Dominican Hair Alliance

BLOG: DHA'S diy

  • Home
  • SUPER SHOP
    • SHOP ALL
    • AWARD WINNERS >
      • Shampoos >
        • Best Shampoo for Natural Hair
        • Best Sulfate-Free Shampoo
        • Best Clarifying Shampoo
      • Treatments >
        • Best Treatment for Heat Protection
        • Best Treatment for Low Porosity Hair
        • Best Treatment for Natural Hair
        • Best Treatment for Damaged and Shedding Hair
        • Best Treatment for Hair Growth
        • Superconditioners
        • BLOG: What Protein Treatment is Best For You?
      • Conditioners >
        • Best Conditioner For Low Porosity Hair
        • Best Reconstructive Conditioner
        • Best Conditioner for Natural Hair
      • Leave-Ins >
        • Best Leave In Award
        • Best Hair Serum Award
        • Best Hair Smoother Award
    • PRODUCT TYPE >
      • SHAMPOO >
        • Anti-Stress Shampoo
        • Baba de Caracol Sulfate-Free Shampoo
        • Silicon Mix Hidratante Shampoo
      • Conditioners >
        • Baba De Caracol Conditioner
        • Keratin Rich Conditioner
      • Treatments >
        • La Aplanadora Treatment
        • Multivitamin Treatment
        • Silicon Mix Hidratante Treatment - Original
      • Leave-Ins >
        • BPT Brillantina
        • La Aplanadora Leave-In
      • Serums >
        • Shine Drop Conditioning Leave-In Serum
      • ACCESSORIES >
        • Face Masks
    • BRANDS >
      • atrActiva
      • BPT
      • Capilo
      • Crece Pelo
      • Halka Baba de Caracol
      • Silicon Mix
  • HAIR SOLUTIONS
    • BLOWOUTS + SILK PRESS
    • GROWTH
    • FIX: BREAKAGE
    • Super Low Porosity Survival Kit
  • BLOG: DHA's DIY
  • Where to Find
  • About Us:

28/11/2019

What Are The Signs Of A Good Hairstylist?

0 Comments

Read Now
 
Picture
​In Part One of this article, we covered some of the most standard criteria you can use to pick a good stylist, especially if you have natural hair.

This time, we're delving in a little deeper to look at some of the subtlest details that separate a good hairdresser from a mediocre or poor one.

​A good stylist won't just put the conditioner on your hair - they make it go in

This is that step we mentioned in Part One. If a stylist doesn't do at least some version of this, there is pretty much no point using her services on natural hair. She just doesn't get it.

​The conditioning step is the foundation of your hairstyle. It determines how moisturised, how flexible, how detangled, how shiny, how smooth, how soft, how strong, how manageable your hair is going to be during the process and for the next few days.

​If you get it right, you can get a full, healthy 'fro, a bouncy twistout, natural definition that pops or a mirror-shiny blowout. Whatever your style, all roads lead back to the conditioner you used and how you used it.
​
Tint brush to apply conditioner on curly hair. Good hairstylist. www.dominicanhairalliance.com
A tint brush can be used to help get conditioner to strands that might be missed.

​Dominican hairdressers are the masters of getting conditioners to 'penetrate' your hair (they call it 'coger al pelo'). This is oh-so-crucial for getting properly moisturised hair that won't break from you so much as touching it.
​
If you're spending good money on good conditioners (to use DIY at home or in the salon), you need to know how to work them in to get the full impact and your money's worth.

​This is why Dominican stylists spend so much time applying the conditioner. They section the hair really well and then methodically work at getting the conditioner to adhere properly to the hair.

You can tell when it's in by the way your hair transforms:  the combination of powerful treatments and the right process means that your texture changes before your eyes. It starts to look how properly moisturised hair is supposed to look.


Once you can get your hair to that level, it's pretty easy to grow your hair long. No matter what your hair type.

​
Even if your stylist isn't Dominican, at the very least you can expect them to section your hair first to apply the conditioning treatment. ​Then, they can use a seamless comb, brush and/or some skilled raking and smoothing to help it into your hair.

​ And they'll give it time to work on your hair, too - no instant rinsing.

