years of hard work and progress is now down the drain because of yet another scissor happy stylist! I don't even want to start over, I'm ready to relax because I am so depressed about my lack there of ponytail and my barely there length! I don't want to go out or to work tomorrow. Im laying here thinking for all that money I could have just went to 125th street and have them twist my real hair for less and still had all my length without this stupid shape!
Would I ever recommend this salon to a curly girl? No not unless you have perfect curls or want to BC. Sorry for the long post, I just want anyone who my be contemplating going to this salon to be fully aware of what they maybe getting themselves into. Had I known they were going to butcher my hair they way they did I would have never wasted my time or money. I cold have jacked up my hair myself at home!
Now I have to future out how I am going to wear my hair tomorrow to work! I work in corporate America and me wearing a frizzy un defined fro is not going to cut it at my job.
In the picture I am the one in the middle. If to look at my avi from January you will see why I am so upset. I am open to suggestions as to what I can do to help it grow out quickly.
Mo
I set an appointment with an "Advanced" stylist named Christopher for 3pm. Now I do not live in NYC, but I was going up there to visit family for the day. After taking the train I realized that I was going to have to walk a few blocks and connect to another train because it sat further down on Broadway than I had expected. I called to let them know I was running late, and the guy who answered the phone didn't even ask me my name! He rushed me off and then said ok I will tell him. This in its self should have been a red flag!
So once I get there, a half hour late, the lady at the front proceeds to tell me that Christopher had to leave for an emergency and I will now be seeing Melanie. This was a complete LIE!!!! Little do they know, I did my research and on their YouTube page they have videos of all their stylist and I knew what he looked like! Christopher was standing behind the wall stocking product glancing at me throughout the cracks! Truth be told I think they looked at my Facebook and one they realized I was black, they try to stick with the only black person working that day! Red flag #2!
Unlike all the review I read online, I was not whisked away as soon as I got there, I was sitting in the waiting area for almost 15 mins. Once Melanie finally comes to get me, I noticed she had a texture like mine, but does not wear it as defined as I like to wear mine. She takes me to the chair and asked me: How did I hear about them, what do I use in my hair, what I was in there for and have I read he book. I told her I was here to get a trim and maybe a little shaping but I wanted to keep my length. I mentioned I had a few different textures and a few random straight sections that don't curl. If you all did not know, they do everything with you facing the mirror. As I'm talking to her her expressions were that of disgust! When I comment on them, she turned on a fake smile and said it wasn't that and my hair looked healthy although I had a few straight pieces. Red flag #3!!!
As she begins to CUT I noticed that she was not cutting the Deva way! Instead of cutting curl by curl as I have seen in countless videos and read countless reviews and as the book states, she was cutting my hair as if it was straight without combing it! SMH Red Flag #4!! I noticed that she was cutting of A LOT of hair and tons of full curls were on the floor! Now I have a mixture of 3c/4a hair so it you cut a curl that wraps around 2-3 times and looks to be an inch when curled, it's most likely 3-4 inches when straight!!!! When she got to the font where my damn there straight section is, she cut like 6 INCHES off!!!!! (I feel like crying just typing this out!) I kept a blank stare on my face the hole time because I couldn't believe that this was happening. I specifically said in the beginning I will meet to be able to put it up in a ponytail for work! When'd she was don't cutting I asked if I still had enough for a ponytail and her reply was "yes you have plenty for a ponytail". I don't know what kind of ponytails she is use to seeing, but that was a bald face lie!!!!
She takes me over to the wash area (best part of the experience) and I was expecting her to tell me about each product and why she was using them and.... There was silence! I will add she was not friendly or talkative at all through this whole process. I observed her with her other clients that were not as pigmented as myself, and she would smile, laugh and talk it up with them. Ok now back to my wash. As some my know, they do not use combs or brushes here so it took here forever and tons of product to detangle my hair. The only thing she explained to me was the deep condition.
After my wash, she left tons of conditioner in my hair, a lot more then I would have likes. The takes me back to the chair and all she does is put some oils in it. I asked her about some gel because I like me hair to be defined. Her response was gel was not necessary. She stuck some clips in my head without even asking what side I like my part on and stuck me under the dryer. Reg Flag #5! She did however tell me that once I was dry, she will possibly trim me up a little more. At this point I have already hated my hair, but I wanted to let it dry so I could see the full effect. I did notice however that the length it was soaking wet was shorter than my length when it was bone dry.
So after being under the dryer for ~30 mins. She takes out the clips has me flip over my head and proceeds to blow dry the rest. The she began to cut off some more!! About another inch or 2 in some places!!!! As I feel my hair I noticed that it felt dry and coated. I contribute this to leaving entirely too much conditioner in my hair. There was little to no definition and it was extremely big and short! It was written all over my face that I did not like it, but refused to cry and or be rude. I go to check out and only one male stylist (Go figure it was Christopher) said they liked my hair. I honestly think he only said it because he could read the disappointment on my face. None the less at check out they then ask if I needed any of the products and handed me a bonus card. At this point when they charge me, I find out it was cheaper because she was a junior stylist! This in my mind explained why she did what she did.
After leaving I had no choice but to put on my game face and own this hair cut. I met up with my friends and family and they all gave that awkward smile. I will post a pic of what it looked like yesterday after spending $80+ on it.
So this morning I go to wash it because I do not like the feel of it and the lack of definition. This is where the tears came rolling. I realized that my beautiful hair they was BSL yesterday, is now barely even SL!!!! or it can't even fit into a ponytail like I asked!!! Now I have this little puff at the end where this big beautiful bun use to sit! All these years of hard work and progress is now down the drain because of yet another scissor happy stylist! I don't even want to start over, I'm ready to relax because I am so depressed about my lack there of ponytail and my barely there length! I don't want to go out or to work tomorrow. Im laying here thinking for all that money I could have just went to 125th street and have them twist my real hair for less and still had all my length without this stupid shape!
Would I ever recommend this salon to a curly girl? No not unless you have perfect curls or want to BC. Sorry for the long post, I just want anyone who my be contemplating going to this salon to be fully aware of what they maybe getting themselves into. Had I known they were going to butcher my hair they way they did I would have never wasted my time or money. I cold have jacked up my hair myself at home!
Now I have to future out how I am going to wear my hair tomorrow to work! I work in corporate America and me wearing a frizzy un defined fro is not going to cut it at my job.
In the picture I am the one in the middle. If to look at my avi from January you will see why I am so upset. I am open to suggestions as to what I can do to help it grow out quickly.
Mo
