The $1500 Dominican Challenge???

[ReesieCup]

I have been on the Dominican challenge for more than three months and my hair is really beautiful.

But I must admit that I am really tired of spending my saturdays in the hair salon. The language barrier works my nerve and I realized that I have spent at least $500 since beginning the Dominican challenge. If I keep this up I will have spent over $1500 this year. I find this a bit ridiculous.

But I'm afraid to do my own hair. Everytime I try my ends become very dry and damaged. When I go to the DS they only blow my roots so the ends are spared from the heat. For some reason, I cannot mimick this process at home. If I want my hair as straight at home as they get it at the salon, I have to use my ceramic iron. The Sedu ceramic iron makes my hair look magnificent but the ends are doomed to hell. Okay, I admit, I SOMETIMES blow dry my hair when I can't bear the idea of sitting under a hood dryer for an hour plus. BUT my rollersetting abilities are not that great anyway. I just can't get the hair completely smooth on the roller. When I take the rollers out and try to blow the roots. The curls still have that "wet set" look if you know what I mean from back in the day.

What's a fiscally conservative sista to do?

 

[chellee]

Sit under the dryer with your hair combed in the direction of your style (no rollers; placing the part where you want it to be located). Add the same products as you would with your rollerset, just WAY less and make sure to concentrate on your ends. It should take no time to dry this way and you will eliminate having to use the blowdryer. Use your ceramic iron just once after your hair is dry then use rollers/pin curls/wraps nightly to maintain the style until your next wash.

Just my 2 cents . . .

 

[AngelicRose07]

why not go every other week instead of every week? that cuts 1/2 of the price off right there. that will average to 750 a yr instead of 1500

 

[sprungonhairboards]

All your limitations are what you're paying someone else for. To me it only seems like a waste if you can do the same thing yourself or cheaper somewhere else.

Oh yeah, I agree with going every 2 weeks instead. That cuts it in half!

 

[FashionistaNY]

First I would like to ask where do you live and why are you spending soo much money?

I go to the Dominicans every week, but what I did, I found my staple products, a shampoo, conditioner, leave-in and I go to them first thing Saturday mornings. Yes, I wake up 8:00am to get there no later than 9:00am so that I am the first customer or one of the first. I'm usually finished by 10:30am.

Another suggestion, I did this when I was on a tight budget, I would wash/condition my hair myself and would go to the Dominicans for a roller-set and/or blowout. She would charge only $7 for this!!!! Gotta learn how to work it girl lol.

 

[Amina]

So what is a blowout?

 

[webby]

why not go every other week instead of every week? that cuts 1/2 of the price off right there. that will average to 750 a yr instead of 1500

co-sign and you may really want to practice doing your own hair. I was scared when I started doing my own hair, but now I don't need to go to the salon, except for when I get my relaxer.

 

[Ladylynn]

There are a lot of info. on the site about how to do roller sets and dominican blow outs. I believe Webby actually has a how to on her fotki showing how to mimic the blow out. PM her for her password. Actually, what I do is roller set my hair and once dry, I lightly press the roots only with my 1/2 inch ceramic flat iron. (Blow dryers don't do justice to my 4b hair). That's works perfectly for me. Girl learn to do those at home and save yourself a ton of money. Remember practice makes perfect. Good luck

 

[ReesieCup]

I think that I will gradually wean myself from the Dominicans by alternating between home styling and salon visits every other week.

The thing is I moved to Washington DC from New York, where I became hooked to the Dominican Salons. In NYC, I got a wash and set for $15 -$20, $50 tops for a relaxer, in most cases out in 2 hours or less and my hair was just the magnificent. This is where I got the crazy idea that I should be going to the salon once a week anyway.

In Washington DC, most Dominican salons charge $35 to $40 for a wash & set plus tip and $65-$70 for a relaxer. I got a deep conditioner a few weeks ago and they charged me $15. I was heated to say the least.

Thanks to all for the tips and encouragement. I am going to practice this weekend.

