THE DOMINICAN HAIR SALON EXPERIENCE — Tips before going to a Dominican hair salon

How do Dominican women grow their hair so long?

Copyright © 2008-2013 Aleida Morel, all rights reserved

Dominican women love their hair! And Dominican stylists know how to make it beautiful and healthy. As a Dominican woman in the USA, I get a lot questions about Dominican beauty parlors and hair care. Like most Dominican women, I spend a lot of time at the hair salon, so now let me tell you why, and why you might want to also! WHAT IS IT LIKE IN THE DOMINICAN HAIR SALON? THE BASIC DOMINICAN WASH AND DRY THE “DOOBIE” AND OTHER SERVICES HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? COMMUNICATING RECOMMENDED DOMINICAN SALONS HOW TO FIND A DOMINICAN SALON IN YOUR AREA

“This Sunday, I was in the House of Beauty Store where I buy my Dominican Hair Products. They had a new sales associate working there. I told her what I wanted to buy. She thought that I had hair extensions because my hair is so bouncy. I told her no, it's my hair and I showed her my scalp. I told her that I get my hair done at a Dominican Salon and that it is always bouncy and now it is healthy. I no longer have split ends. She was shocked.

“My hair is very healthy since I have been going to the Dominican Salon, Lisflor and using their hair care products. Maintenance is very important and the Silicon Mix Brillo that I use is very good at keeping my hair looking healthy, shiny and conditioned. It's not greasy at all. In hot weather, I use the spray. In cold weather, I use the regular Brillo.

“I have had the most wonderful experience with the Dominican Salons. My stylist won't even put dye in my hair because it is healthy and she does not want to damage it. I use a color rinse. ”
—Margot Osorio, Philadelphia, February 2010

“When I lived in Atlanta, I frequented a Dominican Hair Salon every two weeks and was very pleased with the results as my hair grew like weeds and was thick and healthy. Now that I've moved to Alabama, there are no Dominican Salons anywhere in sight! Since I've moved, my hair has never looked as healthy or grown quite as fast/long as it did when I went to the Dominicans.” —Nikki, Alabama.

“I loved my Dominican salon in DC. Going there every other week made my hair healthier than its ever been. I did not have damaged hair until I stopped going and came to the desert. I used to get a shampoo, deep condition and rollerset. After that, they blew out my roots leaving my hair silky and bouncy. For those who don't know much about Dominican salons, techniques, and products... go to: http://www.aleida.net/salon-en.html” —Dime, Iraq, 2009.

Dominican people come in all colors.

Most Dominican women have textured hair (el pelo texturado), which needs a lot of attention! And therefore almost every Dominicana goes to the beauty parlor once or twice every week. The beauty parlor is called el salón de belleza or la peluquería. In the Dominican Republic, and wherever Dominicans live, the beauty parlor is a big part of our culture. According to Dominican Times Magazine in 2007 there were 3,250 Dominican beauty salons in the New York metropolitan area! That's a good thing because for our kind of hair, the Dominican hairdressers (estilistas or peluqueras dominicanas) are simply the best. For 500 years, they have been developing techniques of hair care based on washing, drying, and brushing and on the natural tropical products of our country like silk, avocado, coconut, and cinnamon oils; maracuyá [chinola, passion fruit], rosemary, garlic, wheat germ, and aloe (not to mention sole of shoe and snail slime!) for keeping our hair beautiful even in the hottest and most humid conditions! (Read more about Dominican hair-care products.)

Dominican women use big rollers!

More and more North American women, especially African-American women, have heard about Dominican salons and they want to go there too, because it is really the same kind of hair – a mixture of European, Indigenous American, and African, just like we are! Dominican salons don't like to use hot irons or hot combs or strong chemicals for straightening, they have their own special techniques that are more gentle for your hair. For example, because I go to Dominican salons, I never need to have my hair straightened with chemicals or hot combs!

If you search in Google for "dominican hair salon" or "dominican beauty parlor" you will find a lot of American women who are so happy now that their hair is finally healthy, growing, strong, and full of shine, thanks to a Dominican salon!

WHAT IS “GOOD HAIR” AND ”BAD HAIR”?

WHO CAN GO TO A DOMINICAN SALON?

I get a lot of questions from Black women about whether they should go to a Dominican salon, or use Dominican hair products. The answer is Yes and Yes! Most people in the Dominican Republic – about 85% of us – are Black or part Black, mixed mainly with European Spanish and Indigenous Taíno people. Most of us have the same kinds of hair as African Americans (such as 3b, 4a, 4b, etc, in the Andre Walker system), so Dominican hair care techniques and products are just as good for African American women as they are for Dominicanas.

The only thing to be aware of is that Dominican women like their hair to be long, and some Dominican salons don't know what to do with short hair. Also, most Dominican salons don't know a lot about styles that aren't Dominican; for example, corn rows. But you never know. Just ask first! (See my hair and makeup gallery to see typical Dominican hairstyles.)

WHAT IS IT LIKE IN THE DOMINICAN HAIR SALON?

The Dominican round-brush technique

In the salon they use the Dominican or Italian or Spanish hair products – shampoos, rinses, treatments, and conditioners – that are the very best for our kind of hair, and also for brittle or damaged hair (you can see some on the wall in the picture: Alter Ego, RR Line, UNA...). Healthy hair is the first priority of the Dominican stylist! She won't put anything in your hair, or do anything to it, that is not going to make it more healthy.

