RoundBrushHair! > Dominican Hair Care Blog

If you’ve been to a Dominican salon more than once and are familiar with our website, then you’ve probably noticed some hair products in the salons that we don’t have available on our website (that is, until now!). We get calls all the time about “Alter Ego“, “Kuz“, “MX” and “Salerm” and women are always surprised when we tell them that they’re NOT Dominican hair products. “Huh, what do you mean? But they’re in the Dominican salon,”  is normally their response after processing our answer. I like to call these products, the ‘non-Dominican, Dominican’ products.  You know, hair products that are not officially made in the Dominican Republic, but everybody considers them Dominican because they’re used in Dominican hair salons. lol

The most popular ‘non-Dominican, Dominican’ products that I’m sure you’ve seen include the tall green or red Alter Ego boxes that hold the medicine-looking drops, the extra large conditioner jar with 2 big pieces of Garlic on the front, and the cream colored bottle with ‘21′ written in green.  You ladies know what I’m talking about right? If you haven’t seen those red and green boxes, then I know you’ve at least seen a stylist using a droplet on someone’s head before roller setting right? Some stylists use the drops on the scalp after rolling in between the rows of the roller set (I personally like it when they use it before rolling, so it can be massaged in a little).

Those are the products you’re sure to see in almost every Dominican salon, but we also get calls about some other ‘non-Dominican, Dominican’ products. So, just for the record - the majority of these ‘non-Dominican, Dominican’ products are Italian and the Salerm is Spanish (from Spain). At any rate, we now have them!!

Here’s a photo of a few popular ones we now have:

Excited? What are some of your favorite ‘non-Dominican, Dominican’ products?

Last Saturday, May 15th, Reflexion Dominican Salon II opened its doors in Glenarden, MD adding another salon to the Southern Maryland area. Not only can you get Dominican hair styling, but Reflexion II is an official retailer of select RoundBrushHair.com products! That’s right - you can now pick up some of your favorite Dominican products from this salon conveniently located off the 495 beltway or Rt. 50.

Until June 15th, take $15 dollars off any service!!

Check out our photos of this beautifully decorated salon and make sure you check out this salon:

Reflexion Dominican Salon II
8000B Martin Luther King Jr. Hwy
Glenarden, MD 20706
(301) 773-1357

 When Zuni called RoundBrushHair.com to inform us of her new location we were all shocked. I personally remember getting my hair done in the basement of her home years ago and then occasionally driving to Hyattsville when she moved into her own salon.

There are only a handful of Dominican stylists in the state of Maryland that you can name and almost everyone recognize – and Zuni is definitely one of them! Zuni’s decision to sell her shop was a hard decision, but she’s very, very happy inside Arelis Dominican Salon II. Zuni and Arelis Natera have been friends for many years and the move is proving to be a good fit for both.

I went to visit Zuni this past Sunday and she wants all her clients to know she is happy and waiting to see you at her new location:

11000 Baltimore Ave.

Beltsville, MD 20705

(301) 257-1114

(Across from Costco on Rt. 1)

At RoundBrushHair.com, we’re celebrating Zuni’s move by offering 10% off all orders from now until May 31 – simply enter “zuni” inside the coupon code area during checkout.

Who says only men can join March Madness basketball pool competitions? For the 3rd year in a row we’re extending the March MadHAIRness bracket competition to all of our registered members. The winner of the competition receives a complete combo of Dominican hair products! Last year’s winner Kristen Wilson of Greenville, RI was shipped the Crece Pelo Combo consisting of a Shampoo, Deep Conditioner, Rinse Conditioner and Leave-In Conditioner. Will you be this year’s winner?

It’s absolutely free to play - you just have to be a registered RoundBrushHair.com member and  fill out our online bracket sheets when they become available (brackets will be available Sunday evening March 14th). You will have roughly 48 hours to fill out your brackets before the competition starts Tuesday, March 16th.

Who are you routing for this year? Shout out your favorite team!

