vain

I've gone to VAIN 4 times in the last 3 years. The first 2 times went great, 3rd time was okay and the 4th was absolutely horrible. None of the stylists I went to previously are still there and I don't think they have anyone with curly or coily hair still works there. I asked twice to make sure the 4th person I saw, Sarah B., was trained and skilled with curly hair and she wasn't at all. It was just curly hair mistake, one after another. ugh.

Sarah didn't seem to have a clue about what kind of training she received from Devacurl- didn't know about the levels but stated that she was "certified" which isn't true. I asked about the curl transformation service that is says she is trained to do on this website and she had NO CLUE. She, with her straight hair, said that Deva pushed too may products on people and that she's a "minimalist" and not a "consumer"- that's a debate for another time but she's coming from a place of have zero texture. When she asked about what products I used she said she was unfamiliar except when it came to Deva- like i'm talking Cantu, Oyin, Mixed Chicks, Miss Jessie, Bounce Curl, Mane Choice, Curls and Mielle are all products that are in rotation and "would buy again" category and she said she hadn't heard of any of them. So at this point I'm nervous but tried to excuse her lack of product knowledge as a matter of her not having curly hair and just not having to know. She's cutting my hair dry and it's fine, she goes like a 1/2 inch shorter than we agreed but whatever (that seems to be a losing battle with stylists) but then she starts stretching out the curls and cutting and that was a big red flag for me. She kept finger raking through and breaking up the curl clumps. IDK i was trying to remember if i had seen that before- i don't get haircuts often and I was told that she was trained and knows what she's doing. After watching a lot of curly hair videos afterwards, mourning the loss of my good hair, I realized she was for sure doing it ALL wrong. She kept talking up Davines LOVE curl line, something I've noticed a lot of stylists do especially at VAIN and she's recommending it as another good option. In my mind any level of being Devacut trained would know not to suggest products with sulfates, silicones especially and drying alcohols and parabens as secondary. So I didn't ingredient check- i trusted her... again. And turns out all those products have bad ingredients and now my hair hates me. Prior to my appointment, i did my best attempts to research her and double checked with the salon that she knows how to work on curly hair and has had deva training. I was assured that she was one of the most skilled and senior stylists there. So part of this is my fault; I was too trusting and i didn't drill her enough on her curl knowledge BEFORE. I also broke my rule- never go to stylists that don't have curly hair. I guess I just get really worried about seemingly like a difficult and paranoid client. And even though curly hair is different, I still haven't had hours of professional training so I feel uncomfortable trying to assert that I may know more than them- I know that's something that I would hate to have happen to me by a client.