Would you go to a white stylist?

[chrisanddonniesmommy]

For color or trimming, yes. For other chemical services, like relaxers, no. It does depend because you would have to rely on experience on others' hair as well as hair that's sort of like yours.

 

[lux10023]

i dont really do the salon thing like that---but i am def interested in the future in gettin color--i sue to be a light brown head--but had a tragic accident--lol anyhoo--so ive been stickign to my natural color light blkish for the past 2 yrs but i dont like dark hair on me

but i will prob go to t.gibson when im ready to do the color

what i do like about white salons is they usually have ppl who just do whatever their great at--like colorist and cutting.....i like the notion that the colorist at the salon does color and thats what they do 90% of the time and are experts in that field

versus goin to a salon where every stylist does a lil bit of everything

for color--i like to trust someone who knowsssssssss how to color hair because not everyone who colors hair actually knows the whole dynamic of the process..timing..and etc

 

[mrsjohnson75]

No, but then again I wouldn't go to a green, blue, yellow, or purple one.

All stylists are EVILLLLLLL!!!

 

[NaturalBoss]

I won't go to any stylist (black, white, green....) unless he/she is recommended by someone who has been going to them for a while and has healthy hair. I would only let someone who is non-black do my hair if they specifically specialized in afro-textured hair. I live in WA state, so this would be a rare thing up here. However I've heard of a white man who is supposed to be one of the best in Atlanta.

 

[dymondgurl]

If they were qualified and I personally saw their work YES absolutely ...but my statement applies to every stylist male or feamle,black,white or other.

 

[simplyhair]

I have not read all the threads but I never thought I would go to a white stylist. Everytime I it mentioned to someone, they would always put it down.

Well, low and behold, I went to Walmart (SmartStyle) and saw a black stylist. I was super happy because I live in a rural, all white area with farmland galore. After talking with the black stylist and viewing her hair picture of clients, I was like, ehh, she is ok. I walked away a little skeptical with her skills. While I was looking at her pictures, I noticed all the white stylists had black customers as well....hum, interesting.

I waited a month and went back looking for the black stylist. She wasn't there that day. So, I asked the white stylist if she does relaxers. She quickly said yes and whipped out her pictures. Nearly every picture was of AA women and kids. And the hair looked GOOD!

Long story short, she has mad skills. She said that she wanted to learn how to AA hair. She would tell her instructors at beauty school to show her how to apply the relaxer, marcel curling irons, french braid, etc. She said all the other students did not want to learn. They only wanted to learn how to do white people hair.

Now, I guess it helps that her son's father and her best friend is black. When I went for my first relaxer (Mizani) appointment, she took the time to evalutate my new growth, check my scalp, base me...just everything. Then, surprisingly ask me why don't I grow my hair out and go natural. I mean, she loves my length but she is so into natural hair because her best friend is natural. Well, a lot of her customers are natural.

She has moved from SmartStyle into an upscale salon.

Sorry this was so long!

 

[Sade']

one of my friend's went to a white stylist at the hair cuttery and her roller set came out beautiful.

 

[Vintageglam]

the BEST relaxer I ever had was by a Thai man in south London.

He arrived in the UK in the 70's and realised that there was a market for black hairdressing and so set about business and learning his craft he now has one of the best black hair dressing saloons in the UK.

My lady whom used to steam my hair is Jamaican but of Chinese descent so does not have what you would consider to be typical AA hair. In fact its more type 1 or 2.

The fact is she is skillful, diligent and has good hair care practices and in IMHO that is all that matters.

On a side note some of the WORST hair dressing exp I have had (esp poor customer care) have been in traditionally owned black hair saloons.

ETA: I have also had some pretty mean steam and set treatments when I was traveling around SE Asia. Those ladies handled my hair like it was silk and were extra diligent and did not rip through my hair with a rat-tail comb....

 

[Vintageglam]

Here in my city in Canada, no I wouldn't. But only because they are not used AT ALL to work with our type of hair. There are not many black people here, and about 95 % that I've seen have weaves,braids,wigs or damaged relaxed hair, the rest are naturals with healthy hair and maybe 3 that I've seen with nice healthy relaxed hair. When I've gone to a white salon to have my hair cut they don't even know what a relaxer is. I go to a Kerastase salon(recommended by an LHCF member ) because they have a black stylist and she cut my hair and she is good.However she cannot blow dry at all, at least not to my liking. Maybe it is because at a white salon they are just not used to spending the amount of time that's required for our hair, which takes more than blow drying type 1 or 2 hair.
Back in Cuba though my stylist was a white man, and he was extremely good at rollersetting, relaxing, cutting, coloring and blow drying my hair, he was all about the health of the hair and didn't want to give me highlights even though I wanted to.

