hihi everyone, I hope all is well. Today I am talking about my experience at Maison style. Lets begin
I decided to get a texture release( lets call it TR from now onwards) back in Dec 23 but because my hair wasn’t in good condition, I gave myself till April to it. I wanted to get it done at Maison Style specifically by Andree because I felt like she had the most knowledge on it from my research. I finally went on the 16th for it!
Salon & My experience
Maison Style is based in Tulse Hill South London and led by Andree and her team. They are all about healthy hair care and work both on natural & relaxed hair. I had a 48hr email reminder which was good because I totally forgot I had to do a patch test lol. I called and went in for a patch test which was super quick, it went well so I could proceed with my TR.
I arrived a bit early for my app, and it was busy by the time I got there. There’s parking available on nearby roads but those parking prices man kmt lol. After a few mins wait I had a quick chat with Andree about my TR and she gave me some details about it too. She was able to take one look at my hair and say it was super fine and I don’t know why I found that amazing because sis didn’t even touch my hair lol and it was in 2 large flat twists loool. The chat was eye opening for me and because of this I am changing a few plans I had for my hair this year ( more on this in another post)
Texture Release
The service begun with a shampoo. She (not but Andree and I didnt get her name) clarified then used the TR shampoo. She explained that the TR shampoo needs to be left on for about 5 mins before its washed out. My hair was detangled I cant remember with what though. I asked about conditioning and she explained for TRs they don’t usually do conditioning unless the hair was really dry as the shampoo has a treatment in it( that’s why its left on for 5 mins) and since my hair felt very hydrated (yay me!) and was in good condition, she wouldn’t do this step. It makes sense that the shampoo has a treatment in it because in all the videos I watched on YT, none of them did any conditioning and I always wondered why. I also asked if she could tell me what my porosity was( I already know this) but she said that wasn’t something they really look at in the salon so she didn’t tell me- I thought it a bit strange because I mean if you’re washing my hair you can pretty much just tell me what it is. anywayss…..
After shampoo, the dilator was put on, then it was under the dryer for 15 mins with a cap then without a cap for another 15, then the releasing lotion is put on(on top of the dilator) then 30mins under the dryer. My hair was washed again before the final blow dry and finish
For the finish, I didn’t know the exact style I wanted so Andree advised to just have a simple finish instead of forcing myself to get a style/cut and regret later. So after a dusting( because my hair was in good condition and didn’t have a lot of split ends yay me), she lightly bumped the ends for volume and I was done! Because my hair is fine, she only did 2 to 3 passes of the straightener and hot comb on my roots in the front. I was happy with this and super happy when she told me to close my eyes when she was doing the front lol because God knows my heart was beating FAST and I felt that heat! She was generous with the heat protectant which made my heart SING
Thoughts
In total I was there for about 4.30 hours, I arrived at 1.40 and left at 6.20. Whilst the TR service has a lot of steps and waiting I think that the salon been so so busy when I went contributed to the long wait. I think if it wasn’t so busy, the whole TR service would be about 2-2.30hrs. The salon is smaller than expected and because she’s popular it was so busy on a Thursday afternoon at 2pm lol, I went in with no breakfast/lunch and less sleep so I was so exhausted afterwards sigh. Andree was really sweet though because she gave me a £5 discount because of the wait. I felt for them tho because there were 2 stylists on the day and they had back to back clients. damn
Do I recommend the salon? Absolutely Andree’s expertise is top notch, I’ve been following her on insta for a while and I love her Tuesday Q&As. I’ve also learnt a lot on TR from her YT videos. I love that her whole vibe is healthy hair practices. She answered all my questions I had on the day. She also sends a video on how to maintain the TR with product recommendations. In terms of how she handled my hair, she was quick but gentle and explained what she was going to do before doing it
Because its small I reckon it will be busy at most times so go prepared- snacks, sleep, parking charges(loool)
How do I feel about my texture release? I CAN RUN MY FINGERS THROUGH MY HAIR. I don’t remember the last time I did that without any resistance loool. I haven’t seen my hair straightened in SO LONG. Time will tell if I keep liking it, I definitely have some thoughts.. all good
I’m going to have to do another post on my TR and the chat I had with Andree that is making me tweak my hair plans for the year. I have so many thoughts…
I hope you guys have a blessed day
Check out my review on Elite hair lounge I’m trying to visit a few salons this year so keep your eyes peeled for more salon reviews