I’m back this week after a relaxing Thanksgiving Break, and I want to talk about something that really angered me recently. Since I was home, I decided to get my hair braided before I went back to school. In preparation for getting my hair braided, I booked an appointment at the salon. I planned on getting my hair washed, deep conditioned, and blow dried; all very simple, basic things every hairdresser knows how to do you would think.
When my mother booked the appointment, she specifically asked for a hairdresser that had the skills to do 4c hair. The usual woman that I go to wasn’t available, so I had to schedule the appointment with someone else. I was told she was curl trained so some of my fears dissipated.
When I got to the salon, I was immediately skeptical because the hairdresser I was scheduled with was in the middle of doing another women’s hair. The issue with this is that my hair requires a lot of time and attention. It can get tangled very easily if not done with care. I also noticed that the women was frazzled, irritated, and a little rude. I still kept my calm and hoped she knew what she was doing.
We got to the wash bowl, and she used the same products that I always use when I go there, so I thought “Oh. She may actually know what she’s doing.” I quickly realized how wrong I was.
The Numerous Red Flags
- Red Flag #1: When she was washing my hair, she barely detangled it.
- Red Flag #2: She didn’t use any heat protectant while she was blow drying my hair.
- Red Flag #3: As she blow dried my hair, she left the roots and ends very dry and tangled.
- Red Flag #4: Instead of carefully untangling the knots in my hair, she blow dried over them.
- Red Flag #5: She blow dried in big sections instead of creating small parts.
The Aftermath
After she was about halfway through, I told her she wasn’t doing my hair properly, paid for the deep condition, and left. She didn’t even apologize. She just went to finish the other client’s hair. It was such a horrible experience because by the time I got home it was 9 pm. I was already exhausted from my flight that morning, taking down my braids, and now I had to blow dry my hair myself. There was literally no purpose of going to the salon because I essentially started over. I really wish she had just admitted she couldn’t do my hair so that my time wasn’t wasted.
This isn’t the first time this has happened. One time, I had someone use a flat iron to “blow dry” my hair. She said she wanted to make sure the roots were detangled, but a brush and blowdryer could’ve done the same job. Another time, I had 2 girls working on my hair and they still couldn’t do it. Their boss had to come over and do it for them.
My hair has always been one of my biggest insecurities because of experiences like this. Whenever I book an appointment at the salon, I always specify that I have 4c/black/kinky hair and it’s annoying. Why can people with straighter hair book an appointment at any salon they want and get any style/treatment they want, but I have to search for hours on end to find one person to simply blow dry mine?
The Issue
This issue isn’t just about race, but it’s also about ignorance and inclusivity. I’ve had people of other races blow dry my hair and they’ve done an amazing job. Those people took the time and effort to take classes on how to style and care for 4c hair. The woman that wasted my time last Wednesday and other hairdressers in the past like her did not.
It all boils down to what is taught in cosmetology schools especially the designer cosmetology schools. Students are taught how to bleach, dye, and straighten on one hair type, that isn’t mine.
You may wonder why I don’t just blow dry my own hair? I can, but it’s much faster when I have someone else do it for me because they can get a better grip on my hair and can see the back.
I chose to write about this experience, because I wanted to draw attention to this issue. My hair isn’t a playground, and yet hairdressers still treat it like one. They play around it thinking they can’t cause any damage it to it yet they still do: sometimes that damage goes beyond my hair.
Leave with This
From this week’s article, I hope you all look at the bigger picture and take away this message. No matter how equal you think the world is, if you look a little deeper, you can still see the many inequalities. For example, people say there’s equal access to good education in the U.S., but if you look a little closer, you’ll see that’s not true. Many schools are underfunded, underserved, and lacking in comparison to other schools in their counties and sometimes districts.
This week’s article isn’t the most uplifiting, but I hope it opened some of y’all’s eyes. Thank you for reading. Make sure to subscribe to be notified of new posts. Stay sharp 😉