Fadeke
It was my first time at the salon ,I was a little nervous as i didn’t know what to expect but left having a good experience and i’m happy with my new hair cut/look (I got a tapered cut), the owner /head stylist at the Salon Harriet was very nice to talk to and was reassuring, which made me feel comfortable to voice out what I wanted with the haircut I was going for, throughout the process of getting my hair done Harriet asked me how i felt about the direction of my haircut and if was happy with how it looked, how short I wanted it etc. I enjoyed getting my hair washed, my hair is type 4, high destiny hair (medium to thick strands) i have had past hair salon experiences where my natural hair wasn’t handled with care however at Afrotherapy that wasn’t the case it was one of the most relaxing washdays I’ve had. The other staff at the salon where lovely as well and the atmosphere of the salon was lovely, relaxing music, clean and simple design of the salon. A couple things I didn’t like as much was being told to change my original booking time to an earlier time, I’m based in south east london and the Salon is in North , pretty long journey, this meant not only did have to leave early , which initially planned to do but I felt added pressure which made me super anxious, which also meant had to rush m my journey to the salon (it didn’t help that there was traffic in the area going to the salon), Harriet explained why I needed to come to the salon earlier than I had planned due to the fact she needed to check the condition of my hair prior to my haircut and also asked for photos of my hair on the day of the appointment. Looking back I wish these 2 requests were made a day before or a couple days before my hair appointment so I didn’t feel so anxious on the day of my hair appointment, this is something that could be improved on to help with customer experience with the salon, if customers where given necessary info well in advance if possible . There was also a time I was left under the dryer for what I felt was a bit too long , it started to get slightly uncomfortable with the heat and although Harriet did finally check on me and my hair to see if it was dry (my hair was being set for a bantu knot out hairstyle with my tapered cut), I wished she would’ve of told me an estimate time for how long I would be under the drier or if i could take some breaks in between ( but that’s on me for not speaking up). Overall I did have a good first time experience at Afrotherapy, especially considering it had been years since I stepped into a black salon let alone one that would cater to my natural hair. Yes the pricing is expensive but for me this was a self care moment to get my hair professionally taken care of and rock a new hair cut, the pricing was definitely something I considered and was a little indecisive about initially when booking at this salon but then again looking at other similar hair salons I saw that it was similar pricing for the service I got.
