No, I don't want a relaxer!!!!!!

[CurliDiva]

Ok.. today is my birthday, and I wanted to treat myself to a blowout to mark my one year LHCF anniversary.

I went to Manuela, a Dominican salon that has been raved about on LHCF!
I purposely dressed up, did my makeup, and worn earrings--because as a NATURAL-- I did not want to walk in the salon looking and feeling fierce.

So, the woman at Manuela tells me that THEY do not do natural hair, and I need to go to their other shop around the corner and ask for Argentina. So, I walk in the another salon-- they keep saying that I need a RELAXER!

I explained NO - I just want a wash, deep conditioner and a blow-out (think ludrais style) BUT NO...

No offense to my relaxed sistas, but a relaxer should be a CHOICE not a must in my opinion.

This woman keeps saying that I should get a relaxer ($65) and then the next time I come it will only be $25.

My hair is full, natural and touches my shoulders. I just looked to see what it would look like straighten! I thought a Dominican salon would have more of a "accepting attitude" towards NAPS, but they were just STRAIGHT hair nazis with accents.

As a NATURAL, am I doomed to doing my own hair for the REST of my life?

 

[mscounselor]

Girl!! I know the feeling..Im not completely natural. I have about 5 inches, but when I went in, I had a braidout. She asked me when my last perm was and I said October and she flat out told me she doesn't do natural hair. Im not even full natural yet.
It seems like we are too much work to deserve to be pampered every now and again.

 

[Candiss]

That's too bad. It seems that the Dominican salons (from what i have read on this site) are mostly about blow outs and perms. Their objective for the most part is to get the hair straight. People here on this board are constanly talking about the blowouts they get there. So I don't think those type of salons are the best place for taking care of natural hair.Maybe you should go to a salon that caters to natural hair. I personally would choose a salon where I know there are knowlegable stylists who can take care of highly textured hair. I'm sure there are many in D.C. that you can try. You might want to start by lookin at the salon section of LHCF and then maybe the internet.

 

[Mizani_Mrs]

I hate to take the unpopular opinion buy DAYAM..... (and i am not directing this post at you, i'm talking about my head and the hard time i had) I used to always feel sorry for naturals who wanted to get their hair serviced. But i had an eye-opening experience a week ago. A week ago, i was maybe 3.5 months post relaxer. I only had about 1.5inches of newgrowth but the length of my hair was starting to revert also. I washed my hair myself and it was soooo matted and tangled and it took like at least 35mins JUST to detangle my hair. Then i had to fight with it to blowdry it in sections. Not everyone has the patience to do this and I think if you choose to be natural then you should be prepared to find a natural salon that can properly take care of your hair and know all of the right products to get it to be able to comb out easy. Cause it is TOUGH...so i can see the stylists point of view. They trying to get 2 or 3 heads done per hour, probably. Like if i was a stylist, i would MAD if someone walked up in my salon and wanted me to comb thru all that 'hard to detangle' hair.... it is frustrating...but i do it gently because its MY hair, aint no tellin how i would handle someone else's hair. So going natural, i'd just say be prepared to detangle and do your own hair or find a natural salon that can safely do your hair. I do take offense to a salon who refuse to do a relaxed head if she hasn't had a fresh perm in 6-10weeks, It may be a little more difficult to detangle but not that much more...but if a person is more than 12 weeks then i can understand the argument.

 

[Syrah]

Bummer experience and I totally feel for you... as a fellow natural sister, I totally understand your dismay.

But lets also not jump and make the conclusion that they're all like this. I live in cali but whenever I'm in Philly (twice - 3x a year), I stop by the same Dominican Salon and they have no problem blowing out my natural hair. The first time I walked in they did suggest a lite relaxer. I said "no thanks". That's been the end of it. No more relaxer discussions.

 

[InJesusName]

Curl Diva

Happy Birthday!! It's my birthday too!!

 

[SUPER SWEET]

Sorry to hear this happen. But Happy Birthday

 

[Nicole-27]

Sorry to hear that but I definitely know the feeling. I am relaxed and they will not even touch your hair after 4 weeks of new growth. They love saying "you need a perm mami".

I love my dominican stylist now, but I know I need to take care of my own hair after 6 weeks of new growth.

I am not sure where you are but here in Jersey we have a lot of neighborhoods and areas that have a big "mixed" population and the salons in those areas are excellent for styling natural hair. Unfortunately there usually pretty expensive. Check that out in your area. Hope that helps & Happy Birthday my fellow Lady Leo (my b-day was Aug 5th)!

