Hiya,
I have finally after all this time been able to put up salon profiles for 2 new salons I decided to checkout in Lekki Phase 1. 

I decided to merge the two salon profiles because I have a lot to say about one and little say about the other...Read On



Let me start with Studio 6, Salon and Spa
Address; 11B Fola Osibo street, Lekki 1

This is the salon I have little to say about. Why? Well because I got to the salon with my hopes high because it looked new and fresh but then I got inside and what did I see? Recycled stylists! I was stunned, the salon was full of almost all the stylists from a salon I have profiled here! I couldn't even hide my surprise, I called out to one of the guys and said were you not the one at so and so salon? He said yes oh, we are all here!!

At that point I decided nope, I cannot subject my hair to the same old stylists I had to endure at the salon they were before. I was disappointed to say the least but I didn't want to be such a quick judge, may be they had undergone some form of re-training...

So I decided I'll get my nails done, at least it will allow me have a feel of the salon. I was taken upstairs in a secluded room just for manis and pedis (you guys know I am not a fan of such seclusion, it's usually quiet and lonely especially when you are the only one doing your nails)  Well let me tell you this time around I was anything but lonely oh!! The guy that did my nails( with great reluctance, I don't like guys in salons, it's just uncomfortable allowing some strange guy touch your hands, hair is manageable-maybe its just me being an uptight married woman) well this guy could TALK!!! My goodness! 

He was willing to say anything and I mean anything!!

I took this pic while he was doing my nails and chatting away, its darkened for anonymity

I asked him about his previous place of employment and he told me he was at yet another salon I have profiled but the madam's wahala was too much!Lolz then he proceeded to tell me that his new madam(owner of studio 6) got the salon as a present from her hubs( sweet!). I asked him how he got the job, he said he was passing by one day and said to himself-I will work in this salon some day and that's how he came there when they were recruiting. I asked if he was tested in anyway he said he has qualification from a cosmetology school where he paid N200,000 for the tuition-hmmm. Then he went ahead to talk about his girlfriend, mum and everybody in Nigeria!! I was just given free entertainment! I told him I was a blogger and would blog about my experience and he begged me to say good things so I was thinking I am going to leave the salon with the best acrylic nails I have fixed in my life since he knows their rep is on the line!!

I paid N4500 for the nails, with such a price tag you should be guaranteed top notch service but not this time!! My dear readers you will not believe that I got home that evening and by the next morning 2 of the acrylic nails had fallen out!!! I just paid 4500 for those nails!! I couldn't believe it! So I went back there, luckily it was a Saturday( had the nails done on Friday) by this time 2 more had fallen off! The manager was nice, she simply said they will be redone! I was taken to another male nail guy, he seemed more cool until this other guy came and they somehow roped me into a discussion about men and being faithful! Nail guy no 1 was going on about how it isn't possible blah blah... He wasn't even bothered that I was getting the nails redone, he blamed it on the fact that I came late and he was getting ready to close then blamed the glue for being old glue( excuses, excuses) his colleague even said I was lucky I came the next day that if I came later than saturday I'd have had to pay again!! Had to pay for your shabby job? I'd have loved to see that happen! 

Anyways, I endured the chitty chat and was glad my nails were done when he finished! His nails were short and neat just the way I like it


But sadly in about 8 days these nails started falling off, the middle and the pinky fingers fell off first; can you see my sour attempt at covering them? 


I used to fix nails in Uni and those nails used to stay for at least a month until I start begging them to fall off, why must Naija things always be subpar!


To cut the long story that was supposed to be a short story short, I was not impressed with Studio 6's salon especially the nail guys!! I really wish salon owners can be passionate about not only making their salons look good but about the quality of service. This salon looks good; see pics below but the service had me wanting more... 

salon floor

waiting area-love the color!!

facials room

 I am thinking, if you are going to charge high prices for services and your delivery is not up to par, your clientele will dwindle and stylists of now a days who seem quite fickle minded will leave you once there is a sign that there are fewer clients coming and there is a new salon where they will carry their crap salon practices and ruin the new salon and leave to a newer salon and the cycle continues...

In sum, based on my experience at Studio 6 salon and Spa, I will rate them a 5/10.

I humbly advice that salon owners should focus more on the craft of owning a salon than the business of owning a salon...my next salon profile is about a salon that I just have a strong feeling that the owner has to be about the craft of owning a beauty establishment...

Let me introduce you guys to Pride and Joy Salon and Spa!!




Address;
Corner building on Niyi Okunnubi Street off Bisola Duro Sinmi Etti Drive, Off Admiralty road, Lekki Phase 1. As soon as you drive in to lekki, its the 2nd turning on the right you cannot miss it!

