Natural Sisters Hair Salon — Local services in New York

Won't be making a braiding appointment at Natural Sisters ever again. I traveled from Boston just to get my hair braided there before a big trip - should've just stayed home and rocked my 'fro. Poor service and unprofessional all the way around.

I made an appointment a month in advance for a noon time slot with Jolie Bagate. I'd seen braiding work that I wasn't a fan of on Natural Sisters' Instagram, but the pics attributed to Jolie were exceptional, so I specifically chose her when making the appointment. The appointment request was accepted a couple days later, I called and responded to texts to reconfirm, and received text reminders of my appointment with Jolie.

On the day of, I arrived at the salon a half hour early. The braiding manager asked what size and length I wanted. Turns out there is $40 or $80 "surcharge" for medium and small braids/twists that isn't advertised on their website. Would've been nice to know that ahead of time.

I was asked when and with whom my appointment was for. Jolie and the other 4 braiders were still working on earlier clients, so the braiding manager set me up in a wicker chair with an assistant "just to get me started." The assistant was nice, but she clearly was still learning how to do it. The manager had to come over twice, once to instruct her how to set up her station properly and the second time to show her how to install a twist. Not a reassuring start, but I was willing to be flexible until Jolie could take over.

Two hours pass and Jolie is still with her earlier client and the assistant is slowly working on the bottom half of my head. And when I say slow, I mean slow. Someone came in 2.5 hours after me, got the same thickness and length that I requested and she still was out of the chair before I was! When one of the chairs opened up, they moved me to the open seat and Fatim began working on the front of my face while the assistant continued in the back.Then another stylist (Sophie?) took over for Fatim. My hair has absolutely no grid and the sections in the front aren't even straight (Fatim kept using a hair clip to part my hair) because 3 different people worked on me from different vantage points.

At hour 3, Jolie left the salon and never returned. No explanation, no apology, no acknowledgment that I had made my appointment with her and had been patiently waiting to have her take over. If I made an appointment with someone, I expect that person to actually work with me. If there was a conflict, my appointment should never have been accepted in the first place. In order to be a great salon, clients' choices need to be honored - the relationship needs to be way more than just putting butts in seats.

By the end of my 6th hour there, the third stylist was putting last finishing touches. She took out scissors and began snipping hair sticking out of the twist, paying no mind to whether it was synthetic hair or my hair! I complained and she apologized and said she'd only cut the synthetic hair, but then she took out a lighter and applied it to my real hair at least twice! What's the point of having a "protective style" when you burn your hair in the process?! And I literally had just gotten a trim the day before!

In terms of environment, the braiders do a great job keeping the salon clean by routinely sweeping and mopping up any spills; however, their conversations are anything but professional. They rarely speak to their clients - mainly they joke and argue with each other in French. They talked about other stylists who've left the room, the low tip a client who just left gave them, and even made comments about my facial expression while I was sitting right there. One woman came downstairs angry about something and started cursing and they allowed a man to come down so he could hawk phones and tablets. If you don't take your business seriously, why should anyone else? Apparently, they didn't believe me when I said I could understand them.

My suggestion? Spend your money someplace that cares about the health of your hair and the experience of...

Im was referred to Natural Sisters Salon by my mother whom had previously purchased their hair growth elixir and had a crochet protective style. Upon listening to her praise of the salon, I decided to take a chance on their hair elixir first. I have to say, I LOVEEEEEE the hair elixir!!!! Ive used it not only on myself but also my 6 year old daughter's hair, especially last summer when she pulled her hair from the roots from tribal braids. It smells WONDERFUL and does absolutely exactly what they state on the website. So I will be FOREVER purchasing this whenever I run out (as a matter of fact, I purchased two bottles and a jar of their hair butter thanks to promotion for $30 this past weekend.)

Ive wanted to try braids again after manyyyyy years of taking a break from them due to previous hair loss and traction alopecia of my edges. I did have some concerns about self conscious issues of if the style I wanted could be achieved and how it would look. The salon was very professional in reaching back out to me and helping to reserve a consultation this past Sunday. I met with Yvonne, who was a total sweetheart to take the time to pause on a client that she had and answer any questions I had. She assured me that style could be achieved and suggested to me the way the braids should lay so that it wouldnt interfere with the regrowing of my edges. She even suggested what products to use and how to use so I am very appreciative of that (and to be honest this probably what saved the review at 3 and not a lower number). My son is having a 10th birthday on the 17th so I decided to go ahead and book an appt for the 13th (yesterday), which just happened to be his actual birthday. Because they didnt have any early appointments, I was booked for 1:00 pm, which was fine because I figured I would still have time in the evening to spend with him. BIG MISTAKE.

