Lots of Dreads and Haircuts!

March 6, 2013 | Shikote

I’ve been very busy with dreads and locks, and I’ve seen a lot of new haircut clients! The common thread of all clients of Grateful Dreads is they leave happy and loving their hair.

I recently worked on some curly hair, and the cut was so beautiful I just couldn’t believe my eyes! She came in believing her hair wasn’t able to be worn curly, and that it had to be straightened to look nice. She had been through a couple hair scares, and was just getting out of the mullet danger zone.

These past two weeks, I’ve worked on at least three women with beautiful curls who held the same belief, that their hair must be straightened to look nice. I took my time with their hair, nourished it, and I was very careful while cutting. These women left the salon with their hair natural and loving it! The fact of straightened, curly hair is that it has to recover from the effects of being flattened over time. The full potential of each curl will come out over time, but in the beginning of going curly from straightened, the curls will be somewhat relaxed. My hope is that these women continue to love their curly cuts and begin enjoying all the free time they have from not having to overstyle their hair to feel beautiful.

I have no pictures of these curly cuts. Maybe next time! For now, these are the cool pics I’ve taken recently:

A blown glass bead at the end of her new dread!

I love Camille! Her dreads are three years old, and she needed a little maintenance. Those are two wool dreads that she made and put in herself.

Beautiful blonde curls. This is an example of freshly naturally curly hair. Notice how the curls are a little relaxed from being flat ironed.

BEFORE. Very blunt and heavy cut with disconnected and overtexturized layers.

AFTER. A softer look for very straight hair.

I enjoyed meeting Ia, and she left very happy with her cut! Looking forward to catching up next time!!

Cool haircut, not too short, and left full. Look at this amazing coat from Spain! Her purse is by the same designer.

This was her first haircut in the US! She is from Thailand, and all of her clothes from there were totally cool!

Jake and the band showed up in a huge van! He came for regular maintenance. His dreads are around 8 months old and are really looking good!

Veronica’s beautiful dreads with her tattoo.

Have a happy day!

Influences

March 6, 2013 | Shikote

It’s winter in Michigan, and I’ve been working so diligently on the technical side of things. These are some pics of my inspirations to pick things up!

I’m ready for spring!

New Visitors and Catching Up With Others!

February 20, 2013 | Shikote

For some reason I didn’t take a lot of pictures last week. I did a lot of nice curly cuts and threading. A few new dreads clients came to the salon as well. Here are the pics I snapped!

Something I’ve noticed with a lot of Asian hair clients is their hair has been over-texturized. This creates a fuzzy, broken look. It also makes straight hair look thin and flat. Over-texturizing anyone’s hair will make it look lifeless. For Linh’s cut, I blunted her length and carefully shaped the layers to take out excess weight without using thinning shears. Once her hair grows in a little more it will look even nicer!

Look at her long beautiful hair!! This is after I cut off a few inches too! I refreshed her layers, especially around her face.

A beautiful tutu by Kelly Lynne. The two of us had a nice visit in the salon. Congrats on your new endeavors Kelly!

The sign is printed! I’m picking it up today and will have it up this week!

See you soon!

Sneak Peek of the Shoot Last Night

February 11, 2013 | Shikote

We did a photoshoot last night at Grateful Dreads. Mike Frieseman took the photos, and Diana Mellon did some modeling. We had a lot of fun and created some really amazing shots.

These are some pics I snapped with my phone:

Diana is modeling a dress by Fotoula Lambros Design.

Mike Frieseman taking photos inside Grateful Dreads

Fun times! We created some very artistic and fashionable looks. Thank you Diana and Mike!

Winter Months at Grateful Dreads

February 10, 2013 | Shikote

We’re mid-winter right now. The snow has been dumping! Grateful Dreads has stayed busy through hibernation time, and I’m so happy with all of the amazing people who walk in the door! These are a few pics I snapped last week:

This is what happens to Twan when he gets his dreads washed at Grateful Dreads!

Daphne is growing out her hair, and it’s so pretty! Look at that natural wave forming on the side!

Lily came for a shape up. Her hair is hard to see in the pics, but the waves are flowy and beautiful.

I loved her boots, and we like the pic with her hair all around!!

Emily’s new trendy hair. I made it bright red, and she wanted it cut short. I absolutely love this short haircut! So cute!

Leigh is off to Italy with her new haircut! She has such beautiful, long, full hair!!

The sign is printed and will be up either Monday or Tuesday! I’ve been up to quite a bit with the salon. Lots of new ideas are coming to life this winter…

Getting Cozy in Grateful Dreads

January 31, 2013 | Shikote

Winter is at it’s peak! These are some pics of the people who are getting great hair and staying warm in the salon during this cold weather.

David’s locks are gorgeous! These are interlocked, started by his mom, and for the past year maintained by me. I love how his hair looks twisted up like this. I pulled it up to fade his sides.