Our Competition Website

Brackets available Sunday evening, March 14th

Tons of our RoundBrushHair.com Members in the Dallas, TX area have been dying for a Dominican stylist! We recently updated our Dominican salon locator with Carmen Tarazez who has a salon in Keller, TX which is just outside of Dallas!

RoundBrushHair.com Team Member Diana Flecher talked to Carmen for the inside scoop on what brought her to Texas, how she relates to clients and of course - her favorite Dominican hair products!

RoundBrushHair.com: Carmen, congratulations on being our featured Dominican stylist for the month of December! Give us a little bit of background information about yourself…

Carmen: Thank you for choosing me! Well, I was born in Santiago in the Dominican Republic. I’ve been doing hair for about 30 years in the United States; I graduated in 1981 in NYC of (estilista/stylist) so I have 28 years of experience doing hair.

RoundBrushHair.com: That’s a long time. So you studied in NewYork? What prompted the move to Texas?  That’s a pretty big move.

Carmen: Yes, I know it’s a huge change, but after my kids got married I decided to move to a more peaceful area. Also, New York is  very cold during winter and life is “fast” all the time.  I love the weather we have here in Texas – nothing like New York. And I love the friendly people and the sense peacefulness here.

RoundBrushHair.com: Just talking to you makes me wish I was there – you make it sound like a paradise. And now that winter is here with all this cold weather, I really wish I was near some sunshine! Your salon is actually located in Keller right? I know Dallas is the closest major city to you – about how far away is it?

Carmen: Yes, Dallas is the closest major city to me. It takes about 30 minutes to here from Dallas, it depends on traffic but it usually takes about 30 minutes. Keller, is a really nice area, it has parks, nice malls, and the structure of its buildings is pretty, and you can find lots of restaurants mostly Tex-Mex. There are people from everywhere…so you will see lots of cultures. 

RoundBrushHair.com: Speaking of different cultures, do you work with a wide range of hair textures? Does that make recommending products difficult?

Carmen: I work with a lot of different textures. But before recommending a product I first check for two things with a person’s hair: 1. See what texture they have 2. See if it’s damaged. If the hair is damaged I recommend a trim immediately. People need to know that even if they use conditioners and oils and the hair is extremely damaged they still need to cut off the ugly hair and split ends so they can have better results when using the conditioners. After accessing those two things, then I decided which product I should use. I care about the health of hair first and always. For example, many people ask me why I do the rolos if it takes more time than a regular blow out. They just know it’s the Dominican technique, but I like to explain that it’s worth the extra time and that is not just a technique. The rolos under the heat are less harmful for the hair, because your hair is just sitting there drying up with no “pulling” like some stylist do. I don’t do my job just for the money or to just get a costumer for 1 day, I like to have clients that come regularly. I love what I do for them and in return they bring more people to the salon to have the same experience they had.

RoundBrushHair.com: So coming from a stylist who obviously cares a lot about the health of hair rather than the overall style. What are your thoughts about the Keratina Straightening Treatment? A lot of salons are starting to offer this service? Are you offering them to clients as an alternative to relaxers?

Carmen: Well it depends on the hair’s texture. The Keratina Treatment is a miracle, no doubt! But is not for all hair textures and I don’t recommend it to everyone…its good for very curly hair and it helps with dryness because it moisturizes and makes your hair soft. It differs from a relaxer because the Treatment can last for about 3 to 4 months.  The most important thing about the Treatment is that you have to go to a place with a license to use it. It’s for professional use only.

RoundBrushHair.com: I’m still out on the verdict with the Keratina – I’ve heard a lot of things about it, but I’m just not sure how I feel about it. But one this is for sure, if I were living in the Dallas area I would come in and have you look at my hair! But since I can’t, let’s offer some help to women and men like me who do their hair at home but need help choosing the right products. I created a “mini-game” where I’ll shout out a “hair issue” and you say one or two Dominican hair products that are good for that issue. Sounds good?

Carmen: [laughing] Ok!! It sounds fun - but let me first remember all the products because there are so many!!

RBH: Damaged Hair                 Carmen: Emergencia Conditioner.

RBH: Hair Loss                        Carmen: Cinnamon Oil and Conditioner.

