BEAUTY HOTSPOT | DEVACHAN SALON

It’s been two years since going au naturale with my hair. I’ve cut back on the amount of stress put on my hair which means no relaxers, little to no heat, and lots of protective styles. Though I followed all the advice other naturalistas on YouTube and in the real world were telling me, my hair never seemed to find it curl. To be honest, I was so fed up at one point I nearly turned back to that creamy crack – no lye! (catch that pun there? Teehee!) Thanks to the hands of DevaChan curl masters, they not only brought moisture back to the dried oasis, they added dimension with their special highlighting technique, gave me a face framing cut, but taught me how to maintain and care for these curls when not in the chair!

For over 20 years DevaChan has been in the center of curly hair. While everyone else was focusing on how to make the curly girls hair straight to fit the masses, they were focusing on teaching the curly girl to showcase her innate individuality through her hair. Through an in-house academy that teaches DevaChan specific techniques, an award winning line of DevaCurl products and tools, and an environment that nurtures employees to grow within the brand, DevaChan focuses on the clients as much as they do their staff.

Their start in 1994 seemed to be just the beginning of this hairytale, but with what I’m seeing, things can only go up from here, right? And I can say that as I’ve experienced the magic hands of both Vida and Mia that brought my hair back from the dead.

Let’s begin with what I was doing wrong? I wasn’t detangling and when I was, it was being executed incorrectly. With curls you finger comb for basically everything. Brushing and combing only result in frizz, which is perfect if that’s the look you are after. Otherwise, combing with your fingers is your best option as leave you in control and helps detangle at the same time. If worse comes to worse and you can’t resist using a tool, use the widest tooth comb you can find.

I wasn’t moisturizing… properly. My hair was so thirsty she was begging even for a drop of water. When under the sink and product was being finger raked through, it didn’t stay on the top – it was absorbed like a sponge. It was like a child begging to be taught. To be honest, I had always thought using coconut oil on my hair was good enough. Coconut oil is meant to be the new argon oil which was the new Moroccan oil, how could it stray me in the wrong direction?! Well oils are topical and when used or applied alone, they stay on the surface for the appearance of healthy shine. Which is great for your skin, but your hair needs more than surface level love every day. That’s right. Conditioning your hair is an everyday commitment. You can occasionally skip a day or two if you’re so exhausted, but no there will be a price paid.

1. Detangle – there was a nest living on head, and to the naked untrained eye you would never know. To these women, it was apparent at first glance. Mia took me to the sink were she and assistant detangled with water and moisturizing agents for what felt like forever. I have the worst concept of time, so it could have been five minutes, but it was not. It was much longer than that for sure. It was at that moment she schooled me on finger combing and the importance of detangling.

2. Dry time – a hooded dryer was put on me. I think it was to help find my hairs natural curl pattern and dry my hair (obviously) for the cut.

3. My curls in the back are looser as towards the front are tighter giving the illusion of a mullet. Those mullet pieces were cut off as well as the rest of my hair cut curl-by-curl, while dry, in its natural state.

4. HIGHLIGHTS!!! – It was time for additional dimension through color utilizing their special ‘Pintura’ (or painting in English) technique. These highlights even looked phenomenal when I straightened my hair for a week for an assignment. The way the highlights reflected in photos, while in a straightened stated were just as breathtaking.

[This photo is of my hair straightened so you could see the highlights mentioned. I would have chosen a curly haired photo, but I don’t want to ruin the surprise!]

5. No-Poo me, please! – after the color was ready for rinsing, we returned to the sink where it was rinsed thoroughly followed by the No-Poo Curl Transformation. Here they use their botanical cleanser and follow it up with a conditioning and detangling treatment. This is the part where I really felt the curls come together. It went from the afro in step three, to the defined curls in big reveal.

6. Stylin’ – I was placed under a dryer and when that hood came off, I had a new attitude. There were curl definition like I had never seen before. I felt like I was on “What Not To Wear” and my family and friends were waiting at the Mondrian Rooftop for my big reveal.

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Ta-da!