SALON PROFILE; EDEN SALON
How Y'all doing?! I am bringing to the fore a segment of this blog I kind of abandoned when I started called Salon Profile!!
I stopped profiling salons for a number of reasons; chief amongst them is that I do my hair myself including relaxers and I don't use extensions. But I liked the idea and even though I did not get much of a reaction from readers in my first profile. I will keep doing them till they catch on. I was more than convinced that this segment will continue here when I watched an episode of Jerseylicious recently that involved the SALON GUY a salon review guy who was kind of bashing the Gatsby salon, Kristy and Gale then decided to prove his notions wrong and organized an event and he was invited and his perception changed due to the success of the event and he gave them a better review!
Well the point of my little rehash is to buttress the aim of this segment; I'm appointing myself as the SALON GAL in Lagos! I will visit salons personally or send my spy LOL either as an observer or an actual customer( I'm sure I can find something they can do for me...oh the thought) and I will be assessing the salons with a very keen eye based on different aspects, then I will post my honest opinion on the salon's general performance.
The result I am hoping will be raised standards in the salon industry, I am tired of everyone talking about how they do not care about salon visits anymore or those who are now immune to the filth that perpetuates in salons these days! By the time a salon has its customers leaving and their next door salon increases customers based on a review given by my humble self, I am sure the defaulting salon will sit up because let's face it, not everyone has the flair or the time to do their own hair, but how can you thrive in your hair journey when you have no choice but to hand your hair fate over to a salon where they do not know what they are doing!!
So unto the first review of the season! Salon Profile of EDEN SALON;
I heard great things from friends about Eden Salon on the Lekki Epe express way and couldn't wait to visit them, so when wash day came along some time ago, I decided to go and deep condition there instead of in my living room with my shower cap on!lol
I was about 8 weeks post relaxer but wanted to stretch my relaxer to 10 weeks so my edges would be fresh for an event coming up, usually I'd slap on my deep conditioning mix on my hair, cover my hair with a shower cap then a scarf and drive off to the salon just to use their hair steamer and wash my hair out but this time since I had heard the hype, I decided to go with all my products instead and leave them to apply them on at the salon and thank God I did because when I got there I was immediately informed that I was not allowed to bring my own products!!What!! That was a first in Niaja!! They told me, the salon exclusively used Kera care professional products. I was given a menu that had all these treatments and prices, I picked the one I thought was close to a normal deep conditioning treatment and reasonably priced and proceeded to take a seat in the waiting area.
The ambiance of the salon was fine, colorful; orange, purple and lime green on the seats, walls and stations, it was neatly organized, staff all seemed professional THEN I met their boss( I think).
She looked like a South African lady with maybe Indian decent, she came up to me with a smile and informed me that the stylists will scramble for my hair, she then proceeded to TELL me that I will be getting a relaxer that day, that my hair was too oily, that oil is bad for my type of hair( which made me wonder how she knew seeing that her hair texture as an Indian was different from my African hair). When I told her than I was trying to stretch my relaxer till 10 weeks she exclaimed 'that's wrong!!' telling me that relaxing my hair should be every 6 weeks!! I tried to let her know the benefits of stretching and the Madam almost vexed for me oh!! She told me she had over 20 years of experience doing hair and she was sure she knew more than me!!
At that point I was really exasperated! I could not believe I had spent almost half an hour having 'a smiling argument' with this lady, all I came for was a deep condition oh! I got myself together, looked her firmly in the eyes and told her I will not be relaxing my hair that day, she knew she had to give that up but then she looked at the menu and decided that a more expensive hair treatment would be best for my hair; I almost asked 'madam do you know how much is in my wallet that you want me to pay almost N4000 just to steam my hair!'
Anyways, I didn't want to start another one so I sat down and let the stylist do her thing. I thoroughly enjoyed the wash, she gave me a good scalp massage and everything was fine till it came to styling; I did not want the blow dry and brush thing they do that just destroys hair and I did not want straightening either but these people tried to convince me that with their wonderful heat protectant nothing will happen to my 8weeks old, tangled as heck hair! They were speaking to the wrong person! I insisted on old school big rollers and dried them under a hooded dryer, when I got out, miss stylist decided to comb my very dry hair( thanks to their method of using just setting lotion when rolling hair) with a small styling comb!! At this pointed I had enough, I got out my big tooth comb, put my dry frizzy curls in a ponytail, plastered a smile on my face and ran outta there before they tried to book me for another appointment!!
DISLIKES
You see my visit to Eden was no paradise but I learnt a few things, having a know it all attitude is a major turnoff! I know the Boss lady had all good intentions when she was addressing me but I couldn't ignore her forcey nature! To think that a customer's point of view is not worth listening to because you have 20 years experience can fly when that customer is a hair novice not eh me, madam Naija Hair Can Grow o!LOL but seriously, I would have liked if she dropped her 2cents and stepped back a bit and allowed customers make their own decisions. I also do not like the whole idea of not using clients hair products, I know it's done abroad but I still don't like it because I want to feel free to use products I know work well for my hair!
LIKES
I liked the menu with the prices but allowing clients pick the services rather than imposing it on them is better, again your 2cents is welcome( talking to the boss lady) LOL! Lastly I liked that they tried to book a next appointment, very business savvy! Hook you in eh! Well as I stated, I avoided the hook just in time, don't know how...fake number maybe!LOL
Unfortunately I will be giving Eden Salon 3stars out of 5, it's unfortunate because clearly the salon is set up for exceptional service but for the glitches here and there. Hope they improve, might send a spy there in the future...
Well I have come to the end of this very long post! Whew! I hope it helps and expect more salon profiles. The giveaway is still on, so enter for a chance to win. Have you visited Eden Salon in Lekki?How was your visit?lets know below.
Xxx
Dabs
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