I Fired my Stylist

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Well-Known Member
Thought I would share.


I fired the person who has braided my hair over the last 5 years. I realized I have changed and I am no longer the person I was regarding my hair, when we first met.

Since learning more about textured hair and learning how to care for it, I am proud of my accomplishments and I now require people to respect it. For so many years, I allowed people to abuse my hair that during my braiding session last week, I knew that that would be the last time she would touch my hair.

When I sat in her chair she mentioned that she had cramps and was not in a good mood :look: I offered her an aspirin and handed her my combs. She refused and started to comb my hair.

Here we go:

She started combing my hair, with her combs. I was unsure if she had forgotten
I had just handed her my combs so I jokingly asked her if that was my comb. She then put down her comb and picked up mine (Did I just hear a sigh?) :ohwell:

I had already detangled my hair and put it in braids and twist, so she could work in sections, so why she taking down all my braids and twists? With half my head now unbraided she begins to comb through it with a tail comb:heated: Now my hair is re-tangling itself and all I hear is snap, crackle and pop. I then hand her my condition and ask her to please put some in my head before she combs it and if she could use a different comb. (Did I just hear another sigh and see a eye roll?)

She applies what looked liked a dime size amount of my conditioner to my :afro2:
hair. In a calm voice, I told her that wasn't enough and reached for the conditioner and slathered a lot all over my hair. She then says, your making your hair tangle more, I then reminded her that I had already detangled my hair and had it sectioned for her. I then asked her to please work in small sections.

She then begins braiding. After an hour of braiding, I notice that the braids are getting tighter. I let her know that the braids are getting too tight and that I prefer them not to be tight at all. Her reply: You need them to be tight. If there not tight, your hair is not going to grow and they are going to start looking crazy soon :spinning: (My pressure is starting to rise) I told her that my hair is going to break off if they are tight. She then tells me <<WAIT FOR IT>> that the reason my hair has grown like it has is because of her braiding my hair tight.

((( INSERT GIF OF WOMEN IN CHURCH WHO FALLS OUT ON ALTER AND HER WIG FALLS OFF)))

I can't brev.

In my mind. Wait one minute. One damn minute. You mean all the pre-poo'ing, no pre-poo'ing, deep conditioning, deep deep conditioning, co washing, steaming, acv'g, satin pillow casing, sulphur smelling, Mega-teking, castor oiling, ovationing, vitamin swallowing, jogging, green drinking, wig wearing, weaving, and hanging my butt upside down had nothing to do with????!!!!!

Once I was able to speak, I told her regardless of how it looks I didn't want it tight. She continued to braid. About half way through, I told her I need to use the bathroom. When i looked in the mirror I noticed she was doing it differently than i requested. :wall bash: When I got back to her chair, I turned the chair towards the mirror and showed her I said I wanted it.

Deal Breaker:

Her reply:

I am a stylist. I do what I think will look the best on you. The way you said you wanted, wouldn't have looked right. You have to many rules concerning your hair for me. I'm a artist, just let me be creative and do it the way I want.

She didn't braid my hair tight :nono: and I continued to apply conditioner before she comb through my hair.

Neither of us spoke to each other over the next two hours. When she was finished
She informed me that her summer schedule fills up quickly and asked if I wanted to schedule my next visit :lachen::lachen::lachen::lachen::lachen::lachen:

I told her no. I paid and I left.

I'm 90% happy about how I handled it.
 

SexySin985

Well-Known Member
The nerve of her! You are paying her money to do your hair how YOU want it!

Are you satisfied with the hairstyle?
 

naturalmanenyc

Well-Known Member
Good job!!!! We all need to start doing this. I posted this very thing in the Best natural hair advice thread - say something when a stylist is damaging your hair. I was guilty of sitting through it for years but NEVER again.
 

KEWLKAT103

Well-Known Member
Good for you for standing up for yourself and ending the relationship.
"Your hair won't grow if the braids aren't tight enough", what kind of logic is that? That makes no sense!
 

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Well-Known Member
The nerve of her! You are paying her money to do your hair how YOU want it!

Are you satisfied with the hairstyle?

Right!

It's not exactly what I requested but it will do. Because her attitude was lacking in customer service, I think it took away any chance of me enjoying this look 100%.
 

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Well-Known Member
Good for you for standing up for yourself and ending the relationship.
"Your hair won't grow if the braids aren't tight enough", what kind of logic is that? That makes no sense!

She has a clientele that believes this to be true :yep: I see a lot of edgeless and no nape clients get up out of her chair.
 

Blairx0

Well-Known Member
I heard that logic before-- it has to be tight to pull the hair out of your scalp. Scoff. I can only hope for the day when these stylist read a health book like everyone else who comes in contact with clients skib or go out of bussiness.
 

