Djama Hair Braiding Gallery — Local services in Silver Spring

I had my hair braided about 3 weeks ago and I really have not been satisfied from the start. I felt the braids were rushed especially towards the top/front. The stylist didn’t braid them all the way down and didn’t clean them up after the service, as she was rushing. Fine, I said it’s okay I likely just won’t return or will only see the lady who braided my hair the last time. Now, braids in the front have fallen out and my hair is not that short for the braid to fall out after a week and a half. A few fell out in the back but I would expect/understand that as the back is short.

I called ahead and asked about knotless braids about lower back length and I let them know my hair is pink and asked if it could be tucked to hide the pink. She told me to come at 8am to see and quoted me $240. I arrived at 8am and she looked at my hair and I asked again about it being tucked and she said yes. She asked about the length I said lower back and told her the price I was quoted and she laughed a bit and said no, it will be $280 for that length and asked me to pay in cash since the owner was out of the country. Fine, whatever, I’m already here. We started around 8:15-8:20. I noticed I was seeing a lot of pink and mentioned it being tucked again and she said yes. She continued braiding. Around 12-1 a few people came in. They were all speaking French… looking at my hair, fake smile… she then asked me if I spoke French. I could understand enough to know that they were talking about me and time and such… Rude! She asked the lady to return in 2 hours…. She returned about 2 hours later… at this point I am about 6.5 hrs into my service. (It took over 8hrs) They start basically yelling back and forth in French and I can understand enough to know that they’re talking about how long it’s taking and when she told her to come back. The other stylist comes over and is looking at my hair and they’re still speaking in French. She’s asking her how to do the top likely because of my hairline, which she also commented on before saying I have no hair… At this point I’m uncomfortable but… what ya gonna do! Towards the end of the service again she chuckled and says oh hah I should’ve charged more for the extra hair, but it’s okay. At this point I’m feeling nickle and dimed and was just annoyed and ready to go.

She rushed through the rest of my service. The braids in the back were braided out to the ends but the braids towards the top half were noticeably different as they were not braided all the way down. When she finished braiding she just ran the blow dryer through it and dipped it without trimming the extra flyaways. The braids in the back fell out just a couple days later. Which I expected because the back of my hair is short. Braids in the front fell out a few days later and I was really upset at that point after spending $300 including a $20 tip. At that price and the way the service/transaction went I just felt like I was being cheated. I watched a couple YouTube videos and was able to redo the braids in the front by myself. I reached out to the owner who didn’t respond. I had a great experience my first time at this salon and my braids lasted a good while and were nice and neat and my hair was the same length. I am really disappointed at this experience and will never return to this...

𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧...

This business does not value their customers. Neither do they understand the importance of building and maintaining a strong clientel. They have a very short-sighted business model...

For starters, the shop is very unkempt all the time, even when they are not busy with clients in every chair. That restroom is atrociously filthy ALL THE TIME. The furniture is badly tattered and looks as if they hauled it in from a garage sale (nothing matches)...

Wanting to help a black business out, I tolerated the condition of the establishment. The styles were of average quality.

Like many African braiding studios that employ African braiders, they are rude and pull the hair badly and unapologetically. There is no wonder every braider has tension alopecia... They speak in their language and argue with each other over the client's head. They become frustrated with the client when there is even the slightest concern about the service rather than working to solve the problem.

I will never return. Here are some pictures that highlight quality problems...

On the second shot, the owner actually tried justify leaving whole sections of my head undone...

My...

If I could leave ZERO stars...I would. I made my appointment a week ago for today. I’m going on vacation and was extremely excited for the experience because I was referred to Djama from a woman in my office. She gave such amazing reviews. The morning of the appointment - AT THE TIME I WAS SUPPOSE TO BE SITTING IN THE CHAIR - I WAS NOTIFIED (by the owner I assume) MY APPOINTMENT WAS CANCELLED BECAUSE THE STYLIST THAT WAS TO DO MY HAIR WASN’T FEELING WELL. I was then offered someone could get to me at noon. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!! You think I’m going to wait until noon for someone to get to me when my appointment was at 8am. Oh, did I mention I live 45 minutes away!!!!!

I’m not upset the woman wasn’t feeling well. I’m furious because of how this situation was handled a. When the owner was notified her stylist was sick - she should have contacted me IMMEDIATELY with different options. In my opinion - this was handled very poorly and the owner seemed to have no remorse.

Needless to say - I had to frantically search other braiding shops who could service me ASAP. LUCKILY-...