Oh, to be curly and in need of a haircut! If you don't have specialized professional close to you, you know you'll have a good amount of researching to do in order to find a good place. I went through that process last week, my first haircut since I moved to Manchester. I should present myself. My name is Laís (pronounced Lah-ees), mixed race girl with 3b pattern curls (if that doesn't mean anything to you, just look at the picture). I am...
I started my search online and to be honest, I wasn't being really picky: I wanted something relatively cheap and close. There are great specialized hairdressers in London an Birmingham. But eight hours on a bus for a trim? No thanks.
After examining a fair amount of profiles and looking through forums, I read some positive reviews from curlies about the Razors Edge Salon. The reviews weren't really exciting, but it was better than nothing, right?
Visiting the website I could read that they only cut hair wet, which was a big red flag for me. Since I decided to go natural, five years ago, I have been told, almost like a mantra, that my type of hair should be cut dry, so that the professional can take into account the spring factor. Every person has a different amount of shrinkage, so it's hard to tell how the final result is going to be before seeing it dry. I breathed deeply and made my appointment.
Fast forward to the day. While I waited to be called, I strolled through the product session, seeing if they would have a product I could recognize. Maybe a sulfate free shampoo? Something for wavy hair? I relaxed after spotting three different clearly curly advertised products. (exhale)
Within five minutes I was seated in Sannah's chair, a delightful young lady. Seriously. She had a fair amount of interesting chitchat topics that I would have loved to discuss. Another day. I was there for business. I had clear desires and expectations, and I needed to express them before any scissoring was done.
- I want it to be cut in layers, but I would like to keep the length.
She asked me how I'm used to take care of my hair, which I saw as an opportunity to use all of my vernacular: sulfate free, no poo regime, microfiber towel and yadda yadda yadda. If there is a tip that I would like to leave for the guys and girls looking for a hair salon it is this:
1. Know at you are talking about: do a lot of research and try to speak the same language as your hairdresser. You need to let them know what you expect. If they sense that you are interested in the topic and that you have a realistic idea of what you want, they will respect you for it.
She proceeded to detangle my hair dry, which was - as expected - a painful experience. After a wash with some much apreciated head massage it was back to the chair. It was cutting time. Now that I had expressed my wishes, I was ready for some chit chat and she gave me some names of products and lines and about how its unusual to have people with as much hair as me in the salon.
Cut done, I put my glasses back on and we started the finalizing process. I could tell you that the leave-in didn't feel like enough or that its distribution didn't seem even. I could tell you that after it was dry she had her hands all over it. But I won't, I will only show you the final result:
To be honest, her styling technique was good. The hands help bring out volume and the finger styling (taking one strand of hair and using your finger as if it were a curlying iron) helps with definition. It was a good technique. For wavy hair, a type that needs a little push to bring out the natural curls. To give that Gisele Bunchen look. As you can see not only on body type, bank account and gorgeusness of husband (hello, Tom Brady!) difference me from the super model.
We have to be realistic when going to a new hair salon. Styling and finalizing curly hair does not come natural to most people. So go there knowing that you will probably leave looking like a lioness.
And that leaves me with tip number two:
2. Always bring a hairband.
When I got home it was easy to see that the only defined curls were the ones that she made with her fingers. If she only knew that curly hair doesn't need any help on doing that.
After a shower and proper post styling (no combs, scrunching to dry, no fingers going through the hair) the result of the cut was pretty much what I wanted. And that is the most important part isn't it?
So for all of you curlies from the North hesitating about going natural because of bad hairdresser experience, fear no more. Go natural!