Yesterday morning around 10 something, the salon calls me and the receptionist informs me that my braider Christelle wanted to know if it was possible for me to come in at 2pm instead of at 1pm. I did state that it was my son's birthday and it would push back things I needed to be but sure, I would come in at that time. I live in Brooklyn but I arrived at a few minutes early before my rescheduled appointment time. After getting some snacks from the deli next door, I was told I could go downstairs. Now I expected my braider to waiting for me--that was NOT at all what I was met with. Instead my braider was still working on a client. Still, I decided to give it a shot and wait, seeing as how it appeared she didnt have too much work left to do. ANOTHER BIG MISTAKE.

2 pm came and went. 3 pm was knocking at the door and I was still waiting. Two other clients came in after me for their appointments and one of them was seated in a chair and being on worked on BEFORE me. I stillllll decided to wait and have more patience, despite the growing irritation rising in me. 3pm came and went; 4pm was now knocking at the door.

At this point, within that timeframe my irritation had risen because it was becoking obvious that my planned time schedule was off track SEVERELY. A woman I believe to be the braiding manager of the shop, asked me if I was ok at one point, at which I told her that it was my son's birthday and he was expecting to see me. Her response was that she was so sorry, that my stylist was just about finished. She asked to see the style I wanted, which were layered cornrows in a decent small length; she told me that my stylist is fast. So I took this reassurance and continued to wait.

FINALLY, a little after 4, it was my time to be in the chair. After giving the money for them to purchase some hair because it was not included in the price of the braids, I hopped in the seat. Let me just ssy that Christelle is a wonderful braider; she did ask me what length I wanted (waist length) and advised me of the price. I showed her the picture and she began to get started on the first layer of cornrows, which she ended up finished at about 5...

Wooooo, where do I start??

I made an appointment at The Weave Lounge (which is somehow affiliated with Natural Sisters) with Ragan 10 days before my appointment date. 24hrs before the appointment date, i get a call from The Weave Lounge claiming that Ragan was unavailable (didn’t give me a reason why but okay…) and asked if booking with another stylist was okay. Strike one. Honestly, I only said yes because I was going on vacation and I needed my hair braided. So I agree to another stylist, cool. Then I get texts informing me that my appointment at Natural Sisters had been accepted, which confused me because the girl on the phone never said it would be a different salon, she only said I’d be getting another stylist. Strike two. So the next day (day OF my appointment), less than one hour before my appointment time, I get multiple missed calls from Natural Sisters, saying my (new) stylist can’t make it and I’ll have to reschedule. MIND YOU, I had already rescheduled since she wasn’t even the person I originally booked with. So I call back the missed phone call and she (another woman this time) tells me the stylist had an emergency and couldn’t make it, and if I could come tomorrow instead. Mind you, I’ve been made this appointment 10 days prior, The Weave Lounge waited until 24 hrs before my appointment to let me know Ragan can’t make it, and they also stuck me at another salon that I didn’t consent to being booked to, now this woman is telling me to come tomorrow. So I tell her, “I made this appointment over a week ago for today, I can’t come tomorrow, I need someone to braid my hair today.” And this woman becomes livid, shouting at me over the phone telling me not to tell her that I made an appointment over a week ago (UMMM but I did sis? Why you mad at the truth?) and that if I want a braider she can get me a braider, but to not tell her that I made the appointment a week ago. I guess she was big mad that I was expecting to be braided on the damn day that I made an appointment to be braided? Strike 3. I show up at the spot, and she (the woman I spoke to on the phone that told me not to tell her when I booked my appointment) asks me “were you the one that I spoke to on the phone who told me she made an appointment over a week ago?” (Why does that matter???) And I say “yep!! That was me!” Like sis was really mad that I told her I made an appointment a week ago 😂 Then about 5 mins later she instructed me to go downstairs and ask for Myruu (hope I’m spelling her name right), honestly, the only good thing out of the whole experience was her. She and her assistant did a good job braiding my hair, that’s why I’m giving this review 2 stars instead of one. Last strike, when it came time to pay, Myruu wrote down the price on my ticket and gave it to the cashier girl, which was $265 ($250 for the braiding and $15 for the hair). I pay the girl. Then a few minutes later, the woman who told me not to tell her when I booked comes downstairs and asks me who gave me that price, and that price is way too low, and ended up charging me $315 ($300 for the braids and $15 for the hair). What I didn’t like was that she scolded Myruu in front of myself and the other customers for “giving a price without asking”. It was super awkward and tense and made me feel uncomfortable, after she went back upstairs we all went quiet and it was just weird, you can tell her employees don’t like working for her. It also made me feel like she might have over charged me due to our scuffle over the phone earlier. How could her and her braider be so far off on prices??? It doesn’t make sense, but I just said that’s fine and paid. Honestly, boss lady is rude and unprofessional. I’m not coming again, nor will I patronize The Weave Lounge for thinking they were slick, booking with another salon without even telling me. And to the person who gets paid to respond to negative reviews so that it looks cute on google, don’t bother. I just want people to know what kind of experience...