RoundBrushHair! > Dominican Hair Care Blog

We’ve been getting some emails from ladies asking us to feature some Dominican stylists in more “remote” areas where finding a good Dominican salon is more difficult. So this month we’re featuring one of our newest affiliated Dominican salons – Sandra of Sandra’s Dominican Salon in Roanoke, VA!

 

RBH: Sandra, we’re so happy to have you as our Featured Dominican Stylist this month! I’m sure our members in South-Western Virginia and Eastern Tennessee are happy to know you’re in the area.

 

Sandra: Thanks for featuring me! I have known about RoundBrushHair.com for over a year now.

 

RBH: I have to be honest; I had no idea where Roanoke, VA was located before looking it up on mapquest.com. That’s a shame because I’m from Washington, DC and I’ve never heard of Roanoke. From the map, it looks like you’re close to Richmond right?

 

Sandra: Actually, I’m about 5 hours from Richmond – I’m closer to Tennessee than Richmond, Virginia. The state of Virginia is about 7 hours wide [driving], so it’s a big stretch.

 

RBH: Wow, you’re right, that’s quite a stretch. How long have you been in the states? How did you end up in an area like Roanoke?

 

Sandra: I was actually born in the states – New York. Both of my parents are Dominican and I worked in my aunt’s salon for 15 years in New York before moving to Roanoke. I ended up in Roanoke because my husband’s truck driving job moved us here. It took some time getting use to, but I really like it. It’s a quite, close knit community and a great place to raise children.

 

RBH: With it being such a close knit community you must be a jewel out there!

 

Sandra: I guess you could say that since I’m the only one out here. A lot of women go to JC Penny’s to get their hair done where they can pay up to $65 to get their hair done and I only charge $32 for a wash and set and that includes a deep conditioner. I keep the prices low so women can get their hair done every week or two weeks.

 

RBH: So I’m guessing you know all your clients by name and are regulars right?

 

Sandra: Yes, and I get a lot of clients from the colleges/universities in the area – Virginia Tech, James Madison and Washington Lee.

 

RBH: Do you deal with a lot of different textures of hair?

 

Sandra: Yes, both natural and relaxed. I promote natural hair – I just put that hair on a roller! I’m dark skin with thin, curly hair – like cotton. My mom’s hair is silky and thin but I got most of my hair traits from my dad whose hair is more cottony. I’m really into the health of my customer’s hair. I tell my customers all the time ‘lengthy damaged hair is no hair’ so I make sure the health of their hair comes first.

 

RBH: What are some of the things you do or teach to promote healthy hair for your clients?

 

Sandra: A couple of things:

 

1. I alternate conditioners every two weeks with my clients. I write down which products I use and make sure to alternate them. If you use the same conditioner all the time, it looses its effect.
2. For dry hair, I will apply oil to their hair before shampooing.
3. I use tea tree shampoo with mint to activate hair follicles once a month.
4. I only cut hair on a new moon – that’s when your hair starts its next growth phase.

 

RBH: A lot of what you mentioned, we tell our members all the time. Especially the pre-shampoo oils and alternating conditioners tip. But cutting hair on a new moon? What’s that about?

 

Sandra: It’s something I learned from my grandmother and have always done. I tell my customers I prefer to cut or trim their hair on a new moon. Now my customers will call me and say things like “Sandra, it’s the start of a new moon, I need my hair trimmed!”

 

RBH: That’s a new one for me. Lol I’ll take your word on it though. But alternating conditioners is a wonderful tip for women! What are some of your favorite conditioners?

 

Sandra: It depends on the need of the hair. For instance, with dry relaxed hair I like to use Silicon Mix and Baba de Caracol. For Naturals I like the Wheat Germ and La Plancha conditioners. If you’re looking to lock in shine, I suggest the Whale Sperm products.

 

RBH: You mentioned you have kids, are these products OK to use on their hair as well or do you prefer something else for children?

 

Sandra: No they don’t need anything different, those products work very well for children too.

 

RBH: What about women with color or damaged hair? What kind of conditioner do you suggest?

 

Sandra: I would suggest the Emergencia – but that’s a specialty conditioner that I only like to use once a month. 

 

RBH: Thanks for the tips! I’m sure our members will be taking notes and following some of your suggestions. And for the women who are in driving distance from you, what are your hours of operation?

 

Sandra: I prefer if people call me first because I’m very active in my children’s life when I’m not at the salon, but normally my hours are Wed – Saturday: 1:30pm – 8pm and by appointment only on Sunday.

 

Sandra’s Dominican Salon

5711 Airport Rd.

Roanoke, VA

(540) 400-7468

 

  

 

  

 

 

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!