Mariam African Hair Braiding - Elmsford, New York

Myah Hill

I’ve been going to this location for five or six years now. I always leave with the style I intended to get. Daba the owner of the establishment has been very communicative with any inquiries I have even before my appointment. I have brought my daughter on several occasions as well and she is always very happy. I drive about an hour and a half because I am always satisfied with my end result. I will continue to go where I can attain quality service.The below picture is of the beautiful style that I received on 5/3/24. Thank you again, ladies.

Irina Elber

I respect Daba and her achievements as a young business owner in Westchester, NY. I have been to this establishment at least 3 times. Each time my hair has looked great, my experiences in the shop have varied.

I am impressed by a few things:
1. I have not had to wait for an appointment for more than 10 mins
2. Stylists generally braid for the entire length of the style. If they take breaks they are under 15 mins. I am sure more breaks are needed so I hope she will be able to accommodate the needs of her staff.
3. Clean and organized shop, doesn’t stink.
4. Clean and usable bathroom.
5. Strong communication, although there are some cultural clashes with customers.
6. Aprons/ uniforms with names so that clients can remember their preferred stylists easily.
7. Styles are usually neat and efficient, although some styles are better than others

Things that need work:
1. Attitude of some of the staff toward feedback of their work. Customers are not easy to deal with, but there needs to be a level of professionalism that is unmatched to truly stand out.
2. App! The options needs to be better organized. I don’t know if it’s because you offer such an array of services, which is great, but it makes selecting a service difficult. An alphabetical list or a list from least expensive to most expensive styles might be more efficient.
3. Pricing! Please post a price list in the shop. Maybe laminate a few “menus” to hand out to customers in person so that you can clean and reuse them. Pricing is not transparent. There are a lot of extra charges.
4. Breaks: I understand that staff need to eat, pray and use the bathroom. Please communicate this with clients a little better. It should be understood that people will need a break from braiding hair for hours at a time, but common sense is not so common. Assume people don’t think like you.
5. Handling of kinky hair. Black people have different types of hair textures. We have been taught to label some hair textures as nicer or better than others. Self hatred is real. Our hair needs to be treated with love and hair. Not burned to death with heat from blow drying and pulled with hard combing and brushing. Stylists should be taught to be gentle but efficient. Please invest in some classes if necessary.
I hope this business continues to grow and flourish, but growth takes pruning. Prune your fruit so that it can grow.

momo

Service: Starter Locs
Overall Rating: 2/5
an extra $25.00 to trim split ends! RIDICULOUS

Would not recommend going to this Salon for starter locs. Their other services I’m not sure of but for loc maintenance, please go somewhere.

First Red Flag: The lack of enthusiasm over the phone when talking to me. Throughout the phone calls I felt as if the lady in charge was bored of me. The last phone call sounds as if she could care less about me. I even re-introduced myself in an upbeat and polite manner and I got hardly anything reciprocated, which is unfortunate because I was calling on behalf of their mistake.

For context: The lady who did my starter locs gave me a diagonal part when it should have been clean middle part. I knew something was off put couldn’t put my finger on it until the day later so I called back to see what they can do. A touch-up of sorts. Also one of my locs looks micro in comparison to others that look thick.

Anyway, I didn’t even get an apology in the phone call. No compensation or nothing. I’m walking around looking crooked and I get radio silence. The least you could have done is have a bit of urgency in your voice. Make me feel like you care about how my hair looks. But no.

Anyway. The lady who did my hair was even worse. It felt like she was scalping me! She shampooed my hair so rough and felt like she was ripping out my edges. When I was done with the wash, she began to detangle and twist my hair. It felt like she was fighting for her life back there at times. She even apologized. Yeah I know I have curly hair but goodness. It felt intentional at times…

Like she was purposely trying to hurt me and make me lose hair and edges. It was very bizzare. I just wanted it to be over with. However 5 hours made that dream come to an end.

I’m supposed to be going back in 2 weeks but that won’t be happening.

If you are thinking of getting starter locs here… DON’T.

I thought the owner had my back but I was wrong.

Sandie Flowers

After my initial appointment, I realized that the services provided were not worth the cost and time invested. While I appreciated the overall hairstyle, the back row was parted too small and braided too big, which resulted in breakage. To address this issue, I scheduled a follow-up appointment three weeks later for a touch-up. However, I was disappointed by the manager's attitude. She has an unreasonable appointment cancellation policy that most companies would be sued for implementing. It is a money-making business, not customer-driven. In the end, it is just not worth my money and time.

Jay Jones

The braids are good but the time is not it takes too long for no reason and sometimes they be stopping to do other things some of the people in the shop like to talk bad about u in there langue.

Bianca Gabriel

This business was recommended to me by my sister in law & her family who attended Mariam growing up as a child. I suggested this facility to Mr. James whom traveled very far to get his hair braided by professionals and after hearing about his experience, I’m extremely embarrassed for the way he was treated in person and how he is being treated online. As per the owners response below, Mr. James has visited your location on two occasions. To clarify, his first visit on 3/14 he came washed and blow dried yet, he was charged an extra $20 because the stylist stated that she had had to blow it out some more. Although I also found $20 to be odd for just a blow dryer… he paid it anyway.

Now I understand that you have a business to uphold but you CANNOT speak to your clients any which way. Especially not knowing their status or anything about them. Respect goes a long way and this young man does not convey to be the aggressive person that you are suggesting. Despite his first experience being “okay”.. he still tipped and thanked your stylist for the service given and decided to give your business a second try despite the long lengths he took to get there for the second time. Respect goes both ways via the owner and the customer. If the customer is not satisfied with the work done, then having you step in should have been a positive way to diffuse the issue. A customer should not be told that they have one last chance to have it redone. Either try to resolve the situation or simply state that the style is not achievable. Your services are not cheap and the work should reflect the price no matter what. No one should have to accept poor performance.

The point that I am trying to get across is that there are other ways to be expressive without offending your customers. Words matter, and the way words are delivered, serve as a reflection to you. I’m appalled by your response to his posting and many other customers whom have expressed their concerns about their own experiences.

Mr. James does not reflect the 1% that you referred to him as. You not only lost a new customer but 5 others as well. I will not be sending my family to your establishment nor making any more referrals if this is the type of treatment that anyone can expect. Just as there are thousands of other customers out there for you to receive, there are also thousands of braiding facilities who can style and charge less than what you are offering. Despite this unfortunate event I do wish your business well. If I may, the last suggestion that I would make to you is to have a price list of your service listed within your shop, so that there is transparency for all who visit. Especially for our men who are not familiar with these types of settings.

Lastly, following up with your customers after a booking would be helpful as well so that you can ensure that there aren’t any grey areas for new customers. Having a booking app isn’t so simple, try to have someone assist you with this so that this doesn’t happen in the future. God Bless!

**Response: Mam, if you took nothing out of what I said to you. I feel really sorry for you. Why would a customer have a personal vendetta? As an adult, your way of thinking is thoughtless. There is nothing fake about this review and I have in fact met you. You have an aggressive approach. Honestly, this behavior is not okay. Look at how you speak to your customers! Threatening because of their honesty? I’m not sure if you know anything about the law and how it works, but you cannot sue for an HONEST Google review lol. The whole point of a review is for feedback. Feedback in which you are unable to acknowledge nor accept. So Again, I bid you adieu.

Jennifer Browne

I love their service and their hair braiding is amazing!!! Each time my daughter and I go, they do an amazing job....we are very pleased.....highly recommend!

Kiono Francis

The salon is very neat, clean and comfortable and modern. It was nice to be able to book online. 1 star off because I booked for myself and daughter to get braids at earliest time available 10am and she had to wait 35 min before braider arrived and started; also I wanted large boho box braids but was given medium instead, I wanted waist length but can see some braids were cut blunt to attain that length instead of the tapered natural look it should have; and not all the parting for the braids were as neat as should've been. Might consider again in future but will be more explicit at start.