I got my hair done at the salon for the first time in three years. The last time and my first press {since returning to natural} was in April 2011 for my co-worker’s wedding. This time around I got my hair pressed for my brother’s wedding last Sat! Another April wedding and another press 🙂 I was beyond excited to get my hair pressed. My sister-in-law wanted all of the bridesmaids to get our hair done at the same salon. She wanted our hair pressed {the two other bridesmaids, her sisters are also natural} and pinned up. She said she had been to this salon before and they did natural hair.
2014 press
2011 press
I was so happy with how my hair looked! It came out just the way I pictured. Since my sister-in law didn’t care how we pinned up our hair {as long as it was pinned up}, I took to the internet for some inspiration. Below is the picture that inspired my look. I actually showed this picture to the hairstylist.
I asked her to French braid the back going up. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of the back but below is a pic where you can kind of see it.
My salon experience was terrible! I would NEVER recommend that salon to anyone with natural hair. However, I would recommend them to anyone looking for a great sew-in They did my sister-in law’s sew-in and I saw the stylist do a great sew-in while I was waiting to get my hair done. The salon knows how to do heat-trained natural hair. They don’t know anything about kinky or coarse hair. I knew I was in big trouble when they asked one of the bridesmaids {who had kinky-curly hair) “What will happen when we put water in your hair? Will it curl or become matted?” Her hair was softer than mines and her curl pattern was looser. I was prepared to tell them my hair matted but they never asked me. I knew they would consider my tightly coiled hair to be “matted”.
The bridesmaid replied and said that her hair would curl up. They didn’t believe her so they had her sit with conditioner in her hair and a shower cap on for an hour. They did this so her hair could stretch before they washed it. They didn’t do that for me and I believe I needed that! I think they underestimated the tightness and coarseness of my hair because it looked stretched and somewhat straight while in my Celie Twists. However, my hair is a different story when you get your hands in it, especially in them roots! They tried to de-tangle my hair while it was dry with a big paddle brush. No de-tangler, no condition, no NOTHING! The lady doing this was not gentle and she was brushing my dry hair like I was a mannequin in a Cosmetology school class. I asked her to put de-tangler in first because she was hurting me but she told me they didn’t have any. She said they only had conditioner and she added a little bit that barely helped. She then asked me if I had braids in my hair. I looked at her like she was crazy. There were not any braids in my hair and I told her this was my hair texture. Telling that I was annoyed, she started to wash my hair and later on another stylist took over because I was pissed. She told the other lady to take over because I was “tender-headed”. The other lady came and I complained about how I was being manhandled and how this always happens and that’s why I haven’t been to a salon in three years. This other lady was better but still not good. She did detangle my hair pretty well and it wasn’t as painful because it was wet at this point. However when she blow-dried my hair, it was very painful! The lady that pressed and pinned up my hair implied that I should heat-train my hair. She didn’t believe that I had ever blow-dried my hair. I told her that I did.
I actually used to blow-dry my hair a lot. I always find my hair easier to style and manage when it’s blow-dried. However, because I sweat at the gym & Zumba a lot , I find it pointless to blow-dry my hair often. Of course I didn’t tell the stylist any of this because I was annoyed. I just left my response at “yes I do”. I went to hair hell and back so I am not going to the gym or Zumba because I am not sweating this press out nor am I throwing away my $70.00! This press is staying in until the wheels fall off. Absolutely! I actually started to sweat during the night and when I woke up half of my hair was reverting back to an Afro. I put it in a bun and put a scarf on it to lay it down. I’ll just keep it in a bun, I need a serious trim anyways {according to the stylist at the salon}. Below is my hair in a bun {with a bun donut}, the day after the wedding.
Now it’s time for wedding pics! The wedding was so beautiful and so was the weather! I LOVED my bridesmaid dress. It looks pink in some of the pictures but it is a beautiful coral which you can really see in the first and tenth pic. The wedding was at an old mansion in Maryland, it felt very colonial like. I just adore weddings and I am so happy for my brother and new sister-in-law 🙂
I don’t know why my other brother recorded the cha-cha slide but I like this video..lol It’s cute! #FUNtimes!!
Thanks for reading 🙂
~Amma Mama
Aww this is why i never go to the hairdressers, nothing but trauma lol.
Great wedding pics, you look gorgeous and everyone else looks awesome too! 🙂
Exactly!..lol
Thank you Ibi 🙂
You look lovely Ammamama! Beautiful pictures!
I understand your sentiments about styling/pressing natural hair. I would love to press my 4C hair but I know it will revert back. Some stylist do not want to “deal” or style our hair, which is sad to me. They have to learn how to style kinks because natural hair is not going anywhere. When you find a place that can care for your hair, they charge a lot of money…can’t win.
Thank you Melissa!! 🙂
You’re right, it’s not going anywhere so they do need to learn how to style it.
Adorable! I like that French braid in the back. I always wanted to do that with a bun on top, but my brading skills are stalled
Thank you! 🙂
Oh that sounds cute. I love the French braid, it’s so classic.
awww love the dress and you look beautiful. Your mum’s kente cloth is really nice, love the colours. The new couples look great too. awww
Thank you Akos! 🙂
I picked out that cloth. She brought three kente cloth outfits with her from Ghana. I thought this one was the cutest and that the colors matched the wedding colors perfectly. #DaughterKnowsBest..lol
ahahaha, you have very good taste. haha Definitely #DaughterKnowsBest
Wow, it’s sooo expensive to do your hair over there in the U.S and it’s really a shame that some salons don’t do natural hair. Don’t really have that kind of problem in the U.K. Definitely not an experience you want to experience again aww. Sorry about that.
Beautiful wedding and beautiful pictures! Best wishes to the happy couple.
Thank you :-)!!
I hate going to salons like that. They think you don’t know a thing about your own hair. Plus it sounds like they haven’t been to the continued education courses that generally are required for their license.
Many women are natural today, and each head of hair is different. Sometimes on the same head there will be varying types. Both stylists should have asked how you normally care for your hair and what products you use. That would have helped a great deal instead of the torture.
Yes and I absolutely agree!
They won’t get my hard earned coins again..lol
so sorry you had to go through that salon experience
but your hair turned our great and all the wedding pics are beautiful!! 🙂
Thank you BESTIE 🙂
Love the video!! And you look hot Amma
Thanks Amanda!
Reblogged this on Speak Ghana.
Oh my goodness – I’m so sorry for your ordeal! You’ve just verified my fear of going to the hairdressers. You looked stunning so your $70 was certainly not wasted, m’dear. Congratulations to your brother! xox
Aww thanks Sherida 🙂
Lol I don’t mean to alarm you but we gotta be cautious of some of these so called “hairdressers”. I definitely knew how to handle my hair better than these stylists…smh
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