​

Good stylists don't work at crazy speed

Quality takes time, people. Some stylists can naturally work faster than others, true. Speed braiding is a real thing. And when it comes to blowouts, if a stylist has used powerful, professional level conditioners, then the brush is going to be able to  sail through your hair.

Using the best treatments works out better for both the stylist and your hair, because they're designed to get your hair much smoother, softer and conditioned, with less effort than ordinary treatments. And that helps speed up the overall styling process.
Signs of a good hairdresser - strong conditioning treatments www.dominicanhairalliance.com
When stylists use stronger conditioners, they can blowdry hair faster and smoother. Image by Jo Johnston.

​But some things take time regardless. If your hair needs detangling, you don't want the hairdresser that drags a comb down your strands at breakneck speed. And nobody wants to get stuck with the stylist that barely gets at your scalp when they're washing it, or can't be bothered to rinse all the shampoo out of your hair.

​
If you walk into a salon and see a stylist frantically yanking her customer's hair every which way trying to beat the clock, or over at the sink doing the 30-second wash, turn on your heel and thank your lucky stars it's not you in the chair.
​

A good hairdresser is good to your scalp

Good hairdressers don't yank on your hair with the comb. The braids are never too tight, the rollers never feel like your hair is rising up off your scalp. And like we mentioned in the point above: they take their time washing your scalp to get it extra clean. You might even get a free massage thrown in.
​
Dominican stylists in particular - as well as being fanatical about getting the hair and scalp super clean (if it's not, it majorly affects the flow and straightness of the famous Dominican Blowout) - like to keep the scalp super-healthy.

If you visit a Dominican salon, don't be surprised if a stylist breaks open an ampolla and massages the entire contents into your scalp without rinsing it out - most are designed to stay on your scalp to provide nourishing, soothing or growth benefits.

Crece Pelo ampollas are used by Dominican hairdressers to help hair growth. www.dominicanhairalliance.com
Ampollas are tiny one-time use bottles of potent extracts for hair or scalp. This one by Crece Pelo helps hair growth.


​A good hairdresser has an instinctive understanding of  heat damage

A good stylist may never have heard of the term "keratin denaturation" but they live by it anyway.
​
They don't move your hair from one extreme to the other. No good hairdresser is going to hit your cold, wet hair with a blast of fiery dry heat - they know how damaging that is.

So if you're getting your hair blown out, you can expect your hairdresser not to turn the higher temperatures on your soaking wet hair. They know that's just going to boil your hair from the inside out.


Instead, they'll towel dry first, then start on a lower temperature and work up to a medium or high setting as your hair requires.

​Even better - this is what any Dominican stylist worth her salt will do: You'll get your wet hair wrapped smoothly onto rollers, then sit under the dryer (indirect heat) so your hair can dry the way it likes to dry - slowly.

​
Then and only then will the blowdryer (direct heat) be used - on dry hair which isn't as vulnerable to heat damage as wet hair.

Their clients have long healthy hair

All of the above translates into clients with some seriously healthy-looking hair. Full edges, hair that's thick to the ends. If the hair is straightened, it's glossy and it's bouncy. If it's curly, the curls are hydrated and super springy. And lots and lots of long hair. In all textures. If their client's hair is short, it's because they cut it.

That's because when you work long term with a stylist, it's a partnership. A good hairstylist is essentially a guide or a coach, a facilitator on your healthy hair journey. That means they get results. They maximise everything that nature gave you and then add some magic to take it up to the next level and maintain it there.
​​
Good hairdresser for natural hair - dominicanhairalliance.com
The bulk of a good hairdresser's regular clientele will have full, long hair. Image by Graham Hunt.

​So you should expect progress. If you need more shine, more volume, more elasticity, more moisture, more length... whatever you need, a skilled hairdresser should be able to help you get it - as long as you commit to the process.
​

How can you find out all of this in advance


Don't be afraid to be a spy. You can't know any of the above for sure if you haven't seen it with your own eyes or at least a video or step-by-step photos of the stylist at work. If you can't get those visuals, or a solid, detailed word-of-mouth rec, then book a consult, go in and speak to them... and then stick around to watch them at work.
​
Try to watch one head from start to finish or glimpse parts of the process on different clients' getting their hair done at once. It's a time investment, but it's worth it. You're about to entrust your crown and glory to this person. So you have to make sure they know what they're doing and that they'll do right by you and your hair.


