I’m not the only one who has left a curly salon less than happy with the way my hair was styled. A few curly influencers I follow get dry curly cuts and walk out of the salon every time without styling, only to wash, style and share the pic to IG the following morning. A few curly girls in my life have expressed the same frustration and confusion.
“Typically when I go to a curly salon, I never really walk out feeling confident,” says Marissa Pina, a producer and co-creator of the documentary Black Girl Church. “I’m not sure if it’s that I’m not used to the products they use or the way they apply it. Some salons the way they have you dry underneath the heat lamps, just makes my curls come out looser and that’s just not how I usually like to wear it.” Pina believes the trick is to work together with the stylist to achieve a look close to what you’d do at home. “I really feel like curly stylists should consider asking exactly what we use to style our hair and try to find a comparable product that they use in their salon. Maybe make it even a bit more hands on where you have the client show you how they usually style their hair and apply the product, and work together in that way. As curly haired girls we develop our own rituals and own routines and we know that if I apply a product this way, if I rake my hair this way, if I section my hair that way when I’m adding the product in it, I know I’m going to like what happens.”
Why are curly experts so great at coloring and cutting our curls but don’t always necessarily deliver when it comes to the styling? My theory is because every head of curly hair is completely different. Even if two clients both have a 3B curl pattern, one could have super fine and another could have super thick or coarse hair. It’s also hard to tell how to style someone’s curls best just based off of doing their hair once. So in a quest to finally leave a curly salon getting my curls to look as bouncy and defined as I always get them, here are a few things I plan to do at my next visit:
Consider bringing your own products
If you can get away with it, try bringing your own products—styling products especially. Depending on the salon, I’ve gotten away with at least bringing my own curl cream (or leave-in conditioner) along with my styling finisher which is usually a light-weight foam mousse. But if you’re going to a curly salon that’s affiliated with or part of a brand, chances are you might have some pushback. The trick is to look into the products they have and see what formulations could actually work for your curls.
Explain to them the kind of products you use
If you normally use a light-weight curl cream, ask your stylist and see if they have one that would have a similar effect on your hair. Try to explain to them your hair needs and how you like your hair to look after styling. I have a lot of hair—but my individual hairs are thin—so I have to go for products that are very hydrating (because curls are prone to dryness) but still light-weight enough to not weigh my curls down. In terms of styling products, heavy gels and thick mousses dry my curls out and leave them looking wavy. Instead, I’d ask if they have a light-weight foam mousse and if they don’t, I would request they only style my hair with a very hydrating curl cream that works to create definition. The trick here is to be specific. Explain everything from your type (ex: 3B), hair texture (fine, thin, medium, coarse), and if it’s dry, medium, or oily. Lastly, I like to explain how I like my curls to look and in the future I plan on showing a picture of how my hair looks after I style it myself.
Styling hair soaking wet doesn’t work for everyone
I’ve gone to quite a few curly hair salons that literally have you leave the sink with hair so soaked and wet, it leaves puddles all over the floor. This works for certain hair types, especially those who need more moisture, but for me it actually weighs my hair down significantly. I actually prefer a gentle squeeze in the sink. At home I remove excess water in the shower. Then I come out and rake leave-in conditioner in with my fingers, I mist my hair with water using a spray bottle before scrunching in my light-weight foam, and then scrunch curls with a microfiber towel before air-drying or diffusing and I always get the results I want. Now I just have to cough up the courage to ask a stylist to do this.
Request a diffuser
I’m all for air-drying my hair but that’s when I’m home and actually have the time for it. A lot of salons try to replicate air drying with a hooded dryer. And with traditional hooded dryers, trust me it actually does work. But a lot of the more modern and fancier hooded dryers that are designed to replicate air-drying for some reason, just never leave me with the same results. They take much longer to dry and I wind up leaving with what looks like a “wet look.” All curly salons have hair dryers with diffuser attachments, so don’t feel afraid to ask your stylist if they can just diffuse your hair from the jump.
Be honest about how you like your hair parted
I have two ways I like to part my curly hair. Either right down the middle or a deep side part to my left side. I make sure to let them know how I prefer my hair parted while my hair is still wet and before they start adding in products. I also make it clear that as much as I love bounce and definition, softness and volume are also very important to me. I would much rather have some volume (even a little bit of frizz) then come out with super shiny, and “perfect looking” curls.
Tell them how to put products in
I’ve noticed that in certain curly salons they literally take every little section of hair and saturate it with products before twisting it into curls. This works for a lot of curl types especially those in the 4s but for my 3B fine curls, this isn’t ideal. I prefer having a small amount of products scrunched into my hair to get my natural curl shape to show. I also like to have my hair combed out either with a wide-tooth comb or a Denman brush rather than with someone’s fingers — that’s just me.
If all else fails
If even after trying to express to your curly stylist how you prefer your hair styled, you still find that you’re not getting the same results you get at home, don’t feel bad about skipping out on styling all together. There are a lot of curly salons that cut curls dry and I know a lot of curly girls—including influencers— that go for the cut and walk out without their hair styled so that they have the flexibility of washing and styling when they get home. You don’t have a lot of choice when you’re going in for color, but for curl cuts you almost always have to. You might even have the option of negotiating a cheaper rate since the overall cost usually consists of both cut and styling. It certainly doesn’t hurt to ask.
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