RBH: Dry Scalp                        Carmen: Coco Conditioner, La Bomba with Avocado Conditioner.

RBH: Split Ends                        Carmen: Emergencia Conditioner, Avocado Oil.

RBH: Dry Hair                         Carmen: 10 en 1 Conditioner, La Bomba with Avocado Conditioner

RBH: Thin hair                         Carmen: Emergencia Conditioner, Apretadora Conditioner

RBH: Weak hair                       Carmen: La Bomba with Avocado, Olive Oil Conditioner

RBH: Color Treated                 Carmen: 10 en 1 Conditioner

RBH: Shedding                        Carmen: Emergencia Conditioner, Olive Oil Conditioner

RBH: Growth                          Carmen: Crema de Seda Conditioner, and La Bomba Conditioner.

RoundBrushHair.com: You were fast! Out of these products you named, do you have any favorites?

Carmen: I love two products: The Emergencia and the 10 en 1. They treat dryness, damaged hair and colored hair. They also give shine, moisture and much more. I recommend the 10 in 1 if you are looking to hydrate your hair, and if you use a lot of heat in your hair, you must use the Emergencia.

RoundBrushHair.com: Well Carmen it has been a pleasure talking to you. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule for this interview. I know everyone who will read this will find it very helpful!

Carmen: No problem! And I thank you.

 You can check out Carmen at Legacy Day Spa:

1530 Keller Parkway Blvd.

Keller, TX 76248

(817) 637-5892 (Call for appointment)

For directions to this salon, please use our Dominican salon locator and type in your zip code

Last weekend RoundBrushHair.com attended the WPGC 95.5 Expo in Washington, DC to introduce Dominican hair products and salons with live blowout demonstrations by Sintia’s Dominican Salon!

We had a ball, but instead of reading about it - see for yourself:

And for a limited time, you can purchase the Sampler’s Set of products that was used on all of our hair models and sold at the event!

Sampler’s Set includes:
Aceite Bomba Pre-Shampoo Oil
Miss Key 10 en 1 Shampoo
Halka Baba de Caracol Deep Conditioner
Lacio Lacio Leave-In
D’Fina Vitamin E Ampolla
Instructional Usage sheet

As my 3-week trip to Cairo, Egypt approaches I’ve been mentally going over which hair products and tools I should pack. While most women in my scenario would be concerned about having the right pair of shoes and enough outfits - I can’t sleep at night wondering if it makes sense to pack my soft bonnet dryer, rollers and blow-dryer! Do I take more than one conditioner…and how about the matching shampoo and rinse????

I’m literally wrecking my brain trying to figure this out. 3 weeks is a long time in the hair world - especially during the summer.  For me, we’re talking:

3 shampoos (shampooing once a week)

6 condition washes (condition washing twice a week)

21 doobies (wrapping my hair every night)

and 84 pin curl rolls (I put two big pin curls in my hair twice during the day to keep body)

I can’t imagine going on this trip and completely neglecting my hair regimen. So I think answering these set of questions will help me (and you…if you plan on going on extended trips) to pack the right hair products and tools.

Question #1: What is the weather like where you’re going?

Answer #1: Egypt is going to be HOT…I’m talking 95 degrees Fahrenheit! This means I should focus on products that will help with dryness. Here are my top picks for dryness: Silicon Mix,  12 en 1, Leche de Cabra and of course a good pre-shampoo oil for the scalp like the Aceite Bomba. I think I’ll take one for dryness and a one for emergency situations like: emergencia or baba de caracol hair mask.

Question #2: Do you plan on swimming in chlorine water?

Answer #2: ABSOLUTELY. If your trip includes swimming you definitely will want to keep a good leave-in, rinse conditioner and clarifying shampoo with you.  Wetting your hair with clean water and a little bit of leave-in or rinse conditioner before swimming will help to minimize the drying effect the chlorine will have on your hair. Your hair is like a sponge, it soaks up what it can hold until it can absorb no more (so you want your hair to absorb clean water and conditioner before entering chlorine water). You also want to make sure you’re clarifying at least once a week if you plan to swim daily. Make sure not to clarify more than once a week because clarifying shampoos are drying as well. My recommendation for clarifying shampoo is the Apretol Cinnamon and Rosemary.

