New Year, New Me: My Hair Makeover at Dana's Loft Hair

It's a new year, so it's the perfect time for a hair makeover.  I've been wearing my hair in twists for about a decade and during that time I've only had it blown out and trimmed a few times.  So I jumped at the opportunity for Dana Gibbs, celebrity stylist and CEO of dana's loft HAIR (96 Orchard Street, 212-677-7701), to give my hair some long overdue TLC.

"More than half my clients have natural hair, and they can wear it straight or curly," says Dana, who specializes in blow-outs, perms, weaves and the Brazilian Keratin treatment. "[Black women] are the only ethnic group with so many [styling] options."

My twisted hair before my makeover.

Since my tresses are completely relaxer-free, in its natural state my hair shrinks up a lot after it's been washed.  And I haven't seen its actual length in at least a year.  I also had a resistant gray patch in the front that I desperately needed covered.

Dana blowing my hair out.

So the first step in my makeover was for Dana to put a dark brown color in my hair, which she let sit for about 20 minutes.  Afterwards, she rinsed and washed my hair with the Kera Plus Shampoo from her formaldehyde-and-sulfate-free Kera Plus Collection.  Then she applied a deep conditioner and sat me under the dryer for another 20 minutes.

"Keratin is a protein that helps to strengthen the hair," explains the stylist who has worked with Rihanna, Raven Symone and Corrine Bailey Rae. But she cautions, "there's no secret formula to help hair grow faster. It can break as fast as it can grow, depending on your own [growth] cycle."

Once the conditioner was rinsed out, Dana combed through my hair using my trusty Ouidad Double Detangler comb.  She then sectioned my hair into twists and sat me under the dryer again to get out the remaining moisture.

Finally, she blew my hair dry using a brush and trimmed my ends.  I couldn't believe how long my hair was once it was blown out, and my edges -- although thinner than the rest of my hair -- were in better shape than I thought.  Dana then dabbled on some Tex Me Pomade (my fave new hair product) from her ME Collection and flat-ironed my hair.

The last step was styling my hair.  Dana said she wanted to give me loose, playful curls like Tracee Ellis Ross.  And she did.  I couldn't believe my hair could achieve such bouncin' and behavin' heights. Although the style only lasted a day and I wore my hair pulled into a pony for the next few days, I'll definitely return to dana's loft HAIR the next time I'm an un-twisted sister.