Loc Lov — Attraction in Washington

Update: the situation was not as you described. I wanted my wife to sit in a chair, the same chair that was offered to her by the wash guy. Salih wouldn't begin to listen to what I had questions about. Instead, kept talking about his 12 years experience and boundaries (both of us wanted to respect the boundaries, and said so, becase we are caring people and didnt want to offend anyone.) My wife even apologized before going to sit on the other side of the room. He didn't want to listen to what I had to say until she was on the other side of the "cozy" salon. If her sitting across from us (not looking over his shoulder) was a problem then it would have been great customer service to reply to the multiple messages, I had sent asking about this situation since I booked months ago. A reply of any kind would be an improvement to your "customer service." Professional and welcoming was only from Charles. Salih must have been hurt by someone before and is still sensitive about it. It's the only excuse I can think of where going from whispering to yelling makes sense. Insulting my wife because she is white, to your whole shop, is unacceptable and disgusting. Saying I should never have brought her into the shop because she is white is insulting and not welcoming. Insinuating that she wanted to steal knowledge shows yall never read anything I wrote in my intake and in this review. All this seems to be a theme as all your bad reviews from VA to CA are all for him. Makes me know the problem is not with me.

First off, the guy who did my wash and Conditioning was a great guy! (Anatomy Trains by Thomas Myers is the book we talked about) He needs to leave this place and follow his passions. I traveled to this place from Vermont. Hoping to have a fun time and learn some things. That was not my experience. The owner is the reason for this review. Never had a person be so disrespectful to me and my wife before saying hello. I booked this appointment in March. I asked in my intake (very thorough intake) if my wife could sit and watch and listen so we could take care of my hair when we get back home. I also called a week before to check again. If it was OK we we asked questions and watched. The lady on the phone said it would be OK. Ok, so now it is my turn in the chair, and I asked my wife to come over to confirm the locs I had questions about. He said, "I can see what's going on. I don't need you to tell me what's going on with his hair unless he is a minor or doesn't speak English. " I said,"She is my wife and helps me do my hair when we are back home. Asked before if it was OK for to be here and was told it would be ok." My wife said, "OK can I sit in this chair and watch?" "If you want to take a class that is a different appointment. " I flew all this way so we could have this be a learning experience. Both of us were confused for the change from what i was told. I tried to calm the vibe as he seemed to be getting heated already, by saying we respect his boundaries and asking about the details for his classs while my wife sat down where she was before (10ft away) and not in the chair she was shown to sit in a few moments ago. After the service. As we are leaving, wife tell him that in the future respect and customer service goes along way. Said in a calm way and not yelling. That set him off to curse her out for disrespecting him. She left without saying anything more. And then Salih turned to me as I'm paying, yelling at me for bringing her, saying, "I should have known better!" I let him keep yelling as I thanked the lady stylist and the guy who did my wash. Yelled to me to never come again as I'm leaving. I left after that without saying anything rude to him. The workers were stone quiet and scared to look at me and kept their heads down. Even the barber downstairs apologized for my experience after hearing him yell at us. As a small business owner, respect is the most important to me. As a client, respect is the most...

Loc Love is a house that has been converted into a salon. The waiting room (has tea, water and wifi password) and shampoo station is upstairs. Downstairs is 2 barber stations and the salon in the back The area is in a 2 hour zone street parking. If you don’t want to search for a parking spot or have to move your car every 2 hrs the 90 bus stops in front of the shop. They provide loc service, color, repair dreads, barber service, etc. The shop sells head wraps, oils (for hair and beards) jewelry and other items. Nice unique designed interior, eclectic style and taste. Music plays through out shop but no specific track.

My personal experience

1st appointment: Waited 3 weeks to make a consult appointment with Rasha. Based off the reviews she seemed like the best but was hard to book with. Arrived at my consult scheduled at 8am and wasn't seen until 9am. The person who did my consult was a man. He stated that the time on the website was wrong and that Rasha was not able to do my appointment. For those reasons he compensated amount for the consult. I discussed with him what I wanted done thinking he would relay the information to the stylist and barber. Was quote a price for locs and haircut since I wasn’t getting “a whole head of locs” I would pay $85 to start them and not $160. I was told $30 for my haircut and I wouldn’t have to pay extra for the design. Made my $60 down payment and appointment with the receptionist for starter locs with Rasha and haircut with Wade. Would be able to get my hair done for another 3 weeks.