This is how people look after an experience at Grateful Dreads!

Ahn's trim up. Her hair was already very texturized, so I cut it to smooth her ends and give her lots of volume on top! — Ahn’s trim up. Her hair was already very texturized, so I cut it to smooth her ends and give her lots of volume on top!

Couples haircuts! What a concept! We had a great time hanging out and doing haircuts and color. Laura and this salon are such a great match! Symbiosis at it’s finest!

There were a couple pics I didn’t snap of some great work I’d love to share! I gave Teymour the best looking cut in over 10 years. I suppose we say that a lot!!

I gave Alloy Ash the most beautiful icey purple platinum dreads for her trip to Texas. Congrats Alloy Ash and best to you while you’re down south!!!

798433_4584691849952_23235547_o — This is a pic of Kristen’s dreads one week in. She’s really doing a great job with the maintenance!

See you soon!

Custom Ombré Fusion Extensions

January 24, 2013 | Shikote

I make custom fusion extensions at Grateful Dreads. For Alana’s hair I colored them and made the extensions piece by piece to suit her hair type and the style she wants.

This is what the fusion extensions look like dry and in pieces.

Alana came into Grateful Dreads, and I removed her old extensions. Her hair is very fine and has been colored many times which makes it brittle.

I colored Alana’s hair with some conditioning color and did some extra deep conditioning at the bowl. Then I added her new extensions piece by piece!

Alana’s full, long, gorgeous hair!! Completely custom just for her!!

Alana and I had a great appointment!

I had a lot of fun preparing for this, and Alana loves her hair!! I am so happy with the results. Thank you Alana for coming to the salon!

A Week of Many Specialties!

January 23, 2013 | Shikote

Wow what a great week! I just can’t say enough about how much I love the challenges that come into this salon!! I am so thankful to have so many special talents as a hair stylist. These are some of the fun people I got to work with this week.

Veronica’s dreads have got to be nearing a year. They look great!!

If you cut the loose hairs from the tips of your dreads, your dreads will unravel a little and become shorter. Someone trimmed her ends, so we made a special appointment to give her hair some of it’s length back.

She knew she had curls but had been flat ironing because it was easier. — Katherine knew she had curls but had been flat ironing because it was easier.

I gave her hair some deep conditioning and a cut for curly hair!! She can still straighten it, but I bet she wont want to!

Jenny came in for just a trim. She’s got interesting hair texture.

I cleaned up her cut and gave it some shape without thinning it since it was already very texturized. I like her hair left thicker, and the new shape is really nice!!

Skateboarders next door. They showed up just as I was having a break! Perfect timing guys!!

Kristen came in for a late night dreads session.
BEFORE!

Kristen looks great with her brand new fresh dreads!! This took me 6 hours.

Kristen's fresh dreads look really fuzzy, especially where we blunted her ends!She's really got a ton of hair!! Perfect for a huge mane of dreads! — Kristen’s fresh dreads look really fuzzy, especially where we blunted her ends.
She’s really got a ton of hair!! Perfect for a huge mane of dreads!

Alana is a really cool girl that I met over a year ago. She came in and got some very special customized hair!!

You can see this custom process in the next post!

The salon is getting busier, and I’m looking for an assistant. If anyone finds this type of hair interesting and would like to learn, please contact me!!

On another note… I’ve hired a professional graphic designer who is working on a few things including the signs for the salon!! I apologize that there is no sign yet!! It’s my (very realistic) goal to have an awning and two signs up by the end of Fetbruary. Thanks for being patient!!

Sophisticated Styles and Starter Locs!

January 18, 2013 | Shikote

Grateful Dreads had a fun and interesting week! A lot of regular clients came through as well as some new people. At one point there were 9 people hanging out in the salon getting dreads, extensions, and a haircut! That was fun 🙂

I really love all the different hairstyles that come through here!

Patrick came for a cut! We both like the length in front.

Sofia came in to take a couple inches off her length. She never knew her hair could curl like this!

Jacqueline’s twists to start her locs. The twists have been in for two weeks, and we tightened her roots this time. Looking good! And they’re starting to lock already!!

Dani came in with her entire head looking like the hair hanging in back. Messy and very greasy! Full of wax.

Dani had her dreads put in 2 days before she came for a consultation. I immediately washed Dani’s hair for about 45 minutes trying to get out all the wax. We determined that someone put about a life supply of wax into her hair all at once! The wax was also very oily. The theory was that wax is what starts the dreads, but the wax, at this point, was actually hindering the dreading process. Once most of the wax was out I was able to fix up her dreads. We also decided to take the dreads out of her bangs for a softer look. The whole process took around 3 hours, and we had great results!

Dreads, Locs, and Fine Blonde Hair!

January 7, 2013 | Shikote

These are some interesting pictures from last week!