 

[Lucia]

I got my hair pressed a while ago at a black american salon and they said the same thing, yes we do natural hair but you should think about getting a relaxer the next time you come, they don't want to deal with naturals-period. I have a friend who's Filipino&black 3a/b curls, the stylist actually turned to her touched her hair and in front of us both said, see this is the grade of hair I prefer to work with, I said she's Filipino-hello.
She hasn't seen me since, and that's why I do my own hair.

 

[Crackers Phinn]

Happy Birthday CurliDiva and InJesusName

As a NATURAL, am I doomed to doing my own hair for the REST of my life?

Probably.

 

[CurleeDST]

Hair nazis with accents? WTH? You get what you put out there.

Ok.. today is my birthday, and I wanted to treat myself to a blowout to mark my one year LHCF anniversary.

I went to Manuela, a Dominican salon that has been raved about on LHCF!
I purposely dressed up, did my makeup, and worn earrings--because as a NATURAL-- I did not want to walk in the salon looking and feeling fierce.

So, the woman at Manuela tells me that THEY do not do natural hair, and I need to go to their other shop around the corner and ask for Argentina. So, I walk in the another salon-- they keep saying that I need a RELAXER!

I explained NO - I just want a wash, deep conditioner and a blow-out (think ludrais style) BUT NO...

No offense to my relaxed sistas, but a relaxer should be a CHOICE not a must in my opinion.

This woman keeps saying that I should get a relaxer ($65) and then the next time I come it will only be $25.

My hair is full, natural and touches my shoulders. I just looked to see what it would look like straighten! I thought a Dominican salon would have more of a "accepting attitude" towards NAPS, but they were just STRAIGHT hair nazis with accents.

As a NATURAL, am I doomed to doing my own hair for the REST of my life?

 

[caligirl]

I have a friend who's Filipino&black 3a/b curls, the stylist actually turned to her touched her hair and in front of us both said, see this is the grade of hair I prefer to work with

Wow, its not like we can choose what "grade" of hair we have. That lady needs to get a clue.

 

[CurleeDST]

Natural hair takes too much time to straighten for the money. Why spend 4 hours straightening natural hair when you can spend 2 hours? It is all about economics plus many of us are lazy anyway and anything that requires real work causes us a reason to complain.

And there are plenty of salons who style natural hair - you just have to do a bit of research and I am not talking about braids either.

Happy Birthday CurliDiva and InJesusName



Probably.

 

[MissFallon]

Wow, sorry to hear this happened. I am currently transitioning and although I am not a regular salon person I do like the ocassional salon wash & set. I never thought that a salon would turn you down because they don't do natural hair. What do they think they have? I doubt they are like that here in NYC because there are so many people who go to these dominican salons (because they are like corner stores here, 1-2 on every block) and everyone's hair textures are so different. I've never had the experience of a dominican hairdresser telling me I need a relaxer, they are pretty good here you go in tell them you want a wash and set and they do what you ask. It should be that simple everywhere.

 

[Brownie]

I hate to take the unpopular opinion buy DAYAM..... (and i am not directing this post at you, i'm talking about my head and the hard time i had) I used to always feel sorry for naturals who wanted to get their hair serviced. But i had an eye-opening experience a week ago. A week ago, i was maybe 3.5 months post relaxer. I only had about 1.5inches of newgrowth but the length of my hair was starting to revert also. I washed my hair myself and it was soooo matted and tangled and it took like at least 35mins JUST to detangle my hair. Then i had to fight with it to blowdry it in sections. Not everyone has the patience to do this and I think if you choose to be natural then you should be prepared to find a natural salon that can properly take care of your hair and know all of the right products to get it to be able to comb out easy. Cause it is TOUGH...so i can see the stylists point of view. They trying to get 2 or 3 heads done per hour, probably. Like if i was a stylist, i would MAD if someone walked up in my salon and wanted me to comb thru all that 'hard to detangle' hair.... it is frustrating...but i do it gently because its MY hair, aint no tellin how i would handle someone else's hair. So going natural, i'd just say be prepared to detangle and do your own hair or find a natural salon that can safely do your hair. I do take offense to a salon who refuse to do a relaxed head if she hasn't had a fresh perm in 6-10weeks, It may be a little more difficult to detangle but not that much more...but if a person is more than 12 weeks then i can understand the argument.