IDareT'sHair

PJ Rehabilitation Center
Wait one minute. One damn minute. You mean all the pre-poo'ing, no pre-poo'ing, deep conditioning, deep deep conditioning, co washing, steaming, acv'g, satin pillow casing, sulphur smelling, Mega-teking, castor oiling, ovationing, vitamin swallowing, jogging, green drinking, wig wearing, weaving, and hanging my butt upside down had nothing to do with????!!!!!

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#priceless. You Betta' PREACH!:lol:
 

DoDo

Big Hair, Don't Care
The last time I sat down in a braiding salon I had spent no more than 6 months on my healthy hair journey. I already had twice as much hair as every other client in the salon. The heads of hair were torn up, just like mine was :nono:.

That was the last time I ever sat down in a braiding salon. You did the right thing OP. This is the next leg of your healthy hair journey and that stylist was not ready to join you in it.
 
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NaturallyATLPCH

Well-Known Member
Some of these stylists are so arrogant. Kudos to you for saying something.

I don't understand this rationale of dictating to me what I want done to my hair and you are getting my money. :nono:
 

IDareT'sHair

PJ Rehabilitation Center
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I've had it happen so many times it's not funny (Relaxed) in "Our" Salons. :look:

More times that I can count. From Trims/Cuts/Color/Styles/Relaxer etc......

However, when I went to x2 White Guys Stylists/Different Salons it never happened.

*Maybe they were scurrrd*:lol:

They paid more attention to what I asked for. Regardless of their Creativity.
 

irisak

Well-Known Member
The last time I sat down in a braiding salon I had spent no more than 6 months on my healthy hair journey. I already had twice as much hair than every other client in the salon. The heads of hair were torn up, just like mine was :nono:.

That was the last time I have ever sat down in a braiding salon. You did the right thing OP. This is the next leg of your healthy hair journey and that stylist was not ready to join you in it.

I noticed that the last time I was in a braiding salon for tree braids about two years ago. I have never seen so much to' up hair in my life. Every women in there had broken, neck length or shorter hair. One wanted tree braids but her hair was so many lengths they had to do micros.

Good for you op. Protect those strands! I don't let anyone touch my hair but one dominican shop for the occasional roller set for that reason. No one is going to damage my hair but me lol.
 

Stormy

Well-Known Member
Subscribe You mean all the pre-poo'ing, no pre-poo'ing, deep conditioning, deep deep conditioning, co washing, steaming, acv'g, satin pillow casing, sulphur smelling, Mega-teking, castor oiling, ovationing, vitamin swallowing, jogging, green drinking, wig wearing, weaving, and hanging my butt upside down had nothing to do with????!!!!!

:user: Taking notes... I know I've done at least two things from your list. Trying to see what else I can do.
 

PJaye

Well-Known Member
Good for you, OP. Knowing me, I would've ended things somewhat differently:

Her: My summer schedule fills up quickly, so do you want to schedule your next visit now?
Me: No, thank you. This will be my last visit given your technique, ignorance, and attitude. Have a good day.
 

Kaitlynrs91

Active Member
That's so sad.. I'm halfway tempted to befriend a white stylist and teach him/her how to care for my hair because some of them are interested in learning "our hair"
 

SunRai Naturals

Well-Known Member
This is more of the norm than it is the exception which is sad. I refuse to let a stylist touch my hair at this point. I've put too much into my hair journey to have it ruined in one salon session.
 

claudzie

Strolling with Unicorns
I wonder if this happens in other countries?

Yes it happens here in the UK too. A week ago I went to get my hair braided. She first started off by telling me she wasn't even in the mood for braiding :look: She proceeds to blowdry my hair without a heat protector, I was going to say something then I realised she didn't even have any and I did not bring mine either, so I left that. Halfway through braiding she got to the side and needed to change position. The chair I was sat on does not fully rotate so in order to get to the side she had to push the chair. Instead of asking me to get up briefly so she could push the chair, she goes on to attempt to push the chair whilst I am still in it :rolleyes::rolleyes: I mean you can't even push a toddler in that chair because the chair is heavy on its own. After failing to push it she says 'You are heavy weight, get up so I can push the chair' (yeah for real!)

That added to the fact that her and her colleague had a full blown convo in their own language the entire time and parts of it which sounded like they were talking about the other client and I, I knew I would not be coming back. The other stylist also asked the other client why she moisturised her hair and told her not to do so the next time she is about to braid.:nono:

OP you did the right thing. I think some of these stylists are more concerned about the styles looking good and thus 'advertising' their work rather than the health of your hair.
 