So I think it is about the skills of the stylist but also the exposure they've had to our hair.

I noticed this about Cuba when I was there. The stylists tend to be able to do all hair. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised!

 

[Uber]

the BEST relaxer I ever had was by a Thai man in south London.

He arrived in the UK in the 70's and realised that there was a market for black hairdressing and so set about business and learning his craft he now has one of the best black hair dressing saloons in the UK.

My lady whom used to steam my hair is Jamaican but of Chinese descent so does not have what you would consider to be typical AA hair. In fact its more type 1 or 2.

The fact is she is skillful, diligent and has good hair care practices and in IMHO that is all that matters.

On a side note some of the WORST hair dressing exp I have had (esp poor customer care) have been in traditionally owned black hair saloons.

ETA: I have also had some pretty mean steam and set treatments when I was traveling around SE Asia. Those ladies handled my hair like it was silk and were extra diligent and did not rip through my hair with a rat-tail comb....

Are they by any chance in Peckham? They always have nice weaves in the hair mags. They've won loads of awards if its the same ones

 

[butterfly_wings]

What?!! a lot of black stylists don't know our hair either?! I would go to a white salon for a colour or cut, and I would go to a black salon for a treatment or relaxer. I don't even go to salons anymore, haven't been to one in 4 years

 

[Seraphina]

I was so shocked to learn that my sister was not cool with a white person doing her hair. She said, "They don't know our hair like we know our hair!" She asked me to ask for a black stylist, which I didn't mind doing. I was just shocked tho, this is 2010! I understand where she is coming from, but at a high end salon I think the stylist are very skilled no matter what race they are. I personally don't discriminate...I just think it depends on the person's experience and their skill.

So, would you refuse to let an expert stylist with great reviews, do your hair just because they are white?

I've had my hair done by a white stylist once. He worked at that multicultural salon that I used to go. The biggest concern of mine is whether they know how to work with textured hair. This particular stylist was great. He was trained in Deva cuts so he did curly hair quite well. At the red, she has to be aware that most black stylists haven't a clue what they're doing and rely on cutting and relaxing to keep themselves paid. Not only does this salon not do chemical work, but going to him was kinda refreshing because he didn't have that "you need a perm" mentality. So many black stylists make us feel worse about our hair by about how difficult and unattractive it is. I rarely go to the salon for anything anymore, though.

 

[sharifeh]

I would be apprehensive if they have never done my type of hair before. Heck, I even have people of my own hair type that do exclusively black hair complain about the density of my hair and how difficult it is.
It's not just about skill to me, it's about if they have done my type of hair before and if they are an expert in our hair. Because even if they have all the skills in the world, if I were their first black client ever, they would probably jack up my hair.

 

[Vintageglam]

Are they by any chance in Peckham? They always have nice weaves in the hair mags. They've won loads of awards if its the same ones

yep that's the one right on the high street not far from the high street.

Pricey (110 GBP for a relaxer) but worth it.

 

[onejamifan]

I've been to white stylist only TWICE in my life and neither one had a clue what to do. The first one gave me the one and only short hair cut I've ever had and the second one could not rollerset hair to save her life. I don't think she had ever done a rollerset. White stylists only know how to cut, color and blowdry...

 

[DDTexlaxed]

I have one and she is very talented! Skillful hair stylists can be hard to find.

 

[Lucky's Mom]

I would in a heartbeat. I am trying to get friends to do 'black' hair....

 

[Minnie]

Talent matter the most to me, but I have to admit that I have never considered going to a white stylist. I only have had 4 stylist in my whole life, after seeing their work. I would like to say If I went to a salon after seeing someones else's hair or referral and found out that the stylist was white , I wouldn't dicriminate.

 

[Hair2Here]

I went to a diverse salon where there was one white hair stylist who was completely booked each week. Why? She said if she was going to work in a diversed beauty salon she wanted to know about and do all types of hair (plus it meant more money in her pockets). She went back to school. And whatever she learned was incredible for her clients. Not only did she do our hair just as good as the other black stylists (or better), she was in high demand.

I felt bad to request her when I had already been going to one of the black stylists. I wanted to switch so bad. Gurls were coming out with their hair looking good!

I appreciate a stylist who is not black taking the extra steps to learn and know about our hair. To me, education and patience matters because there are some black hair stylists that know how to mess up some hair! We read horror stories on this board all the time!

 

[Chevelure618]

One of the best hair stylists I ever had was white. He was from Idaho, very fair, light blonde hair with a cowlick. He did my relaxers great and did color great too. He definitely knew about the different "types" of AA hair. It was an upscale salon on the west side of Manhattan in the 50's. I can't remember the name of it now...it's gone now anyway. He also installed some tracks for me a few times. He braided very tightly. Most of the other stylists in the salon were black...also high-end type of stylists.

I do understand how your sister feels though. You don't want anyone experiementing in your hair, but if the person is white and comes by reputation, I wouldn't think twice.

 

[beans4reezy]

I tried a white hair dresser before. Let's just say, I wont be back.

 

[equestrian]

If she had past(and good) experiences with 3c-4b hair.

 

[Krymsonkween]

I actually go to one. She was very gentle on my hair and took her time. She says she likes doing AA hair. I also like going because it is a ful service salon and I lik the massage, facials, n waxing

I went to a asian girl that like to rip my hair out of my head.

 

[Eisani]

Although I do my own hair 98% of the time, I've had a white stylist for years and wouldn't dare trust anyone else with my hair. She's done my relaxers, colors, trims...whatever I needed. Now that I think about it, I think she only has/had a couple white clients.

I giggle sometimes when I see threads like this and people talking about the white stylist would have to come highly recommended and they would have to be experienced with afro-textured hair. Would those not be requirements for ANY stylist? There are some blacks I would never let even look at my hair because all they know is black gel and Pump It Up. Who's to say the black stylist in OP's salon has as much experience as the white stylist? Interesting...

 

[MonPetite]

Race doesn't matter. Experience and philosophy does.

All but one of the black stylists I have ever been to had a clue as to how to "do" hair.

The one white stylist I went to knew exactly what to do with my hair type.

Many of the black stylists were just as recommended as the white stylist.

She had a healthy hair philosophy...so did the one black stylist who was a wonder with my hair -he's amazing. Both were experienced, well recommended and had a philosophy about hair that matched my own: health over style.

Experience. Philosophy. Skill. That's what I look for.

I'm a DIYer currently but, I've been wondering if I should return to the salon for things like trims or experimenting with color as of late.

 

[kami02]

I would definitely go but I did have one bad experience. In college I went to the local hair school to get a $3 wash and set. She washed my hair like she was trying to not break the yolk of an egg. I'm not sure if I was her first black customer or what but she was definitely scared of my hair lol. I don't remember the setting process but my hair looked decent.

 

[RocStar]

For me the age, race, sex, ability/disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identification, etc. does not matter.

Do you got skills or not?

 

[BostonMaria]

No I wouldn't go to one, but if she showed me her work and let me know that I wasn't her first client with afro textured hair then MAYBE I'd do it.

 

[Lady S]

I don't see myself going to any race of stylist for colors since after 10 years of doing my own, I've got it covered The only time I could see letting someone else doing it is if it was really complicated highlights and lowlights and all that stuff.

Like any stylist, I need them to know exactly how to deal with hair that isn't just straight or wavy. Even white people with curly hair will complain about how hard it is to find a stylist who knows how to do their hair. As for as I'm concerned, if you hear about an amazing stylists who can do magic of textured hair, then why not?

I'd let a white girl braid my hair. I mean, you can't up box braids, right? Right?!?

 

[Southern Belle]

The bolded reminds me of a story Oprah told where she went to a white salon and she asked the man if they did "black hair." And his response was, "Oh sure, we do black hair, blonde hair, red hair, all colors." He put a perm on her hair and destroyed it to the point where she had to cut it short and start over.

Anyway, I don't think it's a given that if it's a high-end salon that the stylists have necessarily paid any attention learning about afro-textured hair and its unique needs. I would go to a white stylist, but I would have to specifically ask if they have experience working with black people's hair. (But come to think of it, I don't go to black stylists either. Few people of any color know how to do it well)

I saw that episode too, and it make me