The Braiding Place Elgin — Local services in Elgin

I brought my 3 daughters here to get their hair braided (Goddess knotless braids) for my wedding ceremony in Jamaica last May. The experience was terrible. When I arrived at our scheduled appointment time only 1 of the 3 braiders was there. She was pleasant and professional seemed a bit older and more knowledgable than the rest. She braided my oldest daughter's hair and did a great job. We waited almost 30 minutes for braider #2 to show up, she was a very personable/nice young lady but she did not know how to do the style I was paying for. She did not do knotless nor goddess braids...I was so confused. Braider #3 showed up 40 plus minutes past the scheduled time no apology at all, she came in and refused to even acknowledge me or my daughter. Instead she wanted to communicate using hand motions. But she seemed to laugh and joke with the other braiders. She had no idea what style she was supposed to be doing. When I informed her she felt the need to let me know how much the style was. I then let her know the owner had quoted me a price that was $50.00 cheaper. She got even ruder and attempted to go back and forth with me about the price . I simply pulled up the text and let it speak for itself. She then walked away, went and made a call (I'm guessing it was to the owner) which got very loud. When she came back I asked " so what are we doing"? Mind you it's an hour past the scheduled appointment time and we have not started. She goes on to say I'll do it this time but next time you'll have to pay the extra $50.00. I very politely informed her that's a conversation better suited for her and the owner. She began to rip through my daughters natural hair with a rattail comb snatching it from root to end. I sprang up and said do you need me to detangle the sections for you because that is not how to detangle hair. I was livid by this point looking her square in the eye. I said "Get a wide tooth comb and work for ends to roots or step aside and let me do it properly". I then said "If you're too upset to work I'll take my business elsewhere.' She then followed my instructions with a screwed up look on her face. I watched her like a hawk for the next 2 hours.

Toward the end the owner showed up. She asked if she could speak with me. Right in the middle of the shop floor she asked would I mind paying the extra $50.00. I was floored!!! She did not address any of the issues that had taken place, she did not ask me how my experience had been (knowing there had been problems). In a calm voice I started laying out how terrible the experience had been from the time we got there up until the conversation I was having with her. She began getting loud with me. I immediately stopped speaking as I refused to argue with this woman in the middle of the salon in front of my children. I remained composed and asked if she was done yelling. Then in a calm voice told her if she could not control the volume of her voice the conversation would be over. I informed her I was NOT paying the extra $50.00 and that I was owed an apology. She apologized but then proceeded to make excused for herself and her braiders. I could feel myself about to lose control so I stepped aside from her saw the final braider finishing her last braid. I zelled them what we agreed upon and let the owner know I'd never step foot in her shop again. For 3 girls I spent 850.00 that day. Please believe I was able to find other braiders who were very happy to make that money. That was 15 months ago the girls have gotten their hair braided several times since then with a professional braider who treats her clients with respect.

The owner called me 2 days later asking if I would write a positive review if she apologized again. I told her absolutely not!

There's an awesome Braider at Lesly's Beauty Supply in Carpentersville. Her and her daughter are very sweet and do GREAT work. Anyone reading this should check her out. Her rates are more affordable as well which is...

I asked for no extensions and we both verbally agreed that we would only be using my natural hair for the braids, yet I was given extensions She went up and down my braids using scissors and she was cutting my real natural hair and left me with a lot of flyaways on the top of my head and even CUT OUT A BIG CHUNCK OF MY NATURAL HAIR towards the bottom She used a lot of different products in my hair. This left my hair looking and feeling nasty and dirty. It was so saturated with product that it became WET. she had to put me underneath a hairdryer. She put me underneath a hair dryer without telling me how long I should sit there. She left me under the hairdryer to go work on another client (which is okay) however I’m sure she would’ve left me sitting there for a long time if I wouldn’t have gotten up myself I didn’t receive a receipt. I didn’t see a cash register in this place and when I paid and asked for change to leave her a $10 tip she put the money that I originally gave her in her purse and from her purse she gave me change so that I could leave her a tip Unsanitary. There was moments where she had to touch my face around my eye or on my forehead around my eyebrows and I never saw her use hand sanitizer once or wash her hands. She was previously working on someone else’s hair and stopped to do my style without washing her hands. Then when she was completed with my style she went back to the other client without washing her hands. A fresh comb/ brush was not used on my hair. It was previously used and dirty. This is a sanitary violation because if the brush is dirty and if my scalp was cut into it could lead me to have an infection or transferring lice into my hair. Every time they would open up a package of hair to lay down on the table they would drop some and then pick it back up and place it back on the table with the rest of the hair. This again is not sanitary. The floor there was extremely dirty. And since the hair they’re being used is synthetic (made from plastic) it has stronger capabilities to pick up any dirt or anything else from the floor.

To the owner or whoever did my hair in the future please ask your client whether or not they want each product that you were going to place in their hair before placing it in their hair. You used way too many products on my hair. I remember to use gel, hairspray, moose, another spray I’m unfamiliar with, and I don’t know what else. My hair was left feeling sticky and gross and it looked matted. When I left the salon my hair was no longer shiny it looked so filthy that as soon as I got home I had to take out the braids to wash my hair because of all the products in it. In the future NEVER go up and down the braids with scissors. You ruined my natural hair growth and left me a lot of flyaway/strays and YOU CUT OUT A CHUNCK OF MY REAL HAIR. Also for any future clients if they tell you they don’t want hair extensions and you agree that you will not be putting hair extensions in their hair, Don’t add hair extensions. I have uploaded a picture of me holding in my hand the hair extensions that you used. Since I started working out more I needed to find a place that I could come to to have braids put in so that I wouldn’t have to wash my hair every single day after my workouts. I will never return here and I will never recommend this business to anyone. I came in expecting that my $20 and $10 tip included (for a total of $30) would get me some pretty braids that would last me at least 4-7 days. Instead I...

I recently started my own dreadlocks at home with my boyfriend. It is a lot of work to do on your own with the crochet method (since I have straight silky hair) so I decided to have them maintained at a salon. I live walking distance from this place so I decided to try it out.

I am currently sitting in the chair, drying my hair after what was a very unsatisfactory experience.

I asked them if they knew the crochet method for straight hair and they weren't knowledgeable on the subject and reassured me that they had a different technique that would work the same way so I chose to trust them as this was my first time here.

I sat down in one of the chair, tattered and falling apart. The lady that was taking care of me went and grabbed some tightening dread gel which seemed to be left open with a dirty comb inside, hairs sticking out of the pot and the hair clips she used in my hair were covered with left over gel. She began to separate and twist my locks with this dirty comb. When she wasn't able to separate my locks she started to rip the hairs apart. It hurt my head and broke my hairs. When she couldn't separate them another couple times she went in with scissors and cut my hair without even asking me or explaining why she was doing so.

My head is extremely tender and I'm sure I will have a massive headache later today.

The ladies were very nice. I appreciate how friendly they were. I just really think they need to raise their standards of cleanliness and customer service. Their salon is definitely in need of a makeover- even a vacuuming of their carpet would help a lot.

All in all, I will not be returning here. I am going to have to continue my search for a better salon to maintain my locks. I cannot believe I paid someone $80 to twist my hair with gel, rip and cut my hair. This is definitely not going to hold in my straight hair. I'm just going to have to wash all this gunk out and find someone that knows how to crochet...