So I’ve been curly for a while now and decided it was time to straighten my hair. I prefer to wear my hair straight because it takes less time in the mornings and is much easier to handle. I made my long awaited appointment for a couple of days before Christmas. I go to a natural hair salon in Beverly Hills called The Lounge On Wilshire and my stylist is named Rosalind. Since this salon is focused on promoting healthy hair, they do not use hand blow dryers or perms/relaxers. I must admit it takes longer to do my hair, but it has grown significantly in length since I first began coming here. Beyond the length, I also find that my hair doesn’t have nearly as many split ends as before. My hair only needs to be trimmed about twice a year compared to every six weeks that was necessary at my old salon. My hair is naturally shiny and completely healthy. I have been coming to this salon for nearly six years and cannot find anyone that does as great of a job.
Here’s the process in detail for those who aren’t close to the Los Angeles area. After washing, conditioner is added to the hair and you sit for 15-20 minutes under a hood dryer to encourage the moisturizer’s uptake into the hair. (They offer special conditioners and scalp treatments for those with flaky scalps, thinning hair, and severely abused hair follicles.) After conditioning, the hair is set in large rollers and the client sits under a hood dryer which dries the hair completely.
I find that the large rollers keep my ends from being frayed and when my hair is dry its left in big waves. Since my hair has grown in length I now sit under the dryer for about an hour and fifteen minutes. I realize this may seem like a lot of time but since my natural curl patterned has been removed by using the rollers, styling is a breeze. I have my roots pressed to remove any extra kinks. Here’s my hair with only the roots pressed and no additional styling:
As you can see I could stop here, but I prefer straight, straight hair so a flat iron is used to style the ends of my hair. After roughly three hours (with styling), my hair looks like this:
Here is a reference picture of me before I started going to this salon. You can see the difference in length.
I have on the same necklace (6 years later lol) but notice the hair in reference to the position of the charm.
Please keep in mind that the length and thickness of my hair add to my time in the salon.