Rinse conditioners are great for using before you swim! You really can’t go wrong with choosing a rinse, so I won’t recommend one over the other. As far as leave-ins, for swimming purposes I recommend using creamier leave-ins like the nacidit, lady fior olive oil and the emergencia cream leave-ins.

Question #3 (which honestly should be my question #1): Will I have access to a Dominican salon? lol

Answer #3: Ummm, I’m guessing Egypt will NOT have Dominican hair salons. lol But if you’re traveling and need to know if a Dominican salon is in the area, try our Dominican Salon Locator.

Question #4: Will I have room to store these items without them being stolen (don’t mess with my Dominican hair products)?

Answer #4: I’m staying with friends and while I’m sure I’ll have no problem with 5-finger discounts, I might not have room for my bonnet dryer. Will it be ghetto to bring my rollers and dry my hair out in the sun? I mean, it IS going to be HOTT!

Question #5: Will I need special AC adapter/converters?

Answer #5: Yes, I definitely need to pack my AC converter BUT I’m not sure if I want to bring my Dominican-powered 3200 watt blow dryer with me! lol I don’t want to be the cause of a power outage while I’m there!

With a head full of rollos (I’m saying, why go to a Dominican salon and not get my hair done? lol), I had the chance to sit down and talk with the ‘king of hair’ Glynn Jackson, creator of the Golden Scissor Awards about Dominican hair salons, Dominican hair products and his Latin Golden Scissors Awards taking place this summer in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic!

OK, am I the only one excited about the NCAA tournament or what? I don’t even follow college basketball, not when I was a student at the University of Maryland (GO TERPS!) and definitely not now.

But I’m excited for 1 reason only: I get to play in a basketball pool!

Every year around this time men enter multiple NCAA pools and women are kinda left out because I don’t think we care that much. We would much rather do our hair, browse new hair products or go to the hair salon right? Well, not any more! This is our 2nd Annual NCAA tournament and we’ve got some great prizes you can win while watching the tournament games:

Free Dominican hair products and Free wash & sets from participating Dominican salons!!  Basketball & hair - what a wonderful combination!

So who are you banking on winning? Where did you go to school? How are you choosing the winning team (color of uniforms)? :–)

Good luck!! Submit your brackets now through March 19th

If you’re active on facebook you’ve probably been tagged at least once with the “25 Random Things” note. Reading through different lists, some were entertaining and comical while others were serious and somber. So I decided to start the “15 Random Things….About Hair”. Read my list below and share yours!! 

1. I never thought my hair would grow past my shoulders.

2. I thought the back of my hair would always be shorter than the rest of my hair.

3. I was in denial about how unattractive split ends looked until I started taking pictures of my hair.

4. Now that I have long hair I secretly want to cut it; but I don’t think I ever will because the journey to long hair took a lot time and patience.

5. Before using Dominican hair products I bought every product off the shelf of my local Beauty Supply Store.

6. I admit to trying hair growth pills (embarrassing!)

7. My grandmother laughed at me everyday for a month straight as I popped the horse-size Hair Formula 37 hair growth pills.

8. No they didn’t work. ($120 down the drain)

9. I go to a different Dominican salon every other week and tell people it’s “work related” when actually I’m just addicted to trying new salons.

10. I can never tell when white women wear weaves.

11. Am I the only one who was surprised to find out Kim from “Real Housewives of Atlanta” had a weave?

12. Speaking of “Real Housewives of Atlanta” I thought Ne-Ne’s weave was awful.

13. I once cried (well, not cried…but a tear rolled down my eye) sitting in a Dominican Salon because the heat from the blower was sooo hottt!

14. I would really like to learn how to do fishtail braids (my friend does them really well, and I think they’re so cute).

15. I’m so glad long hair on guys is going out of style.

If you’ve read my list, you’ve been tagged and now you have to create your own. :–) Oh, and if you’re wondering how my hair looks now…here’s a picture I took December of 2008: