Difficulty finding hairstylist that would listen- can you help?

Dear Cathy:
I am very grateful for finding you and thankful for your wisdom. The first time I contacted you I was going Natural but now I started relaxing my hair again because it was very difficult to manage.

My hair has since grown and I get a lot of compliments. My problem now is finding a hairdresser in the USA who will LISTEN to me and properly relax only my new growth without too much relaxer touching my scalp. Today I was very upset as the hairstylist did not want to listen to me. I told her to only relax my new growth but she said that whoever has been relaxing my hair did not relax my hair properly (was not smoothed out) so my hair did not "TAKE", that is why my hair is puffy. Therefore, she put the relaxer about 4 inches when i think my new growth was about 1 inch. I must say she is very good with conditioning hair and combing hair so that there is less breakage. She just does not get that I only want to relax my new growth so that I can comb through (I don’t want it bone straight) and I don’t like too much heat. She looked surprised when I told her that I will only blow dry my hair and not flat iron. Thank God she only blow dried (phew!- the last time I checked it was my hair). The worst of it all, she put the relaxer on my SCALP like how one would put pomade on their skin. That really got me thinking. I have two hairstylists that I go to. One partly listens to me and does only the new growth but still puts the relaxer on my scalp and the one (I just talked about) does not listen and feels that she has been in the industry for 20 years so she knows better.

It is just very hard to find a hair stylist who follows your "books" and is prepared to change. I even bought her one of your books but I think she didn’t read it.

I used to live in Canada and relaxed my hair at Jazma Inc.. I think that is the only salon I find can properly relax hair but even that salon won’t allow clients to bring their own products. My scalp is VERY sensitive and their relaxer I find is very strong (I usually can’t stand it for too long). I find that Affirm Relaxer for sensitive scalp works wonders for me but I know they won’t use it. I also have to be in Canada before I can visit that salon anyway.

With all that being said, I think it will be very helpful if you can provide a list of hairstylists who are dedicated to using your booking on your website. That would really help. For me, I only want a hairstylist to help me relax my hair and when I’m going for an occasion. The other days I can deal with my hair. I believe a lot of hairstylists have read your book and will be willing to help clients like myself. Dear Cathy what do you think?
Patricia

Dear Patricia,
To find a hairstylist that follows the Ultra Black Hair methods would be life changing for many African-American women.
The main regiments that would be integral components in their hair care services to their clients  would include:

• Never smoothing hair color or chemical relaxer products against the scalp
• Detangling with a brush would not be practiced ever
• When hair gets tangled during a procedure, the stylist would not tear their fingers through it, ripping out the tangles just to get finished quicker
• The use of irons  without heat control settings would never be used on relaxed hair
• When you go in for a trim, your hair would not be chopped 2-3 inches shorter

Yes, to be able to find a hair stylist that practiced hair care this way, would be great. It would also be great to have a database of stylist who believe and employ my hair philosophy, but we don’t. I think it has great potential and now may be a good time to start one.

Cathy Howse

If you are a hair stylist and you use the Ultra Black Hair methods described in my book, please send us an email to mail@ubhpublications.com with your name, address, phone number and the type of hair you do, (natural, barber, relaxed, braids etc) and we will add your name to a database of hair care professionals who will help you take the best care of your clients’ hair.