Los Angeles is an interesting place for black hair. Having roots in the South, but also spending time on the East Coast, good hairstylists are easy to find. But, that’s not the case in Hollywood. Unfortunately, the number of black hairstylists who actually do quality, affordable hair in professional salons specifically in Los Angeles are far and few in between.
It’s a frustrating experience for a black woman. If you’re not careful, you could end up with lace front wigs that look like Star Trek contraptions or presses that are anything but silky. So, when I decided that I wanted a certain style, I knew it would take research and a little money to make it happen.
The style was simple. Crochets in the back and individual braids in the front of the head. I had the accompanying photo and even YouTube videos to demonstrate the style I wanted. But, as I began to research hairstylists or braiders in L.A., the results were sad. Most of the businesses catered to men or hippie, fine haired people who wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between good or poor braids.
But, then a friend of mine told me about Jolof Hair Salon. I did my due diligence and looked at their Instagram page and website. Everything seemed to check out so I gave the salon a call. The owner seemed to be very nice and helpful. I explained the style I wanted and she asked me to send over a photo via cellphone. When I asked if she could do the style, she said yes.
All I needed to do to achieve the look was purchase human braiding hair from her recommended hair supply company His and Her Hair, located off of Wilshire Blvd. When I went online to make my purchase for pickup, I found that the price was $239 per bundle of hair. Pretty steep considering that I was told to purchase three bundles. This was the first red flag.
Never in the history of my hair experiences have I spent nearly $1,000, only to be disappointed by the quality. But, I followed the owner’s advice because if this is what was necessary to get the look I asked for, then I couldn’t risk messing up the style by being frugal.
I was able to book the appointment with Jolof the same day that I purchased the hair. The next day I was sitting in a salon chair. Boy, did I sit, for about eight hours to be exact. Mind you, this was for crochet, which is the technique of looping weave around cornrolls on your head. Something that shouldn’t be longer than 4 hours, depending.
One hairstylist worked on my head, but not before there was a slight bait and switch. I was left with the impression that the owner would be working on my head. Instead, one of the shop beauticians was given the task. I was also told by the owner’s sister that it would be better for me to just crochet my entire head to achieve the look, something that the owner never mentioned beforehand. But, again, these people had to know what they were doing, right? Besides, I showed them a photo. They would tell me if they couldn’t achieve the look, right? The owner’s sister explained to my hairstylist in a different language what I wanted. She proceeded to get to work.
Throughout the process, she made sure I was not facing the mirror. But, when she had to take a break, I turned my chair around to look in the mirror. It appeared to be going as planned, except that the colors were not being blended as I requested at the beginning of the service. In addition, I noticed that the hairstylist was using super glue to bond my roots!
At that time, the owner finally showed up to the shop. She was nice enough to check on me. I inquired about the glue and the owner claimed that they don’t use glue on human hair, but when she questioned her employee, the hairstylist admitted that she was using glue on my hair. She chastised the hairstylist as the shop’s patrons looked on.
I let the owner know that I would like the blonde colors to be blended moreso at the front of my head. The owner communicated that to my hairstylist and the work continued. Eight hours later, she finally finished.
Excited to see the work, I turned to the mirror and to my horror it was a very messy job. The roots of the crochet were loose causing these weird rings or loops at the base of each installment. The area where my part was located looked a hot mess. The blonde highlights were placed in the front of my head in huge blocks. This was with two bundles of hair in my head. With disappointment on my face, one stylist attempted to ensure that I could come back and do the style I requested in the first place. Red flag number two.
When I went up to pay for the service, yes I’m that gracious, a man that was waiting for his dreads to be retouched look at my hair and busted out laughing. I felt horrible. But, with so many patrons in the shop, I did not want to make a scene. So, I paid my money and went to my vehicle. Immediately, I called the Jolof Hair Salon and asked for the owner.
When the owner got on the phone, I expressed to her my disappointment in my hairstyle, how it looks nothing like the photo and doesn’t even stand on its own in quality. I told her the details of how the hairstylists switched from the individual braids and crochets to full-on crochets, suggesting that this would achieve the free flowing weave look I was trying to achieve. But, that was nearly impossible with loose loops at the root of my hair that looked like hair plugs. Then, I expressed to her how this is the most expensive hairstyle I’ve gotten that has delivered such poor results. The owner said that I could return to the salon in two days and she would personally work on my hair to fix it. I agreed.
For the next day, I had to conduct business and meet up with my social network looking like a long-haired Donald Trump. I would eventually throw on a hat to hide the embarrassment. The day finally came for me to fix the bird nest on my head. The hairstylist that I had the first visit and a young child worker began taking the hairstyle down.
Hours later, my expensive human hair was laid all over the place, mixed up and frazzled. It was a nightmare. The owner had the stylists shuffle me into a private room away from the other patrons, taking my tore up hair with me. The owner seemed frustrated.
She finished up taking out the human hair, but not before aggressively yanking and snagging the hair. It was so violent that I had to get on the phone and share the experience on sight with one of my media buddies. After that phone call, the owner calmed down and was a bit nicer. Still, the aftermath of her rough handling of that expensive hair resulted in frazzled split ends, knots, and the removal of any potential blonde highlights.
She rebraided my cornrolls and with the help of the child worker started putting the hair back in using what she called a special African braiding technique. After I showed her some YouTube videos, it turns out that special technique was just tree braids.
From 3 p.m. to after midnight, I stayed in that salon. It was painful as I witnessed the owner spray the hair down in tap water as she attempted to camouflage the damage that was done to the human hair. I told the owner I still had the third bundle pack that was unused and I could get it for her from my car, but she said she didn’t need it.
As I looked at the child worker and owner drop my hair on the salon floor and scoop it up and put it in my hair, I felt mortified and defeated. When the end came, I went to the restroom and looked in the mirror (there were no mirrors in the private room). As I suspected, the hairstyle was a mess. I left the shop.
Days after my visit, thick chunks of hair started unraveling and falling out. My real hair could be seen braided in the back part of my hairstyle. There was no clever concealing or quality technique to make the hairstyle appealing. With $1000 down the drain, I proceeded to look for a new hairstylist in Texas and Georgia.
This was my experience at Jolof Hair Salon. It may not be everyone else’s, but for the most part it appears that the salon is good at about three hairstyles and they all include dreadlocks. They can do the signature feed in braid for dreads, the traditional dreadlock and twists. Their cornrolls and box braids are inconsistent, nothing that we see on the Instagram models, more like what your grandmother would get. But, if you want something unique, creative or worthy of a Hollywood entrance, this is not the place.
The problem is that the owner is suggesting purchases of expensive hair at a very commercial spot in the middle of Los Angeles. Where’s the plug? This is definitely not in the best interest of her customers. Then, the owner affirmed that she could do the style, when really she nor the hairstylist that worked on my hair prior had any idea on how to do a good crochet with individual braids.
Overpromising and underdelivering.