 

[ThickHair]

$1,500 wow, that is a lot for hair. I could purchase a used car for that amount. But seriously, you may need to rething your beauty regemine, unless you can afford it then I wouldn't worry. If I could afford weekly massages then I would pay for them. If you are not tight for $$$ then I say keep doing it.

 

[junipertree]

I think that I will gradually wean myself from the Dominicans by alternating between home styling and salon visits every other week.

The thing is I moved to Washington DC from New York, where I became hooked to the Dominican Salons. In NYC, I got a wash and set for $15 -$20, $50 tops for a relaxer, in most cases out in 2 hours or less and my hair was just the magnificent. This is where I got the crazy idea that I should be going to the salon once a week anyway.

In Washington DC, most Dominican salons charge $35 to $40 for a wash & set plus tip and $65-$70 for a relaxer. I got a deep conditioner a few weeks ago and they charged me $15. I was heated to say the least.

Thanks to all for the tips and encouragement. I am going to practice this weekend.

I live in NY and am able to take advantage of the cheap Dominican prices. But... I agree with Chellee's suggestion. I visit Maryland quite often and I went to a African-American salon there and that was how they did their clients hair and EVERYONE had healthy, long hair. I was a little concerned when they parted my hair in the middle and combed it straight then just put me under the dryer with no rollers (I could just see the ball of puff my hair was going to turn into!) but my hair came out great. When the stylist looked at my hair he could tell I got blow outs from Dominican salons b/c he said that when they use the brush to blowdry it causes split ends which I've always had a lot of! But since you only blow dry your roots it might not affect you. Anyway, they used the techniques Chellee described and their clients had the healthiest hair I've ever seen.

 

[Ashee]

So what is a blowout?

With a blowout, after your hair is dried via rollerset they remove the rollers & with a blow dryer they blow dry your roots as straight as can be leaving you to look as if you just got a relaxer!!
-HTH

 

[Ashee]

I agree, where are you going?? That price is steep but you could do the wash at home & have them set it for you , or better yet, practice setting yourself!
I've never spent the day in a Dominican Salon! Usually one of the first batch to get hair done on Saturday, but even when I'm late & massive people are in there, I still don't spend more than 2 hours (wait included).
Could it be, a SLOW DOMINICAN SALON !!

 

[webby]

I think that I will gradually wean myself from the Dominicans by alternating between home styling and salon visits every other week.

The thing is I moved to Washington DC from New York, where I became hooked to the Dominican Salons. In NYC, I got a wash and set for $15 -$20, $50 tops for a relaxer, in most cases out in 2 hours or less and my hair was just the magnificent. This is where I got the crazy idea that I should be going to the salon once a week anyway.

In Washington DC, most Dominican salons charge $35 to $40 for a wash & set plus tip and $65-$70 for a relaxer. I got a deep conditioner a few weeks ago and they charged me $15. I was heated to say the least.

Thanks to all for the tips and encouragement. I am going to practice this weekend.

I feel your pain on this, because I moved from NYC to PA and was that a basic wash-n-set was $35+ and a relaxer was $70+ (not including the color).

I'm telling you, you can learn to do your OWN hair. Not only do I save money, but I was literally scurred to move again, because I couldn't find anyone to take care of my hair. Granted, I would still let a professional put in my relaxer and color, but other than that, I can do my own hur now

 

[Ashee]

I think that I will gradually wean myself from the Dominicans by alternating between home styling and salon visits every other week.

The thing is I moved to Washington DC from New York, where I became hooked to the Dominican Salons. In NYC, I got a wash and set for $15 -$20, $50 tops for a relaxer, in most cases out in 2 hours or less and my hair was just the magnificent. This is where I got the crazy idea that I should be going to the salon once a week anyway.

In Washington DC, most Dominican salons charge $35 to $40 for a wash & set plus tip and $65-$70 for a relaxer. I got a deep conditioner a few weeks ago and they charged me $15. I was heated to say the least.

Thanks to all for the tips and encouragement. I am going to practice this weekend.

Good Luck!!