When I began researching and interviewing clients and hairstylists for my DevaCut, Everything You Need To Know Before You Cut! article that was featured in August 2020 on Textured Talk, I went assumed that the article would have no relevance for a type 4C coily haired girl like me.
I’ve seen and heard of the DevaCurl brand and it’s popular DevaCuts numerous times over the 5 years that I've been natural, but I’ve only really seen it talked about by the type 3 curly girls with the loose curl pattern that looks nothing like mine.
And because of that, I just had no interest in it.
However, as I learned more, my mind began to change from indifference to intrigue. And when I was offered the opportunity to receive a complimentary service at their New York City Devachan Salon, I jumped at the chance.
So I had my very first DevaCut and documented the experience to share with you...
Spoiler alert, I am officially a DevaCut Fan.
Salon Experience
Devachan has two locations in New York City and I went to the one located on Broome Street in Soho.
The salon had only been reopened for about two months at the time due to the Covid-19 shut downs, so they implemented new protocols to keep clients and staff safe.
To follow their social distancing guidelines, I was instructed to wait outside and text “Arrived” to let my stylist know. I followed the instructions and only waited a few minutes before I received a text in response that my stylist was ready for me and to come inside.
As soon as I walked in the lobby, there was hand sanitizer and face masks in case I forgot my own. And my stylist Latoya greeted me right away and whisked me off to her chair.
The salon has a luxurious look and feel and I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by images of type 4c hair women alongside women with a variety of different curl patterns around the salon. Representation is so important and seeing this made me smile and put me at ease.
My Hairstylist
All Deva Stylists are trained to cut the full range of curl patterns and textures and I have seen the results of that. The other two stylists that I interviewed for my initial article Tricia and Taylor, have clients with all types of textures that they feature on their socials. I would have been happy to work with any of them.
But I decided to go with Latoya for my first time.
I have not been to a salon in over 5 years since my big chop, but it was nice to have that girl talk that only happens in a salon chair. I got to know more about Latoya, her family and her life.
Latoya was born in Guyana and comes from a big family. She now resides in Brooklyn. She started her career in corporate America, working for a big bank but made the switch to follow her passion into hair styling and hasn’t looked back since.
The DevaCut
Latoya first examined my hair, asked about my current routine and products I use and we discussed what my hair needed and what she was going to do to my hair.
She put me at ease and I felt confident that I was going to be happy with the results before the scissors even touched my head.
There are two steps to the DevaCut:
The Dry Cut and
The Wash and Style
The Dry Cut
The purpose of cutting the hair dry is that it gives you a better perspective of what your hair will look like. Curly hair shrinks as it dries, so cutting it wet gives a false impression of the length and shape of the hair.
Latoya gave my hair a trim and a shape and shared tips to keep my hair healthy on my own.
Latoya's Pro Tips:
Deep condition hair at least twice per month
When wearing my hair out, be sure to add a lot of moisture to help hair stay hydrated
Do not add the over the counter oils to my hair because it dries the hair out. You should only use hair oils that have been specifically formulated to be used in the hair because through the processing impurities naturally found in oils that don’t belong in the hair are removed
Save time on wash day by deep conditioning hair overnight while it’s dry and then shampoo and condition the next morning. This tip blew my mind, I will be trying this out my and reporting back to you ASAP.
The Wash and Style
Once my cut was complete, it was time to wash and apprentice Sunny took over from there. I have to mention, how comfortable the chairs were. They are reclined all the way to a laying down position, so I could’ve fallen asleep at the bowl. No more sitting upright with a crick in my neck. Small tweak but that made for a fabulous washing experience.
The hair education continued here at the bowl as Sunny washed and massaged my scalp.
Like I mentioned, the wash and style all happens at the bowl. After she rinsed out the shampoo, she applied Heaven in Hair which is a leave-in and deep conditioner in one.
So she only needed to lightly rinse out the conditioner with hot water and then proceed to add the styler and gel, crafting each curl carefully. And at the end, she sprinkled cold water over my hair to seal the moisture in.
Once she was done, she led me to the chair to sit under the dryer.
Back in my relaxed hair days, I would spend an entire Saturday at the salon, 2 hours would be spent under the dryer alone.
But get this, the entire process from when I walked in, to when I walked out only took 2 hours!
After the short time spent under the dryer, Latoya came back to add the finishing touches and top my hair with a shine spray. And voila my hair has life again.
The Final Verdict
Well, you can see the results for yourself. And I highly recommend giving your curls and coils the love they deserve by booking an appointment with a Deva Stylist near you.
In the New York City area, Devachan has 2 salons, one in Soho and the other in the Upper West Side
In the South Florida area visit: A Fabulous You by Tricia in Davie, Florida
Anywhere else in the US, use the salon finder to find a Deva stylist near you!
For the full Devachan Salon experience that I captured on video, click on “DevaCut Experience“ within my Instagram highlights.
With Love,