Day before appointment: Rasha calls to tell me she doesn’t start locs and that my loctition has been changed. I have been waiting for almost 2 months to get my hair done and it was last minute I took the day off from work to accommodate for this appointment.

2nd appointment: When I sat in the chair The loctition did not know what I wanted and Doesn’t really know much about the texture of my hair. I have very thick hair but a lot of it was combed out (trying to detangle my ends) after getting my hair washed up stairs. The information that was discussed in the consult was not relayed to the loctition nor the barber. Wade the barber did a great job on my hair cut took the time to cut my hair and fine a design. I got lots of complements on the design he did. My twist came out in three days when I left the shop I had a lot of knotted dead hair at the ends (Loc Lov starts locks with two stranded twist). I was also charged way more than what I was told at my consult.

Customer Service: After speaking with the manager she took the time to trouble shoot some of the dilemmas that occurred. She explained the mishap and refunded me the cost of the Starter Locs (surprised me). I appreciated the time she took to see if I could come back in to and have an appointment with Rasha. I appreciate one of the loctitionist rushing Wade to finish cutting my hair by constantly reminding him that his other appointment was waiting.

I would recommend this shop to anyone that has already started locs and Definitely would recommend that barber service. They now have to barbers and their work looks good. I noticed that it does take awhile to pay at the end. I don’t know if I would come back again for hair unless it is for barber service or to get it colored. I have read a lot of reviews and seen some of the people who have gotten their hair colored...

Latest update: 2021 fresh re-twist. I typically go form 3-4 months semi-free form because of the texture of my hair I only find the need to wash, pop and dry my locs. Loc Lov has next members to the team that have acted above and beyond even with the on going issues caused of the pandemic and other factors. I booked a short notice appointment on 1-3-2021 with Sadiyqah Abdus-Shakur Nixon for a micro loc maint. I received the shampoo and conditioning treat by Shaborn Vail and he washed the mess out of my locs and brought them back to per cold weather moisture balance. When I sat in Sadiyqah Abdus-Shakur Nixon chair she took good care of not over twisting the loc upon themselves (which causes damage on me grade of hair) and used clips. She said she was going too slow which I think she had good time management and meticulous styling will make me a future customer.

Update: Well with Billy and La'Keisha no longer working at Loc Lov and they were the ones who accomplished my first the shampoo treatment, loc establishment and maintenance. With that change I decided to take that as a sign that it's time for me to maintain my locs on my own. I will miss the shampoo and steam treatments because Tamira is awesome and will make you not want to leave the shampoo bowl. Okay, I had my hair re-twisted by Dacari and well okay this is on me because I dislike having my hair styled and his styling gift is wonderful and you'll walk out of there looking really manicured. Currently I just want to leave my hair alone ah la semi-freeform and keep my beautiful diamond parts. I will eventually return to Loc Lov because they are really good at what they do.

Consultation with La'Keisha on 11/3/2019, with a fill out question/ answer worksheet and pre loc treatment recommendations. My appointment was on 11/15/2019, for starter locs using micro twist w/steam treatment and whatever Billie recommended upon reviewing my hair and scalp situation. Great service and the overall shop energy is wonderfully real. Billie washed, conditioned and steamed life back into my unfortunate strands (believe me Billie's reaction when I took my hat off was priceless). My scalp usually will react in the worst way (oily and tight) and he handled my situation with care, questions and talked to me about every process and steps he was taking to give my hair and scalp the best foundation to start locs. La'Keisha took her time and perfectly established diamond parts on my micro starter locs. I enjoyed the energy of the rest of the team it felt comfortable and I need that or my anxiety will show itself in the worst way. I'm looking forward to the journey (shrinkage, budding, ugly phase, etc...) with the Loc Lov crew. I also appreciate the cute Loc Lov certificate given to me when everything was complete. People, your hair is their business so get your initial questions out during your consultation and trust the process. My only con is I wish that their web administrator would update the photo profiles for their staff (hint, hint post a photo...