So I was driving home and I spotted from the window of a building, huge bright chandelier lights, I took a closer look and realized the building housed a salon, spa, interior decor shop and boutique. I mentally made a date with the salon.

One  Saturday, I went to the salon armed with cash because I'm thinking there is no way this salon will be cheap...NO WAY! I decided I'll get my hair steamed. I walked in and the attendant downstairs ushered me upstairs, as we walked up and my eyes roamed around all the beautiful lights and decor, I made the mistake to ask her if I could take pics for my blog! You know how Nigerians are, when you acknowledge them, it gives them the power to make life difficult( case in point LASTMA). Anyways, she said a big fat NO. I said I have a blog and I want to let people see how beautiful this place is and she said they don't allow people take pics here, I'm thinking how many people have come here saying they want to take pics here or you just made that rule up right now  in your head!! So I asked to see the manager so I could explain, of course conveniently she said the manger was not around and even if she was around she would not let me take pics... I refused to allow the attendant dampen my mood because there were going to be pics taken one way or the other!!lol

Got to the hair salon section, the fittings in this salon are really gorg!! It's the kind of room you'd see in a French mansion boudoir!! White crisp fittings, a very large wide window that allows so much light in with white airy chiffon drapery, clean glass open shelves displaying all their Kera care and Morrocan oil products and clean purple towels with their logo monogrammed on them, neat white drawers, the cutest egg shell style pedicure station... I could go on!! In fact you need to see this salon for yourself!!

sneakily took the pic of the egg shell style pedicure station when no one was looking!

So how was their service oh Dabs!! Well the first thing I noticed is the salon was filled with grown women( yay for women) stylists in neat spa style purple uniforms, I did see just 1 male stylist...one of the ladies came up to me and asked what I was there for, I told her I came to steam my hair then I asked her how much(I always ask first- read this post  to find out why) she said N3,000 with my products!! Frankly I was surprised! Was bracing myself to hear N7000. 

Then she went ahead to prep the.... Steamer!! Not a dryer that serves as a steamer, was very pleased about that. I stayed in it for about 45 minutes with a mix of Shea moisture's hair masque and Organix hair mayonnaise applied from root to tip.

yeap took another one, I am allowed to take myself a pic!! (spy the dangling chandelier behind us)

When the timer went off, I got my hair rinsed out (not shampooed) as usual I decided to get a roller set.-

see me in their super clean toilet trying to get a picture- what I do for you guys :)

The stylist was receptive but initially tried to do things her way till she realized she had to do them my way! I had her oil my scalp with grapeseed oil, and when she whipped out their beloved tail comb I said please ma, use this big comb, she said but it is too big, I said I want it like that, I don't mind, saw her make a face but she quickly got her act together. Then I asked politely to detangle my hair myself, her fellow stylist made a comment about me wanting to do everything myself and my stylist said that's why her hair is long :), glad that I eventually got her on my team!! 

The roller set results came out good, I just took the rollers off and finger combed as usual, she helped me take the rollers out,  walked me to my car insisting on carrying my salon bag and asked me when next she should expect me and told me her name. 

THE RESULTS;

Yay no more Inverted V!!!

My overall experience at Pride and Joy was very good! I will rate them a solid 9/10 and will definitely re-visit.  I also read about them on a popular make up artist's blog and she said their spa treatments are divine! I'll definitely check their spa out, can already imagine the opulence! 

So I have come to the end of these salon profiles, they are an honest re count of my personal experiences at the salons and in no way a personal vendetta or otherwise on any salon. I do not know any of the owners of these salons and objectively profile them so readers can know what to expect if they ever decide to visit the salons. I also hope that salon standards will be raised as a result of my salon profile endeavors. If you have visited any of these salons, please comment below and let me know how your visit went... Did you have a different experience? I am all ears!!

Recruiting... Be a NHCG SALON SPY GAL for the chance to get a NHCG t shirt for free!! Simply write about your experience after visiting any salon in Nigeria, take pics and send to my email, you must state the good, the bad and the ugly without being  vindictive. I will review the write up and if its cool, post it up and send you a tee!!  You can write anonymously if you'd prefer!! So what are you waiting for ladies, get your salon spy shades on and lets whip these salons into shape!! :)

Xxx
Dabs

Hiya,
Its that time again when I become a Hair Special Agent!! With my spy shades on, I was off to a salon I have heard so much about called BLUSH BEAUTY SALON!!

The finished product in the car on my way out

More pics of the curls;

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

Hiya,
So Its finally time for my first NHCG Salon Profile!! A Salon Profile is our version of a salon review where we will rate beauty salons on the following ambiance, price, professionalism, skill and overall rating. 