By the way, if you're in London and looking for a good hairdresser in this city, check out our upcoming article on salons that do natural hair in London. We've rounded up a list of good hairstylists for natural hair based on people whose work we have actually seen and believed for ourselves.
​
Some names you may know, some names you need to know - those are the hidden gems in the capital that we talked about at the start of the post. So stay tuned.


By the way, do you know the maximum temperatures a stylist should ever use on your hair? Download them all in this heat damage guide.

Read More Articles.....

Picture
Tell Your Hairdresser NO!
Picture
Natural Hair: How To Find A Good Hairdresser
Picture
Plastic or Foil: The Deepest Conditioning Method

Share

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

Details

    DHA's DIY
    INFO, NEWS, REVIEWS & HOW-TOs ON HAIRCARE

    Author

    DHA Hair Care Experts

    Archives

    January 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    May 2018
    August 2016
    March 2016
    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012

    Categories

    All
    Afro Hair Show 2012
    Autumn
    Bacchanalia Carnival
    Braidouts
    Conditioning
    Dominican Blowout
    Dominican Hair Alliance
    Dominican Hair Republic
    Ends Care
    Heat
    Ingredients
    Long Hair
    Low Porosity
    Moisture
    Natural Hair
    Pollution
    Product Reviews
    Protein Sensitivity
    Relaxed Hair
    Roller Setting
    Scalp Massage
    Shrinkage
    Straight Hair
    Summer
    Tangles
    Transitioning
    Valentine's Day
    Winter

    RSS Feed

    Picture

Awards:

 Treatments           Shampoos   
Conditioners         Leave-Ins 

More:

Buy Online              Press Room 
Face Masks  ​           Hair Kits ​
Games                     Where To Find 
AHB Live             Beach Shoot  
About DHA              Contact Us 
Superconditioners 
© 2020
Dominican Hair Alliance, Acre Lane, London, SW2 5UA, UK
Live Chat: Sun-Wed 11:00-22:00 GMT+1

DHA'S DIY

 Blog
BLOG ROLL
  • Home
  • SUPER SHOP
    • SHOP ALL
    • AWARD WINNERS >
      • Shampoos >
        • Best Shampoo for Natural Hair
        • Best Sulfate-Free Shampoo
        • Best Clarifying Shampoo
      • Treatments >
        • Best Treatment for Heat Protection
        • Best Treatment for Low Porosity Hair
        • Best Treatment for Natural Hair
        • Best Treatment for Damaged and Shedding Hair
        • Best Treatment for Hair Growth
        • Superconditioners
        • BLOG: What Protein Treatment is Best For You?
      • Conditioners >
        • Best Conditioner For Low Porosity Hair
        • Best Reconstructive Conditioner
        • Best Conditioner for Natural Hair
      • Leave-Ins >
        • Best Leave In Award
        • Best Hair Serum Award
        • Best Hair Smoother Award
    • PRODUCT TYPE >
      • SHAMPOO >
        • Anti-Stress Shampoo
        • Baba de Caracol Sulfate-Free Shampoo
        • Silicon Mix Hidratante Shampoo
      • Conditioners >
        • Baba De Caracol Conditioner
        • Keratin Rich Conditioner
      • Treatments >
        • La Aplanadora Treatment
        • Multivitamin Treatment
        • Silicon Mix Hidratante Treatment - Original
      • Leave-Ins >
        • BPT Brillantina
        • La Aplanadora Leave-In
      • Serums >
        • Shine Drop Conditioning Leave-In Serum
      • ACCESSORIES >
        • Face Masks
    • BRANDS >
      • atrActiva
      • BPT
      • Capilo
      • Crece Pelo
      • Halka Baba de Caracol
      • Silicon Mix
  • HAIR SOLUTIONS
    • BLOWOUTS + SILK PRESS
    • GROWTH
    • FIX: BREAKAGE
    • Super Low Porosity Survival Kit
  • BLOG: DHA's DIY
  • Where to Find
  • About Us: