ElizaBlue
Well-Known Member
Okay here we go. I am a relaxed (Affirm Fiberguard) 4c, with until yesterday 2inch past shoulder length hair. My last relaxer was 5.5 weeks ago. I self-relax.
I decided to go and get my hair done at the salon (JC Penney's) because I didn't want to overlap, wanted a professional trim (I've mentioned my dry and crunchy ends previously) and an overall consultation.
When I made the appt. the receptionist asked if I wanted Doris (D) or Tiffany (T). I asked the tenure of both. Each had been there about 5 years, I went with T. I figured younger sounding name probably more up to date on healthy hair.
I get to the salon. D is about 50 with a busted up weave and thick coke bottle glasses, I think I woke her up when I walked in. T is about 25-29ish, short bob, very energetic.
I knew I had made the right choice so far.
There were three other ladies in the salon. Two were D's, one T. I asked D's customer if she had been coming here long. She was an older woman, sort of grandmotherly but real mean looking, with short very very unhealthy hair in lengths that varied from 0-3 inches. She said yes, "I've been coming here for over two years. D always does my hair real good". (See I knew I had made the right choice.) When T calls me, I tell her politely that I would like to first discuss their services and the overall condition of my hair. She tells me that the relaxer will be $65 because she is a "senior and a designer". I needed her to explain that to me. Well she said D is a only "stylist" so her relaxer is $60, I'm a senior so mine are $65 and on the other side are the "masters" so their relaxers are $70." (Ummmmmm...I think, same relaxer, same equipment....but what the hell.) Well by now everyone else in the salon is absorbing this apparently new and unknown information. Especially the ladies waiting for D-stylist. So now I ask about my hair.
She took down my twist and my hair falls around my shoulders. Her first ? is "who does your hair" I was waiting for this. "I do it myself". I'm waiting for the barrage of insults explaining the obvious reason my hair is sooo unhealthy and will need to be cut off. She says "well....you definitely need a cut, and is this a texture or is your hair just underprocessed?" I explain to her that the hair may appear underprocessed because I air dry and that it is an Affirm relaxer. I then launch in to why I stopped going to salons, because of the overlapping, and how my hair was always short and breaking. She explained that the reason stylist over lap is because my hair looks underprocessed and that she couldn't tell the line of demarcation because my hair all had the same wave pattern. I told her that my hair grows about an inch a month and that I tell the line by touch. I told her I did not want my hair overlapped and then just asked her, was that something she could handle? She was very nice about it and said she would only do the new growth or what felt like new growth but that my hair would not be "bone-straight" and that if I wanted to get my "money's worth", it should be bone straight, and that would mean pulling the relaxer out to the ends. I told her overlapping any previously relaxed hair is just unhealthy and that is why my hair was always breaking.
Well right about now I look up and D has smooth that relaxer all over Big Momma's head from scalp to end. And the older lady is just looking at me
. T assures me she will not overlap. We discuss hair color. Then I ask her how what she considers a trim. She says less than an inch. Something doesn't feel right, so I say to about where and lift the end of my hair. She combs through a chunk and says about right here. She's holding about two inches of hair. I said that would be about two inches, I don't need a hair cut. She re-evaluates my ends and says, well really you only need the ends trimmed. So I tell her we'll wait on the trim because I want to be sure we agree on how much she's going to trim.
The older lady looks at me like she is too through with all my ?s and says, "Well are you gonna get it done or what. With all that hair you got, you shoulda been getting it "permed" at least every two weeks" and then she rolled her eyes at me....(Okay Big Momma) I just look at her with all that "perm" now sitting on her head, cause D had been left to go and get her something to drink. In exactly 15 minutes cause I was looking at the clock, D comes back, puts Big Momma in another chair and starts basing her next customer. That "perm" has been on 3 inches of hair for more than 25 minutes now.
D's next customer is even worse. Shoulder length "strings" of hair with permanent gold highlights. She very quietly and timidly asks D why her hair is "still" breaking. D loud talks her, "you just need some vitamins" and goes on to tell her that somebody told her that prenatal vitamins would stop any kind of hair breaking. (Couldn't possibly be the "D-stylist" techniques) This woman literally had tufts of hair mixed in with the strings, that had obviously just popped off. This time I noticed D, was very careful in applying the relaxer and did not overlap. But it still stayed on about 25 minutes. I didn't even want to be there for the comb out. It only took about six rollers for her entire head.
Okay back to me. T applies the relaxer, the color, wraps my hair and under the dryer I go. She only trimmed the ends as needed, she really could have trimmed a bit more, but I guess by now she was afraid to. We talked about the products I used and her advice was as follows. Stop air drying, relaxers are to straighten the hair, air drying will keep it in a wavy state, the opposite textures will lead to breakage. (Made sense for my 4c hair, but me and my LHCF sisters had already figured that one out.) Wrap the hair at night. Stop using "alll them doggone products". I just listened on this one, cause I know what works, so I'll continue to manage my products accordingly. With my little PJ self.
I left the salon $95 poorer. My hair now about 1 inch shorter had bounce, swing and body. My advice...stay away from D-stylist and make sure to ask the "senior designers" many questions and get clarification on what less than an inch really is.
I decided to go and get my hair done at the salon (JC Penney's) because I didn't want to overlap, wanted a professional trim (I've mentioned my dry and crunchy ends previously) and an overall consultation.
When I made the appt. the receptionist asked if I wanted Doris (D) or Tiffany (T). I asked the tenure of both. Each had been there about 5 years, I went with T. I figured younger sounding name probably more up to date on healthy hair.
I get to the salon. D is about 50 with a busted up weave and thick coke bottle glasses, I think I woke her up when I walked in. T is about 25-29ish, short bob, very energetic.
There were three other ladies in the salon. Two were D's, one T. I asked D's customer if she had been coming here long. She was an older woman, sort of grandmotherly but real mean looking, with short very very unhealthy hair in lengths that varied from 0-3 inches. She said yes, "I've been coming here for over two years. D always does my hair real good". (See I knew I had made the right choice.) When T calls me, I tell her politely that I would like to first discuss their services and the overall condition of my hair. She tells me that the relaxer will be $65 because she is a "senior and a designer". I needed her to explain that to me. Well she said D is a only "stylist" so her relaxer is $60, I'm a senior so mine are $65 and on the other side are the "masters" so their relaxers are $70." (Ummmmmm...I think, same relaxer, same equipment....but what the hell.) Well by now everyone else in the salon is absorbing this apparently new and unknown information. Especially the ladies waiting for D-stylist. So now I ask about my hair.
She took down my twist and my hair falls around my shoulders. Her first ? is "who does your hair" I was waiting for this. "I do it myself". I'm waiting for the barrage of insults explaining the obvious reason my hair is sooo unhealthy and will need to be cut off. She says "well....you definitely need a cut, and is this a texture or is your hair just underprocessed?" I explain to her that the hair may appear underprocessed because I air dry and that it is an Affirm relaxer. I then launch in to why I stopped going to salons, because of the overlapping, and how my hair was always short and breaking. She explained that the reason stylist over lap is because my hair looks underprocessed and that she couldn't tell the line of demarcation because my hair all had the same wave pattern. I told her that my hair grows about an inch a month and that I tell the line by touch. I told her I did not want my hair overlapped and then just asked her, was that something she could handle? She was very nice about it and said she would only do the new growth or what felt like new growth but that my hair would not be "bone-straight" and that if I wanted to get my "money's worth", it should be bone straight, and that would mean pulling the relaxer out to the ends. I told her overlapping any previously relaxed hair is just unhealthy and that is why my hair was always breaking.
Well right about now I look up and D has smooth that relaxer all over Big Momma's head from scalp to end. And the older lady is just looking at me
The older lady looks at me like she is too through with all my ?s and says, "Well are you gonna get it done or what. With all that hair you got, you shoulda been getting it "permed" at least every two weeks" and then she rolled her eyes at me....(Okay Big Momma) I just look at her with all that "perm" now sitting on her head, cause D had been left to go and get her something to drink. In exactly 15 minutes cause I was looking at the clock, D comes back, puts Big Momma in another chair and starts basing her next customer. That "perm" has been on 3 inches of hair for more than 25 minutes now.
D's next customer is even worse. Shoulder length "strings" of hair with permanent gold highlights. She very quietly and timidly asks D why her hair is "still" breaking. D loud talks her, "you just need some vitamins" and goes on to tell her that somebody told her that prenatal vitamins would stop any kind of hair breaking. (Couldn't possibly be the "D-stylist" techniques) This woman literally had tufts of hair mixed in with the strings, that had obviously just popped off. This time I noticed D, was very careful in applying the relaxer and did not overlap. But it still stayed on about 25 minutes. I didn't even want to be there for the comb out. It only took about six rollers for her entire head.
Okay back to me. T applies the relaxer, the color, wraps my hair and under the dryer I go. She only trimmed the ends as needed, she really could have trimmed a bit more, but I guess by now she was afraid to. We talked about the products I used and her advice was as follows. Stop air drying, relaxers are to straighten the hair, air drying will keep it in a wavy state, the opposite textures will lead to breakage. (Made sense for my 4c hair, but me and my LHCF sisters had already figured that one out.) Wrap the hair at night. Stop using "alll them doggone products". I just listened on this one, cause I know what works, so I'll continue to manage my products accordingly. With my little PJ self.
I left the salon $95 poorer. My hair now about 1 inch shorter had bounce, swing and body. My advice...stay away from D-stylist and make sure to ask the "senior designers" many questions and get clarification on what less than an inch really is.
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