Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Deva Hair Cut Review June 2010 - Oops! It's Late!

Ya'll... I am so sorry I never posted this!! I just found it in my drafts and realized it never went up.

The good news is it's almost Spring again- time to start contemplating warm weather hair. If you are looking for a change, I still highly recommend getting a cut from an expert.  Here is my review from June last year.

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So here I was at Fiddleheads, ready to loose some of the hair on my head at the hands of Beth, my favorite curly cutter. I had styled my hair in my signature wash and go, ecostyler raked through, so that she could see the pattern my hair was most likely to assume on a regular basis. It was dry and curls and shrinkage were popping.
 
Waiting anxiously.
 
I made it to the chair, got robbed up and was ready to go.  There was about a 15 min wait time.  Not bad.  Plus they have a little dog that wanders about the salon so that made me happy.

My instructions were to give me a cut that I could style easily over the summer.  I wanted a nice edgy shape, less fuss, and I was not concerned with length.  I said mid range length was fine.  Other than that I was through with the mass of hair on my head and ready for something different.
 
I didn't take pictures of the process, alas I had no arms, but this is what was on the floor at the end of the cut. 
 
 It took her about 30-40 minutes and she had gone over my whole head pulling and snipping. she made sure it was all even by pulling pieces from both sides. and she did a lot of circling and looking.  Here I am, freshly done. (You can see one of my zigzaggy curly shapes popping out clearly here BTW.  lol. This is the pattern in most of my hair. Only the ends coil sometimes, and now they are gone!)
 
She applied my highlights after that.  I already had some grown out highlights in my hair and I kinda wanted to touch them up, but with a little punch.  They use Aveda color there and she told me which one she would be using. I told her I wanted some of the curls to be highlighted, but not chunks of hair.  She did very thin foils all around my head.  Here I am after they had been applied and I was getting a condition and rinse.  The shampoo girl was chatty and we talked about her natural haired black friend who was getting married, and the merits of twists verse an out style.  Pleasent convo.  And she was very patient, using her fingers to detangle my hair while drenched in conditioner. 
 
This is where I have to note one complaint.  I thought that the highlights were too light.  And the finger detangling did not get all the snarls in my hair.   Particularly not in the back part where it is tighter and denser.  I found lots of matted spots later and worked them through myself in Beth's chair.  That is one good thing- you are encouraged to play with and look at it while they are working- it's an interactive process.

I don't remember why- but I went under a dryer for a moment to shrink it back. Maybe she did a once over at this point? I dunno- I'm drawing a blank here lol.

While my hair was damp I got my product applied, which was just Paul Mitchel The Conditioner (which I discovered at this salon).  I don't like their an-gel so I skipped it.  At this point she went around looking for stragglers as well and this was when I had my hands all in it too.  I found a few pieces I thought were too long on my left side and had her snip them out.  Together we cleaned it up a little, and I didn't find any crazies later.  I paid a whopping $160 for the cut and highlights, but I agree that it was professional and specialized service so I didn't have a problem with it.  It's still about half as much as a Deva cut from NY.
Here I am about to leave.

And out on the streets. Wet hair.  At this point I was like, oh a nice bob.  Cute.  and wow it's short in back.  and the highlights didn't looks so bright anymore as it started to dry. I got compliments on it as I walked back to work.

And then it dried (almost).  And I was like WOW.  I see what she did.  It's angled.  It was much longer in front and I had a super funky shape. And this was with minimal styling and product.  I was impressed.
 
 I'm on my home from work on this same day here. I was very happy but I still had yet to see the shape styled with products and fully shrunken. I would be in for a great surprise.  I loved this whole experience and I would def do it again.
 

Advisory:

Beth is the first white stylist I let near my natural hair and Beth does not work with our "invisible length." She works with your apparent length. In that regard it doesn't bother me. But if you have BSL hair when you stretch it and have stretched length goals and aspirations- you would definitely have to explain it. If you don't wear it straight, and it doesn't look that long any other time- she will not intuitively understand your length goals. If you walk in with 18" hair that looks 8" and ask for a shape she might cut off a good 6" but when you leave you still look like you have 8".  She cut my hair by sight and wear. Not twist out goals, nor blowout goals. Those come secondary to shape for me because I do those myself and can work them into any cut that is long enough.

Just remember that length could be camouflaging a face flattering shape.  I achieved exactly what I wanted- which was easy wash and go hair that I could wear out and about with less concern and more style :-) 


8 comments:

  1. This is gorgeous! That's wild how each picture your hair looked so different. She did a great job! I prefer style over length as well.

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  2. I remember when you posted the picture of your cut last year and I was thinking I may have to try this place out over my beloved Salon Revive. I thought about growing my hair out, but I love how nice good cuts look. I hate to see that dreaded mushroom shape on me or anyone else. Do you know how much the cut alone normally runs?

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  3. thanks! I think the cut alone is about $80.

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  4. Love it!!! Would you happen to know how many inches your hair was when you cut it?

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  5. :-)
    I never measured in inches but if you go to this video at ~:50 sec you can see how long my hair was a few weeks before the cut:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHpCQFKqqgs

    Or this vid at ~6:40
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBYI9qaPUoc

    Looking back it looked hella long. 18" maybe? I dunno!

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  6. Wow! I can't believe your hair was that long! Then again, I can, shrinkage is something else!
    I always find it more helpful to measure in inches opposed to acronyms (BSL, MBL, etc.) cuz it varies depending on height. Thanks for responding!

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  7. What products do you use on your hair? It looks great.

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