Hint: If your stylist uses some product that does wonders for your hair, be sure to ask her what it is so you can keep using it in case you move away, or your salon does!

THE BASIC DOMINICAN WASH AND DRY – LEVADO Y SECADO

What I describe here is how they do my hair in the salon once or twice every week. It leaves my hair smooth, full, wavy, and bouncy, the way I like it, without strong chemicals. Different types of hair and different styles have different requirements and can take more or less time.

When your turn comes up (cuando te toque a ti), first you have a shampoo (lavado), from a shampooer or from the stylist herself if she is not too busy. The shampoo might begin with a hot oil treatment. Then when the shampoo is rinsed out, you have 10 minutes in the dryer (el secador) without rollers to warm up your head, and then you have a wonderful scalp massage (un masaje) to stimulate the roots (estimular las raíces), that might be done with some product like a rinse (un rinse). At this point your hair is still wet.

After the massage, a leave-in conditioner (un acondicionador para dejar sobre el cabello) is applied and (if you need it) a special hair treatment (tratamiento, suero, ampollas, gotas) from Alter Ego or Cosmo or RR Line or Salerm or Star or UNA. And then they put in the curlers (los rolos). Big ones (los grandes) if you have long hair, smaller ones (los chiquitos) if you have short hair (el pelo corto) or you want your hair more curly (rizado) or wavy (ondulado). We like to use BIG rolos and the dryers are extra big so our heads will fit!

And then you sit under the big dryer (secador) for an hour! While your hair is drying, you can sleep, or read, or eat, or talk on the cell phone, or chat with the other women, or have a manicure or pedicure, or all of those at the same time! THEN, when you come out of the dryer, they take out the rollers, they spray your hair with a special product for blow-drying like Salerm Brushing Termo Activo or sometimes the stylist's own mixture of water, leave-in, and treatment in a spray bottle. Then they divide your hair into sections, which they brush (cepillar, and sometimes they pull – jalar – hard), and blow-dry (secar a mano) for half an hour, using a big round brush (cepillo redondo) or other kind of brush, depending on the length of your hair and style you want, and whether you want it to fall inward (hacia adentro) or outward (hacia afuera, “con flip”). And that's it!

THE "DOOBIE" AND OTHER SERVICES

Of course the Dominican salons have a lot of other services too: trimming the ends (cortar las puntas, I do that every 2 or 3 months), relaxing or straightening (alisado), hair cutting (corte de pelo) and styling (peinado), coloring (tinte), streaks (mechas, rayitos), highlights (reflejos), extensions (extensiones)... they like to work with you to create what you want, as long as it is not something that will damage your hair. When the stylist and the customer work together to create something new, they both get excited!

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? – ¿CUÁNTO CUESTA?

To save money, many customers buy the hair products they prefer directly from the salon or from my website and bring them each time they have their hair done, and that way the salon visit costs less. Prices vary from salon to salon, and can change from time to time, and also depend on your type of hair and how long it is. But for now, at least, the Dominican salon is a Great Bargain!

COMMUNICATING

In the Dominican salons in the USA, they speak Spanish of course, but they know the English hair terminology. If you know some Spanish, it will be helpful, and for Spanish hair terms you can consult my ENGLISH-SPANISH HAIR SALON GLOSSARY. But anyway, if you show them a picture of what you want in their sample book (muestrario) or a magazine (revista), they will know how to take care of you, and they will do a very good job because they want you to come back again and again, and you will, and soon it will feel like family. Communication comes naturally because for us women, hair is the universal language!

RECOMMENDED DOMINICAN SALONS

The majority of Dominican salons are excellent but for me Miguelina's Yani Vanet Beauty Salon in the Bronx (New York City), and Martha's in Manhattan, are among the very best. In Connecticut I recommend Yenni's Grand Salon #2 in Waterbury.

I have been going to Miguelina ever since I came to this country. She is near the 167th and Grand Concourse subway stop. It's like a second home to me, where I can relax and laugh and be myself among friends. The stylists are friendly and nice and they are VERY good to my hair! In fact, they care about my hair as much as I do, and that is a lot! Every week we work together to create new and different and exciting looks for me, and every time I go Miguelina, or Martha, or Yenni's, I know that I am going to feel Very Good when they finish with my hair. And every time I leave those salons, I feel happy. And beautiful!   Take a look!

HOW TO FIND A DOMINICAN SALON IN YOUR AREA

Hint: If you are planning to move and you want to be near a Dominican salon in your new location, you should check these maps first! Good choices would be New York City (West Bronx or Upper Manhattan); Boston or Lawrence MA; Providence RI; Miami FL; Northeastern New Jersey (Bergen, Passaic, Paterson, Union City, Newark); Sleepy Hollow or Haverstraw NY; Philadelphia PA.

To search for a Dominican salon near you, enter the location into one or both of the search boxes below. The Google box asks Google to search for any pages about Dominican salons that also mention the location tht you enter. You can put the city or town and state (you can use the 2-letter abbreviation, for example “bronx ny” or “new haven ct” or “marietta ga”), or a zipcode, or anything else to identify the location. The results will probably include a lot of questions like "Does anybody know where to find a Dominican salon in Bismarck, North Dakota?" but if you look at all the results maybe you will also find some answers.

Then to get a different set of results, do another search in Superpages.com (telephone book business listings); this search finds all the salons in or near the location that you give that have "dominican" in their name. Put the city and state (for example "union nj") and/or a Zip code (CLICK HERE for help):