Primary Location
Amenities
Payments
Credit cardsDebit cardsNFC mobile payments
Accessibility
Wheelchair accessible entranceWheelchair accessible parking lot
Service options
Onsite services
Planning
Quick visit
From the business
Small business
Very friendly. Good selection of braiding hair plus lots more!
(2024 update from original 2022 review)
In addition to hair and haircare products, Shalom also offers styling services which, if done more fastidiously, would be awesome. However having now gotten sloppy short-lived braid-downs twice, I have to decrease my initial rating. While convenient, unfortunately the outcome on both occasions has been of dubious quality and negligible longevity.
It'd certainly be nice to have a reliable one-stop-shop option, but I think the owner needs to take more pride in her work and exercise foresight and understand that while a quick, sloppy job may be good for a fast money-grab, it certainly doesn't give any incentive to come back. And maybe she's not technically a braider, so this is the best she can do? I don't know. But I expect my braids - - WHETHER MEANT TO BE WORN EXPOSED OR NOT - - to be tidy, precise, neatly parted, taut (not TIGHT, and there is a difference) and long-lasting.
Both times that I've come in for a braid-down, I have left with something that was more like the precursor to a finished job that I had to to undergird with a follow up sew-down to actually make it even somewhat snug to my scalp. And I appreciate her desire to not pull my hair out (anyone who's had their hair braided more than a handful of times knows how giddy some braider get about how tight they can braid and has had the missing edges or thin spots to prove it) but again, there's a difference between taut and tight.
And moreover there is a difference between a tight braid pattern and braids that are tight to the point of pulling out your hair - - think short, efficient overlaps of hair vs elongated ones. For people that are familiar with curl patterns it's conceptually the same as having a tight or loose curl pattern. And for braids, it's essentially the number of "stitches" one can fit into a length of braid. And for the braids I got on both occasions, not only were they not taut, but they were also a very loose stitch, so that even before I left the shop there were gaps between the plaits and my scalp and they began to pull apart immediately upon attempting to latch anything to them.
As someone who isn't just flush with cash and able to eat the cost of low-value expenses, I'm pretty irritated that I wasted $75 dollars ($65 + tip) on these, and not only will they not last me the generous stretch I'd hoped for (and usually can get out of a latch job with a good braid-down) but having just finished my install, it ALREADY it looks grown out and weeks old, so even basic wear is out the window.
The braid-down itself looks like a DIY or friends-and-family favor - - something your auntie might do because your real braider flaked, so she throws 45 minutes your way to make your life a little easier, and you appreciate it because you understand it's an act of mercy and affection, and not obligation. I expect much better if I'm paying for it, though. But frankly, the quality of it would definitely suggest that it had done it as a kind gesture as opposed to as a paid service. Which was kind of how it felt. Which is obviously not good.
All of that said, I'll leave the stars for the product selection and generally good nature of the owner (though she can at times be a little brusque, so be prepared for that), but I definitely can't recommend this place for braids.
