Um, are you my stylist?

Now that I’ve moved to NW, I don’t want to spend a full day getting my hair done out in Wheaton. So, I ventured to K Street to checkout a new stylist. She turned out to be great but she wasn’t at all what I expected.

In fact, I was on edge during most of my time there. I was vigilante of the treatments she applied to my hair and frequently asked her questions about the products. I feel bad that I didn’t trust her—but mainly, I feel bad that I didn’t trust her because she was White.

I’ve never had a White stylists apply a relaxer to my hair and I freaked out when I first met her. I’ve always had my hair done by female African American stylists, and I can still remember sorta freaking out the first time I had a male stylist. I didn’t freak out as much because he was Black and, in my mind, “knew” my hair.

But I was proven wrong this weekend. It is not about the race or gender of the stylist but his/her training and method. She did a wonderful job as I left the salon feeling very feminine and flirty and my hair was in much better condition.

She did annoy me with the typical new client lines of “oh, your old stylist did X, Y, and Z wrong. But, I’ll correct it during this visit and your next appointment. Trust me, I’m better. Stick with me!!” Otherwise, she was great and very reassuring. Before I left, I found out that she was the salon manager. I can’t wait to return to her chair again. The price was a little higher than normal but the location is ideal and the results are solid.