Hair salons in Fairfax specializing in ethnic hair.

[mfkellam]

Originally Posted by ebonediva

I recently relocated to the area of Fairfax (Fair Lakes community). I have a stylist in Richmond where I moved from but I don't want to keep traveling there every week to get my hair styled.

I know there are salons in the area, but does anyone know of any or can personally recommend any salons that specialize in ethnic hair?

THX

I know it's been awhile since you posted this question but I'm on a quest to find a new hairdresser in Richmond, VA. I saw that you lived here at one time and a had a hairdresser you were willing to drive back for so she must be good! Who is it and what kind of products are used? I'm really into the health of my hair and it has changed a lot over the years. Thanks so much. Any other details you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

[jak001]

check out Junior & Co hair salon, 46000 Old Ox Road, Sterling, VA 20166 (703) 689-0100
Both Junior and Clarence are very good hair designers. I am African American and it took me awhile to find this salon. They do a terrific job with black hair. I'm trying to spread the word on the Internet because I know how frustrating it can be to find a salon with staff you can trust! My hair always looks great when I leave there. You don't feel rushed and they talk to you about your hair. Location is convenient in a shopping center with plenty of parking. Shop has plenty of seating and they operate on time. K. Jennings

[blackonyx03]

Originally Posted by tgbwc

I take "ethnic" to mean so many things. Sorry. I didn't go to beauty school.
Seems to me your username says a lot and that it wasn't an assumption. I didn't mean to offend. After I posted asking you to be more specific, I edited my post after reading your descriptive username. If it was "footballfan" or "Texasnative", should I not conclude that a person likes football or is from Texas?

No need to apologize, TGBWC. You were spot-on, both in your comment on the word "ethnic" in every day language and in your use of the OP's user name to surmise what ethnicity she may be.

As an African-American woman myself, I refuse to adopt monikers like "ethnic" and "people of color" and "non-white" and any other name that society forces upon me. I define myself, thank you very much. Besides, if I have an ethnicity, so do you. If my skin has a color, so does yours. If I am not what you are, then you are not what I am. Language is powerful. And as with all language, a lot comes down to the baseline we pick and against which we measure something else. So I reject any implicit assumption that I am somehow not normal and, thus, a deviation from what is. My language reflects this thinking.

As for the OP and beauty school, I haven't been. But I would think that hair types (at least according to those in the know on a multitide of hair blogs) should fall into at least four categories: straight, wavy, curly, and coily/kinky. There clearly are at least four different follicle structures that produce these overarching categories, and even within each category there is a world of variation. (Consider Oprah's former stylists and his (in)famous 1A - 4B, later expanded by women themselves to 4C hair typing system, for example.) If OP is correct, then it seems that beauty schools use a catch-all category like "ethnic" to lump in the (stereotypically) curly hair of Jewish women, the wavy hair of Latina women, the S-curls of biracial women, and the coily hair of black women. How unhelpful!

Imho, if you want a salon that does a good job with curly and or coily hair, you can just ask for that. If you want a salon that does "black hair", ask for that. If you want a salon that does natural hair, ask for that. It's just easier that way. Especially when, as TGBWC reminded us, we all have an ethnicity.