Professional Hair Braiding — Local services in Newark

I am not a local Newark resident and there has to be more than 10 shops that I pass on my 15 plus mile journey to her shop. And when it comes to beauty services, I am by far the most finicky woman around, so when I say Doussou is by far the best braider in the state of New Jersey, believe it. I have been going to this shop for the past thirteen years and no matter what style I request, she, or one of her relatives (Sister, Daughter, Niece) is able to recreate the look making it look better then the pictures in the books or on the internet. Everywhere I go I get compliments, people always ask me who did my hair. Why is she so different, superior to other shops? She uses a technique out of Africa which allows her to create unified braids they are all the same size. To this day I can’t see how she is able to catch the smallest and shortest pieces of hair so if you have thinning hair she can adjust the amount of hair to give the impression of thick hair. If you choose a style that is not good for your hair length, hair line… she will tell you before you waste your money, or suggest a slight change to accommodate your hairs shortfall. This is the Gods honest truth- Two years ago I was standing in line at my local bank when saw a woman ahead of me, whom had just gotten her hair braided, I knew it was the work of Doussou from Professional African Hair Braiding, so I inquired. The woman told me she once lived here in NJ, but had moved to Florida. She could not find anyone to braid her hair as well as Doussou, so once each summer, she travels back to NJ to get her hair braided by Doussou. If you plan to visit the shop on the weekend, you need to get there first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon because she has a following of loyal clients many of whom have been going to her for as long if not longer then I. Once you establish yourself you can call for appointments, which is what I do to ensure she can do my hair. Ladies you get what you pay for so don’t expect her to be the least expensive, but rather on the high end, and well worth it. My only wish is that she kept her...

SMH - never againI literally waited 2 hours for her to start my hair and yes I had an appointment. The only reason I stayed is because it was too late (evening appointment) for me to go somewhere else and I needed my hair done. She took another client probably right before I arrived so I had to wait for her to finish that. I was not impressed by the way my knotless braids came out , the shop needs some basic upgrades and I will never go there again. Oh and she slightly raised the price from what we discussed over the phone, I paid it, no problem but she don't have to worry about me coming to that shop ever again. Go there at your own risk. Oh and FYI my parts in the middle of my hair was off a little bit......

I visited this braiding salon today and my experience was really good. The women who work their are very nice. I choose to get my hair braided here because of the reviews I've read and I'm very pleased. What I'm most pleased about is how they were able to cover up the spots where my hair has fallen out because I have alopecia areata. They also advised me on what products I should use to stimulate hair growth in the areas where I have no hair. I do plan to visit again in the near future. FYI they are at a different location and it's not far from their old location. Their new address is 252 WASHINGTON...