My natural hair is much easier to comb and detangle than my texturized hair was. I can style my hair much easier and quicker now. In my neck of the woods, we do have natural hair salons. From reading all the posts, I probably won't go to anything except a natural salon, but I haven't been to a salon in years, so I probably won't need one any time soon. When I was texturized and going to the salons, they didn't think my hair was straight enough. They wanted people to have bone straight hair. Not! If I went somewhere and they told me I need a relaxer, I would probably give them an earful (after they finished my hair) and I wouldn't go back. It's sad that hairdressers of color---who have naturally textured hair---are ignorant about how to take care of textured hair. It's even sadder that they prefer every hair type except their own.

 

[*ElleB]

Ok.. today is my birthday, and I wanted to treat myself to a blowout to mark my one year LHCF anniversary.

I went to Manuela, a Dominican salon that has been raved about on LHCF!
I purposely dressed up, did my makeup, and worn earrings--because as a NATURAL-- I did not want to walk in the salon looking and feeling fierce.

So, the woman at Manuela tells me that THEY do not do natural hair, and I need to go to their other shop around the corner and ask for Argentina. So, I walk in the another salon-- they keep saying that I need a RELAXER!

I explained NO - I just want a wash, deep conditioner and a blow-out (think ludrais style) BUT NO...

No offense to my relaxed sistas, but a relaxer should be a CHOICE not a must in my opinion.

This woman keeps saying that I should get a relaxer ($65) and then the next time I come it will only be $25.

My hair is full, natural and touches my shoulders. I just looked to see what it would look like straighten! I thought a Dominican salon would have more of a "accepting attitude" towards NAPS, but they were just STRAIGHT hair nazis with accents.

As a NATURAL, am I doomed to doing my own hair for the REST of my life?

Either, you learn to do your own hair or go to a salon for "naturals" because unfortunately that is what you need to prepare yourself to expect, unfortunately....

Lmao @ straight hair Nazis

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BTW

 

[mscounselor]

Wow!! Stylist cant be bothered to "work" on natural hair. If thats the case, put a sign on the door. I Only do Relaxed hair. Dont let the other people come in.
Imagine if that attitude transcended into other fields...
can you imagine a roofer only working at night or on one story buildings because its too hot/hard?
Or nail techs only working on nails that clean and immaculate?
I guess its their perogative (sp?)

Just sad!

 

[caribeandiva]

that was wrong of them. no one should force a relaxer on you if you don't want it.

 

[nurseN98]

Sorry that happened to you I know there are salons that will do natural hair, you just have to look for them.

But the majority of Dominican salons are out to straighten your hair and keep it that way. And I'm just gonna end with that statement....

Anyway, hope you had a nice birthday otherwise!

 

[blazingthru]

I can't speak for every one on here. I am not a 100% natural anymore since I added some color to my hair but I dont' have any other chemical in my hair and haven't for 10 months. I don't have any kind of tangles none whatsoever, I hardly comb my hair but when I do its wet and there are not problems. Everyone is different. But when I was transitioning I had a lot of tangles and matted hair that I had to cut. I only had that problem them and never again since. I BC.

 

[Kysmet]

I hate to take the unpopular opinion buy DAYAM..... (and i am not directing this post at you, i'm talking about my head and the hard time i had) I used to always feel sorry for naturals who wanted to get their hair serviced. But i had an eye-opening experience a week ago. A week ago, i was maybe 3.5 months post relaxer. I only had about 1.5inches of newgrowth but the length of my hair was starting to revert also. I washed my hair myself and it was soooo matted and tangled and it took like at least 35mins JUST to detangle my hair. Then i had to fight with it to blowdry it in sections. Not everyone has the patience to do this and I think if you choose to be natural then you should be prepared to find a natural salon that can properly take care of your hair and know all of the right products to get it to be able to comb out easy. Cause it is TOUGH...so i can see the stylists point of view. They trying to get 2 or 3 heads done per hour, probably. Like if i was a stylist, i would MAD if someone walked up in my salon and wanted me to comb thru all that 'hard to detangle' hair.... it is frustrating...but i do it gently because its MY hair, aint no tellin how i would handle someone else's hair. So going natural, i'd just say be prepared to detangle and do your own hair or find a natural salon that can safely do your hair. I do take offense to a salon who refuse to do a relaxed head if she hasn't had a fresh perm in 6-10weeks, It may be a little more difficult to detangle but not that much more...but if a person is more than 12 weeks then i can understand the argument.

I have natural hair and my hair does not tangle. Your hair was probably tangled because of the two textures, NOT because of the new growth.

I have two stylists. One that presses my hair and one that I go to for two strand twists. Neither service takes longer than when I had relaxed hair. If anything I'm in and out a hell of a lot quicker (2-3 hours TOPS). My stylists don't over book and its a relaxing experience.

Even when I wash my own hair I have no problems with detangling.