About Curls

At The Hive Salon, we cater to waves, curls, and kinks differently than most. We embrace texture rather than try to run from it, and we encourage you to love your hair and do the same. To help you achieve a truly low maintenance texture that you can work with, we offer separate haircutting services catered to your unique texture.

Early in Jen Cortez's career she learned that curly hair looks best when it's cut while it's dry, not wet. Each curl has it's own unique stretch factor, shape, and size that cannot be accounted for when wet- leading to uneven layers, holes, frizz, and triangular shapes. At The Hive, we practice Jen's unique method of curl shaping, done while the hair is 100% dry, based on how the curl lays naturally.

We do not represent any outside company, or brand's cutting methods. Simply put, we are a salon that believes in nurturing textured hair into it's healthiest state possible by using plant derived styling products, gentle styling methods, and dry hair cutting techniques. All stylists offering curly specific haircut appointments have completed an intense curl training course designed by Jen Cortez, and receive ongoing training in the art and science of working on all textures of curly hair. Jen Cortez has been practicing dry haircutting on curly hair since 2005. 

What you can expect during your appointment. 

When you come in for your cut, your stylist will assess your hair based on it's current health, length, and desired shape. Your stylist will educate you on the 'low-to-no shampoo' lifestyle, the benefits of 100% plant based products on your curls, and how to properly hydrate and style your hair. All haircutting will take place while your hair is 100% dry and will not incorporate razors, brushes, combs, texturizing shears, or thinning shears. Each curl will be cut individually to length that not only complements the curl, but also the shape and style desired. If absolutely necessary, your stylist will cleanse and style your hair before the cut, but for most, the styling and finishing happens last*. Before leaving, your stylist will give you tip cards that summarize how to care for your hair, what types of ingredients to avoid in products, and will recommend a care and cut routine suited to your needs. 

*If the hair needs a complete cleansing and re-styling before and after the haircut, an additional charge of $20 will be applied to compensate for the extra time required if it's available. To avoid this, please follow our steps for haircut preparation.

How to best prepare your hair for your cut:

These steps are crucial to getting the best cut possible. To work with your hair, we need to see it in it's natural form. Do not come with slept-on, or second-day hair as it will be significantly flatter and longer, and cannot be effectively cut dry. If you do not follow our preparation steps, we may have to style your hair before we can cut it, and an additional fee of $20 will occur for the extra time needed if it's available.
 
*Cleanse your hair the morning of your appointment using your preferred routine- if you rarely or never shampoo, rinse and condition your hair as you normally would. No towel turbans post washing- they stretch the hair too much and cause it to dry too much before applying products. Curly hair styles and forms ringlets best when very wet. A gentle squeeze will remove enough water for the next step. In the salon, we leave enough water in the hair for it to almost drip before going on to the next step.

 *Apply the same styling products you rely on regularly, and avoid detangling/styling with anything but your fingers. Scrunch your hair well with your hands to activate your curls. You should hear a squishing sound that signifies that enough water and product is in your hair. When your curls start to clump up, you can stop scrunching. To help expedite air drying, you may take a towel, or an old t-shirt and gently scrunch your hair to pull out the excess water. The goal is to not let your hair dry flat to your head (combing and brushing will cause this), but rather to get the most bounce in before the drying process begins. 

* If you must detangle a knot, apply your products first, and gently detangle using a very wide tooth comb, and re-scrunch your curls well afterward. 

*Dry your hair using the same method you usually rely on- either air drying, or using your diffuser. 

 *If you air-dry, make sure you start early enough so that your hair is 100% dry before arriving at the salon 

Do Not Use: Tuck your hair behind your ears or use clips, ponytails, barrettes, brushes, braids, curling irons, or flat-irons on your hair as this will ruin our ability to asses your hairs natural texture and curl pattern. If you color your hair, wait until after your haircut to get your hair colored- hair color affects your curls texture. If you're getting your hair colored here, we will cut your curls before applying your color. 

These same rules apply when coming in for a color appointment- this way we can tailor your Foils, Balayage, Ombre, or other creative coloring techniques to either blend seamlessly, or ribbon through your curls depending on your preference.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What makes a dry cut so special?

A. With a dry haircut, we can tailor the length of each individual ringlet of wave so that when dry, they all compliment each other, and fall into a shape that compliments you. With a dry haircut, we leave 100% of the physical weight in each curl so that they can become defined, and the volume can be controlled. We visually remove weight by cutting each curl at a length that's appropriate for the look we're trying to achieve. Because the hair has been shaped for it's unique texture, you get a haircut that lasts longer, resists looking frizzy or frazzled, and doesn't look like a triangle. Plus, you get to watch your haircut transform before your eyes instead of keeping your fingers crossed as clumps of wet hair hit the floor!

Q. Do curly cuts cost more than cuts for straight hair?

A. As long as you come with your hair properly prepped, a curly appointment doesn't take much longer than a standard appointment and costs the same. However, let's say for an example you come in with your hair pulled back in a clip or ponytail- we have to completely style your hair before we can cut it, plus we may have to style it again, which adds considerable time to the appointment and then we'll have to charge for the extra time.

Q. Are you a Deva Salon?

A. Nope. All stylists are trained under co-owner Jen Cortez, who is a self taught curl sculptor with over 8 years experience. Jen has no affiliation to Devachan, nor has she received any Deva training.

Q. Who can I book a cut with?

A. Any stylist who comes up as an option for wavy/curly or kinky/coily is fully trained and capable of giving you a great cut for your curls.

Q. Whats the difference between a wavy/curly and a kinky/coily haircut?

A. The wavy/curly option is for those with loose waves to finger width sized curls, and the kinky cooly option is for those whose curls range from drinking straw, to even smaller and tighter kinks. The reason for the different services is that with kinky and coily hair types, their hair needs extra time and care to be properly conditioned, detangled, and styled, so that appointment has additional time to compensate.

Q. Can I get a dry cut if I sometimes wear my hair straight?

Absolutely! Depending on how often you wear your hair straight we will tailor your cut to either lean towards perfection when it's smooth, or perfection when it's in it's natural state.

Q. Do I need a consultation before booking an appointment?

A. Not at all, but if you're more comfortable meeting your stylist beforehand you can book a 15 minute complimentary consultation. All cuts include a consultation before any cutting takes place. 

Q. How do you know so much about curly hair if you have straight hair?

A. The same way a female can be a Urologist and a male can be a Gynecologist. There is a science and fact to curly hair that can be learned by anyone, regardless of their own hair texture. 

Q. Do you have hair products specifically for curly hair?

A. Because the 'one size fits all' mentality doesn't work with the broad spectrum of textures that make up curly hair, we don't carry a "for curls only" product line. We do however carry several 100% plant-based product lines that work for all textures when properly recommended and used. 

Q. What makes your products different?

A. Our products are 100% plant based and contain no plastics, silicone of any kind, petroleum products, sulphates, artificial fragrances, parabens, heavy film-forming agents, artificial colors, phthalates, or propylene glycol. With curly hair, avoiding plastics, petrols, and silicone are especially important because those ingredients interfere with your hair's ability to accept and retain moisture, leading to dry, shapeless, frizz prone hair.

Q. Do I have to get a dry haircut if I have curly hair?

Not at all- some clients prefer the look that a razor, or a wet cut can give. However, we can say that unless the client wants to wear their hair pin straight some of the time, most clients who get a dry haircut never go back to wet cutting.