This month, I will be profiling Supreme Beauty Salon, Lekki 1, Lagos. Note this review is an independent opinion and should not be construed otherwise, please readers who have visited this salon should feel free to rate the salon alongside these ratings in the comment box.



AMBIANCE;
When you open the doors of Supreme Beauty Salon, you are immediately welcomed by a large oval mirror to take a good look at yourself before your 'transformation' and then a large vase at the corner holding dried flowers and twigs, kinda chic! I Also like the really high wall that extends to to the roof and forms some kind of balcony where people upstairs can look down. The Salon is spacious and well laid out, work stations neat and put together, dryers put off to one section of the salon so clients are not all cramped up, the manicure and pedicure section well laid out and the braiding section too. Serenity doesn't exactly come to mind when thinking of Supreme's ambiance but it still has something going on and so for ambiance I would rate Supreme Beauty Salon  highly, maybe an 8 /10!!

 PRICE; 
Most times the prices Salons peg on their services are determined by the area they are situated. So you realize that you are paying for the same exact relaxer treatment at a different price because of location! Supreme being in Lekki therefore charges according to the pockets of its mostly buoyant residents. A relaxer treatment will set you back about N2500 (with your relaxer kit) last I checked. But an off putting thing is a simple wash and set cost the exact same amount of money, now that's a rip off considering that the time, skill, energy put into the two processes are not at par!! I think getting a weave fixed there is about N3000-N5000 depending on style. For Price Ill rate them as average because I have visited salons that cost less that do a good job and I have also visited salons that cost more and are nothing special. So 5/10 should be fine.

PROFESSIONALISM;
This and skill are the two aspects that will either keep me coming to a salon or well away from it! At Supreme, most times you are immediately welcomed and attended to by a manager. She will ask for the purpose of your visit and then assign a stylist to you. I think that is really neat! you go to some salons and you stand there for five minutes, everyone's walking past you and acting like you are invisible until you desperately beckon on someone, anyone to attend to you and if you are lucky someone responds, if you are not, you walk out and no one notices! Well at Supreme they have ironed out that issue. In terms of other staff, I still hear the usual Naija bickering and pidgin English speaking in front of clients, don't know if we can ever get that out of the salon system in Naija but in all honesty at Supreme, the presence of the manager keeps things civil! For Professionalism I have to give them a 9/10  

SKILL;
The beauty industry is a recycled industry! In the sense that , the same stylists just keep moving themselves around carrying along the same level of skill from one salon to the other. Supreme Salon is somewhat a 'victim' of this recycling. Most of its staff are male stylists I have seen work in other salons here in Lekki. Most of them don't really have skill  with natural hair besides the basic fixing of weaves in my opinion and the one time I heard one of them give advice to a client, he told her that her hair was shedding so she needed a trim! Now from my previous post on trimming we all know he was blabbing, the poor lady who came in with a bob left the salon with an Anita Baker style hair cut! the guy was just scissors happy and it took all in me not to involve myself that day because the one time I told a stylist at a Lekki  Salon that relaxing to the tips of the hair was wrong, I almost started a fight! Hence for skill ill give them a 6/10 because even their weaves are not always great.

OVERALL RATING; 
My over all rating of Supreme Beauty Salon would be Above Average(7/10) because though they have a few rough patches here and there in terms of skill and price(which is relative), they manage to keep their clients satisfied. The basic cleanliness of the salon, the ample amount of stylists which make for a large workforce and the manager of the salon guarantee that you will always be taken care of once you are in there though I cannot guarantee the level of care you will be given!!

Hope you enjoyed this post. This review should be helpful in directing you on what to look out for in your salon. I will be visiting more salons specifically to profile them and I won't always be sweet and rosy! Here comes Naija Hair Police!!lol. I might even let them know so they check out my blog and see what I and my readers think of their salons!What do you think? Drop a comment, ill gladly respond!!

Stop by soon,
Dabs

Hiya, so  I have decided to start a segment called 10 THINGS! Once in a while I will post 10THINGS about a certain topic. Today's topic is just my sarcastic way of listing the things that go wrong at salons here in Naija most of which I have already addressed. Enjoy!!

 I love to pamper myself every so often and in the past part of this self pampering included frequent trips to the salon to get my hair washed or steamed or curled. Well these days, things have changed! I only visit the salon when I absolutely have to. Each time, I go with my bag of expectations only to return home with it deflated. Deflated because in the course of my visit I would have almost blurted out at least 10 things I hate about my visit! I am sure your initial reaction to this topic is that it sounds too harsh or critical but by the time I’m done listing these ten things, I have a feeling you will be nodding your head in agreement.
 Hope you enjoyed this Post, stay tuned for my very first SALON PROFILE post, drop a comment, ask for advice and Ill gladly respond. 


Stop by soon,
Dabs