JudithO

Well-Known Member
I just restarted my hair journey... BC'd ... And I went to this lady to get my hair braided... She didn't pull tight at all but she use a blowdryer on my hair... I had no plans of using heat on my hair but I said nothing cos I guess I didn't want to be confrontational... It wasn't a great enough deal to cause a fit over, but it reminded me that I need to find stylists that will abide 100% to what I want by having them agree with my methods over the phone ... Before I get there.... or I just become a 100% diy'er like my relaxed hair journey. I just need one good stylist though... Just one ... I don't think I have the time to braid/twist my hair...
 

doll-baby

Well-Known Member
I'm glad you made the decision to not go back to her.
Last year for the first time in 12 years I started going back to the salon to get my sew ins professionally done.

Long story short today my hair.is significantly thinner and my nape and the hair.above my ears are about an inch long. Im now on a mission to get my hair back to where it was last year.

Needless to say im never going back to another salon again. I may get tired of styling my own hair but in the long run it's not worth the damage a lot of these stylist cause.
 

Saludable84

Better Late Than Ugly
You know what's sad? When I was researching keratin treatments. One Dominican stylist (out of a lot I asked) recommended I not get it and one white stylist wanted to charge me a lot (she was insured) but her confidence in pricing me showed me she was familiar with colored hair.

I honesty wouldn't even want to be bothered with my own when it comes to hair care. They are so prideful that they can't just take simple instructions; like your insulting them when your really not. Are you really not allowed to not know your own hair? I never get that about these stylist. Why can't you be happy I took the time to learn my hair and not leave all the guesswork to you?
 

BFeathers

Member
I'm neurotic about my hair when it comes to stylist. I interviewed stylists and show just how neurotic I can be and "my vision" of where I want my hair and what I plan on doing to achieve it and ask if they have any suggestions to add.

My stylist is 52. My first instinct was to pick someone a bit mature because these 20-30 somethings be tripping. It's my money. But she's awesome and laughed for about 5 minutes on me ranting about my hair and after all that she was like "girl, I've been doing hair so long I deal with you and we're going to be alright" and we have a great relationship.

My weaveologist is 27. She's the best. She's so zen and patient. She's natural but stays primarily in sew ins for time and she prefers the look.

She asks me as she's braiding "how's that feel? too tight or good"

When she told me from the get go "tell me if it's too tight and I'll loosen it" I was sold.


I would have walked on that "I'm an artist" BS. Girl you're about to have a bald headed canvas if you don't listen to it
 

Victoria44

Well-Known Member
This sounds so similar to my experience with my braider at an African braiding shop in Harlem. Last time I went was over 2.5 yrs ago and I'll probably never go back. The braids always looked great at the end but the rat tail combs to detangle, and the super tight braids, and not following instructions were too much for me
 

Guinan

Re-Branding
Good for you!!! I'm glad you stood up for yourself and demanded what you are paying for.

BTW... Any Pics??
 

havilland

Magical Mythical Princess
I'm mad you stayed with all that attitude and didn't walk out. She didn't do what u asked. Argues with you the whole time. Insists on having her own way. Did what she wanted not what you asked. Rips through your hair. And ruined a perfectly good day in your life with attitude then got paid for it.

Not. Cool.

On a brighter note: I'm glad you won't ever go back to her again. I wish u had told her off and walked out, but I'm not a nice person when it comes to my hair. You are a much better person than I am. ;)
 

mzteaze

Pilates and Yoga Kinda Gal
@Subscribe

I've had it happen so many times it's not funny (Relaxed) in "Our" Salons. :look:

More times that I can count. From Trims/Cuts/Color/Styles/Relaxer etc......

However, when I went to x2 White Guys Stylists/Different Salons it never happened.

*Maybe they were scurrrd*:lol:

They paid more attention to what I asked for. Regardless of their Creativity.

I've come to realize that the way white salons are ran is not the same "our" folks are taught to run a salon.

My current (white) stylist made me proud when she was teaching her assistant how to comb and detangle my hair. She told her, comb gently starting at the ends in SMALL sections with a wide tooth comb. ... I was so proud.
 

IDareT'sHair

PJ Rehabilitation Center
@mzteaze

And they don't have you sittin' up in there waiting for hours. :look:

If your Appointment was at Noon, at precisely "NOON" someone would be coming to get you to put a robe on you to get started.

That was after they 'offered' you a Soft Drink, Coffee, Tea or Bottled Water (Juice).:look:

To both of them "time was money" And both had predominately a black female clientele.

There were nobody selling fish/chicken dinners, bean pies etc...knock off Coach Bags, Louis Vuitton, Kate Spades OR vials of replicated Oils & Colognes or DVD's.

*sorry*
 

Saludable84

Better Late Than Ugly
I've come to realize that the way white salons are ran is not the same "our" folks are taught to run a salon. My current (white) stylist made me proud when she was teaching her assistant how to comb and detangle my hair. She told her, comb gently starting at the ends in SMALL sections with a wide tooth comb. ... I was so proud.

Because it's not rocket science. Black hair is not hard to care for or style with a little bit of patience.
 
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