Curl Kitchen Salon — Attraction in Chicago

I’m honestly very upset about my hair. I asked for mini knotless twists and ended up with medium/small traditional twists that have the obvious bump at the roots. This is not what I asked for at all. Knotless twists are supposed to be lightweight, flat, and free-flowing — what I got is heavy, stiff, and looks old-fashioned. I feel like I wasted my time and money because this is nothing like what I requested. Pictures are attached so you can see exactly what I mean.

Coming from Washington, DC — where hair salons are top-tier — I was excited to try this place. I spoke directly with who I believe is the owner about getting mini twists for $400. She agreed, and I booked my appointment. Later, it was switched to Jasmine for 9/20/2025.

When I arrived, they washed my hair and left me under the steamer for so long that by the time it shut off, I was sitting there cold until someone finally noticed me.

While Jasmine was doing my hair, I asked if they were knotless and mini twists, and she told me yes. But they were NOT knotless, and they were NOT mini. If I’m paying $400 for a mini twist, I expect exactly that — not medium/small old-school twists with bumps at the roots.

Frankly, I don’t think the owner knows what she’s doing or what she’s talking about. She even had the nerve to call me the next day (9/21/2025) about me paying $300 instead of $400 — which Jasmine herself agreed to after I pointed out that these were not minis. On top of that, I still tipped $50 just to be nice. Honestly, being nice clearly doesn’t pay — I should have just stuck to the $300 flat.

This whole experience was unprofessional, overpriced, and frustrating. I will be telling my friends not to come here because the communication is terrible and the service does not match the price.

my response to the owner Clare______________________________

Clare, with all due respect, your response is extremely frustrating and feels dismissive of my experience.

First of all, yes — I rescheduled once, but that has nothing to do with the fact that what I asked for and what I received were two completely different things. You keep repeating “traditional kinky twists,” but I clearly told you I wanted mini twists — and I confirmed with Jasmine while she was doing my hair that they were supposed to be mini and knotless. She told me “yes,” and then I ended up with medium twists with bumps at the roots. That’s not a “miscommunication,” that’s me not getting what I paid for.

Second, you saying I was 19 minutes late is irrelevant — my appointment started late regardless because I was left sitting cold under the steamer after it turned off until someone finally noticed me. If your point is that you “still gave me the full steam,” that was not a favor — it’s basic customer service.

Third, I did express my dissatisfaction while I was in the chair — multiple times — and Jasmine acknowledged it, which is why the price was dropped by $100. Pretending I just sat there silently is not true, and trying to frame this as me failing to communicate is unfair.

Let’s be honest: if your salon doesn’t offer knotless twists, you should have been clear about that from the start — not confirm my appointment as if we were on the same page. If you’re going to charge $400, the service and communication should match that price point, and they absolutely did not.

I paid $300, plus tipped $50 out of kindness, and still walked away completely unhappy with my hair. That is not okay. Instead of blaming me for “not communicating,” you might want to take this as real feedback on how your business communicates with clients and delivers on what...

I took off 3 stars because I don't drive so I had to pay for a pricy Uber from the Northside down to Bronzeville. Which I don't mind much since that's where all of the black salons are.

I arrived about 15-20mins early (as always do), for my loc tightening appointment with Rachel (raquel?). The receptionist said that she didn't see me scheduled. She made a call and told me Rachel was on the way.

I waited about 20 mins before stylist Christen came out to try to figure out what's going on. She spoke with the owner or manager, who said that she'd attempted to contact me to let me know that she was scheduling me with another stylist. But I never received a call, voicemail, text or email from anyone affiliated with the salon. She then relayed to me that my new stylist will be Antamani. Who apparently was unaware that she had been booked. Christen then told me that she will arrive in about an half hour. And that she will be giving me an either 20-40% discount for my time.

Antamani arrived. She was friendly, professional knowledgeable and fast! my hair looked amazing afterwards. I feel so confident and beautiful til my next wash.

My only complaint is that I told her I had sets of two locs that were starting to mat together and would need to be separated. Later on I found that those two locs were combined without my knowledge. Creating two large locs in a head full of micro locs. So now I will have to take those locs down separate and reinstall them.

The normal price for the service is $140. She says since I have thick hair can we add 30 or 40. I was caught off guard but then said "30 is fine". She charged me 180. Then I asked "is that with or with out the discount included?" She said "what discount" so I told her about what the manager said. Apparently no one communicated anything with her about that neither. Now I look dumb. So I just paid the full price. I usually tip but i didn't budget to pay full price plus an additional charge, especially after I had to wait over an hour to get serviced. Very disappointed to not get the discount that was promise. It was disheartening to feel like my time, communication and money and the fact that I am a returning client matter none to them that day. I felt disregarded.

However, This was just one experience. I visited once before, pre -locs, and my experience was great with Christen. Like I said my hair looked phenomenal except for the 2 locs. I would have given 5 stars if they weren't so poor with communicating with me and amongst each other.

I would like to go back for a visit because she is a fantastic loctitian but I have my hesitations about the business now, my time and money (which during this pandemic is not as accessable), like everyone else's, is precious.

I have referred a friend to the loctitian, hopefully get experience won't...

I was debating on if I would write a review or not but considering I just had a full blown anxiety attack because of my hair, this needed to be shared.  DO NOT COME HERE FOR BRAIDS! I booked an appt for butterfly locs over the phone. I've never gotten them before so I needed to know what kind of hair to get. I was told by girl who took my call to just get some pre looped crochet hair. That's it. My mistake was not asking for a brand,  width, or a length. The lady at the beauty supply store tried her best to help me. I got six packs like the website says to be on the safe side. I was assigned to Jasmine. She did a good job washing and conditioning my hair. But when I was under the steamer she asked what kind of crochet braids was I getting. I was confused as I thought I'd told the person who booked me exactly what I wanted. I showed her a picture and told her  what I wanted. Shortly after she told me she wouldn't be able to do it because the receptionist had booked a client for her right behind me. I was disappointed, but I told her I could settle for some bantu knots or rods or something. She told me it was fine that the other client was pushed back. I really wish I had just gotten bantu knots. Because what she didn't tell me was that the hair I'd gotten was NOT the hair I needed for the look I was going for. Yet she went ahead and put it in my head anyway. I had individual locs in the front, back and my edges. She braided my natural hair so tiny like microbaids then added the locs and used a lot gel. And she used all 6 packs on my head. It ended up being super puffy and full. I looked liked I had a brand new mop on my head! I did not like it at all. But it was too late. I paid $175 just to go home and struggle from 8pm to 3am to take this mess down. My hair is long and it was healthy and freshly trimmed. I managed to retain my length minus one piece of hair I accidentally cut. And now my ends looks fried. I cried so hard. I'm still upset because it was a freaking nightmare to take this stuff down and I trusted that I would have been taken care of professionally and that I would walk away with a protective style for the rest of the winter. NEGATIVE. These people are not open and honest with their clients! And they need to do a better job at specifying WHAT kind of hair to get for braid styles since they do not supply the hair! Ive come here a few times for my blowouts but I think this will be my last time period. I am...