This is a good before and after sequence. Lisa started her dreads a year ago with micro braids and didn’t do anything to disturb her hair except wash it. When she arrived at Grateful Dreads, her hair was very clean and somewhat dreaded. I worked on her hair, separating some and locking other parts, for about 3 1/2 hours. We had great success!

The next pics are of Cora’s locs. She’s had them for 4 years, and they were actually started by someone I’ve worked with before! Hi Renée!! Cora’s mom is so happy to have found someone in Ann Arbor to help with her hair, and I’m so happy to be found! The blonde woman in the chair is Cara. She came in for a cut just as we finished up Cora’s hair. I love the contrast of hair in this picture. Especially because their names are so similar!

Cora’s really happy to have freshly tightened and cleaned locs!

Cora just got back from a tropical vacation and into the cold snow. Stay warm Cora, and I’ll see you again soon!

Behind the Scenes With Alloy Ash

December 30, 2012 | Shikote

Alloy Ash, Steve Ragland, and I collaborated for a photoshoot last Sunday. Steve had some very beutiful ideas, and I had this cute sweater I really wanted to shoot. Ash has a Doc Martens collection spanning from the 90’s, so we had fun with that too!

Alloy Ash in Grateful Dreads the night before the photo shoot.

I took these pics with my phone while they worked.

Setting the lighting and exposure times.

Steve uses a live stream for his photos that goes right to his iPad! Ash is wearing a beautiful silk robe from Thailand.

A shot of Steve’s iPad. The beauty of this photo speaks for itself! Dress by Fotoula Lambros Design.

I love these oxblood Docs with the navy Polo golf sweater!

This was a fun shoot! Everyone was very professional and we worked fast. I got to play with some more alternative looks than usual, and that’s always fun. Alloy Ash you are truly amazing! I could go on and on. I keep thinking about your cool pink shoes!

Cool Clients of Grateful Dreads with Gorgeous Hair!

December 28, 2012 | Shikote

I love the people who come to Grateful Dreads! I’m really happy with these pics. For anyone who follows this blog, you can see the progress of Josh’s and Cam’s hair. You will also recognize Nicole from previous posts.

Xiao Hui Fan
It’s been two months since I first cut Cam’s hair. He’s growing it out, and it’s looking so good!. You can click here to see his first cut at Grateful Dreads.

You can see Cam’s natural wave coming out now that his hair has some length. It was his idea to part it on the side with the straight part. I love it! Classic smooth styles are really where it’s at right now!

Josh has had his dreads for 10 months! We put them in around Easter time. Click here to view Josh’s dreads freshly done, and click here to see them after 10 weeks!

My fabulous jet-setter friend Nicole blew through town and spent the day with me at the salon. I gave her a pretty roller set and did her make up!

Emily is an Ann Arbor townie and a U of M student. She’s also a nanny, and she’s really nice!

She came to the salon for a trim and a little shaping.

I gave her bangs and some shaping around her face and took off a few inches. Still long!! I dried it to be curly!

Alloy Ash came to the salon late night to get ready for our shoot the next day.

I touched up her roots and put in some icey Carribean blue! She’s had her dreads for around 6 years and has previously maintained them herself or in California where she does a lot of modeling work.

How lucky am I to have so many amazing clients visit me in just one week! Thank you so much to all of you for being so cool and loving good hair!

Cheers!

Vis A Vis

December 28, 2012 | Shikote

I offer threading at Vis A Vis every Wednesday. I’ve become their patron as well. This is a very nice skin care and massage salon. The people there are so fun and friendly, and the decor is smart and cute!

Vis a Vis sells a lot of natural high-quality skin care products including make up and application tools. There is also a Vis a Vis skin care line!

One of the massage rooms. Notice the bars on the ceiling. Mellissa uses them for Ashiatsu massage.

There are other equally beautiful and comfortable rooms for massage and full body waxing, but they’re usually full, so it’s difficult getting a picture!

This is the Brow Bar where I do the threading. They use this room for facial waxing and make up application.

These cute little figurines are for sale!

Guests get to drink premium loose teas from Tea Haus which is located about a block away from Grateful Dreads!

These are some of my favorite pieces of art hanging in the salon.

Something I’ve noticed about the people here is they study what they do constantly. They also study their client’s files, so they know the details of each job. Vis a Vis is really into details and personalized skin care.

Yummy treats at the check out area. These girls don’t mess around!

Vis a Vis is top notch! If you’re looking for a place for massage, make up, facials, waxing, or threading I very strongly recommend. My experience there has been completely positive every time!

Many New Faces, The Holidays Are Here!

December 17, 2012 | Shikote

Christmas is just around the corner! I love seeing all the lights around Kerrytown, and the shop is really cute for the holidays! I’ve met a lot of new people who found Grateful Dreads and needed a last minute haircut for an event. I was really busy this Saturday and fit everyone in! So glad, and they loved their hair too!