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Ignorant question about African hair


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We have a lovely young mother staying with us who Is down on her luck and needed a place to live temporarily. She has no money and owns very little. She is from Africa. Anyway, my dd is a school teacher who has a student whose parents run a salon which specializes in Black hair. So the woman who is staying with us has a couple of times bemoaned the state of her hair. Sometimes she wears a wig and other times a scarf. I was wondering if getting her a gift certificate to this salon would make a good birthday present (her bday is in June.). I feel shy about all this as I don't know if this could be seen as insulting or what? I am out of my area of expertise here! What says the hive mind? Thank you.

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Is she local to you?

In my experience, women are often very attached to their hair dressers, so if she's local she might already have someone in your area she likes to go to, and a gift certificate there would be better. 

 

On the other hand, if she's new to the area she might love it.  The one question I'd have is if it's a salon that specializes in either natural, extensions or processed hair, or one that does all of them.  Some people have strong feelings, and might only be comfortable with one or the other, so a place that does all might be best.  

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I think the concept is a great gift, but call the salon first and ask what a good average amount would be.  You might be surprised.  Many of the African American ladies I know spend multiple hundreds each time they go to the salon (I was floored when I learned that, because I thought my $30 haircut was rather more than I'd like to pay).

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I think the concept is a great gift, but call the salon first and ask what a good average amount would be.  You might be surprised.  Many of the African American ladies I know spend multiple hundreds each time they go to the salon (I was floored when I learned that, because I thought my $30 haircut was rather more than I'd like to pay).

 

Totally this!!!!  I "fostered" a couple of AA little girls, who happened to be on the swim team.  Mom said their hair had to be washed after every time they went in the pool.  She didn't know I'm not AA...  Holy cow was I out of my depth!!!!!  (Mom was military, away at a school when the girls were removed from the caregiver for neglect.  We were a friend of a friend of the mom's, so she hadn't met us.)  I thought, oh I'd just take them to the salon and have them teach me how to wash it and do some cute ponytails or twists or something...yeah, got quoted over $400 for the both of them!  (It wasn't so much learning to wash it as to how to wash/condition/comb/and dress it)  YouTube and a parenting forum quickly became my best friend, and those poor little girls learned how to sleep while I worked on their hair for hours.  (I'm not talented with MY hair, gah)

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