Arif Hair in Silver Spring, MD

I heard good things about this place from a friend and decided to get my hair done. I wanted to dye my hair with Tizta (hairstylist). I dye my hair every summer and I always do the same color. I never used bleach or highlight before so I didn't think the hairstylist would use that this time. I showed her picture of my own hair from last summer and told her I want the same thing. She mixed something and told the assistant to take care of it and left saying she has a party. My scalp was burning so I asked the vitro who was taking care of me multiple times what she put on my hair. She kept avoiding the conversation jokingly not wanting to tell me it's bleach. After all when I saw my hair I was shocked! I wanted to straighten my hair after coloring it but I was so disappointed that I didn't wanna get any other service. The lady asked me if I want her to call tizta I said yes. She gave me Tizta's business card and told me to contact her and see what she can do. I tried to call Tizta she wouldn't answer and I explained the situation through text. No response. My hair is damaged and I'm just trying to grow it out by getting trimmed regularly.

Two stars for the five-star assistant that rolled me up and smoothed my roots!! She was sweet and did a great job. I'm so happy Tizeta assigned an assistant to do my style instead of completing the style herself. Unfortunately, this didn't liberate me from her poor attitude. 1. One assistant checked my hair for tracks when I put my hair into the wash bowl. The low bar for the black female aesthetic is not appreciated. Natural salons should have natural appreciation for black hair. 2. One visit, after waiting to be serviced, the owner asked me if I "still wanted my moisture treatment" This signals they like an assembly line of wash to blow dry. Natural salons should prioritize hair health and not try and rush you when they're running behind. 3. Tizeta is very rude and abrasive. My first visit was nice, but when I returned the appreciation for me and my patronage had dwindled. I requested they wrap my hair, you know, old school, and she rolled her eyes and eventually told me I could do that "when I go home." She also was very condescending and seemingly annoying when speaking to her. Upon checking me out her question: "do you like it?" Sounded more like a threat than an inquiry. Nastiness tells me you don't want me as a customer. So Tizeta, my wish is your command!

I have been going to Arif Salon for many years! I'm beyond HAPPY with the services from Tizeta and the entire Arif Hair Team! Not only is the hair salon beautiful, clean, and follow all of the health safety COVID guidelines, but the staff are so friendly and really cares about providing you with EXCELLENT and 5 Star customer service every time! I couldn't ask for a better salon or services. In addition, Tizeta is versatile with hair styles and has "growing hands!" I call her the Hair Doctor! I had a fabulous summer hair cut last year; my hair is now growing so long and it's so healthy! I highly recommend this salon! Thank you to the entire Arif Hair Team!

I arrived at the salon five minutes before my ten o'clock appointment and announced myself since there was no one in sight. A woman emerged from a back room a few seconds later and asked me what service I needed. She did not extend any pleasantries (ex: "hi" or "welcome") even though it was my first time at the salon. I was surprised that she did not know what service I was having since I had made an online appointment and this should have already been noted in the salon's electronic system. At any rate, I told her that I was getting a shampoo, moisture treatment and hair cut with Tizeta. The woman informed me that Tizeta wasn't there and that she was on her way. I thought it was odd for a stylist not to be in the salon when she had a scheduled appointment; however, I allowed the lady (who I'll now refer to as the assistant) to wash my hair and then put me under the steam hair dryer for my moisture treatment. The staff were setting up the salon when I arrived. The assistant did a load of laundry and another employee wiped down the sinks during the time I sat under the dryer. A woman arrived at the salon at 10:13 and immediately started tapping on the register. I figured she must be the owner Tizeta. She did not extend a hello, greeting or apology for her tardiness. The assistant rinsed my conditioner after twenty minutes and I moved to one of the hair styling stations. The assistant began parting my hair in four sections and clipping each section the way hair dressers do when they are about to blow dry your hair. Sure enough, she reached for the blow dryer and I swiftly reminded her that I needed a natural haircut and not a blowout. She released the blow dryer and walked to the back room to get Tizeta. Tizeta approached me and asked if I'd like to wear my hair natural and I told her yes. Then she asked me how I'd like my hair to be cut. I explained the style I wanted and Tizeta said she needed to blow dry my hair so that she could cut my hair while it was straight. She assured me that this would help to achieve the right shape. I said ok and she proceeded to blow dry and cut my hair. At one point I was concerned that Tizeta might be cutting off too much hair and she threw up her hands in exasperation and said "you tell me what you want." I asked her to explain what she was doing and how much she was cutting off. We agreed on how much she'd cut and then she proceeded with the haircut. I engaged her in conversation and that seemed to bring her aloof demeanor down a notch and she was actually pretty pleasant after that. I was happy to see three other ladies with natural hair enter the salon to have their hair done during the time I was there. You wouldn't know that this salon does curly or coily hair from the pictures of straight hair styles on the wall. After Tizeta finished cutting my hair, she asked the assistant to wet my hair and add a leave-in conditioner. The assistant applied the leave-in conditioner to my hair and then asked me to sit under the hairdryer. The dryer pumped out such an incredibly hot blast of heat on my head that I had to ask the assistant to turn the heat down. At first, because of the language barrier, she thought I was asking her to place the hood of the dryer further down on my head, which would of course make the heat even more unbearable. I shook my head and she realized I wanted less heat so she raised the dryer's hood up higher than its original position and I finally got a reprieve from the scorching heat. Next, I returned to Tizeta's station so that she could style my hair. I appreciated that she didn't attempt to do any upselling because I wasn't a fan of the Fanola and Nairobi products she used on my hair. My hair did not feel moisturized even though I'd gotten a moisture treatment and I didn't like the lingering scent from the styling product she used on my hair. Tizeta cut my hair into a nice shape that fits my face; however, the haircut was much shorter than I anticipated. My appointment time was 10:00am to 10:50 am; however, I didn't leave the salon until 11:46am. Two hours is the amount of time I typically spend in a salon, so this was a fair amount of time to me. An inscription on one of the walls of the salon indicated that Arif means awesome, cool, hot and trendy; however, I didn't notice any of these things during my visit. This salon visit served its purpose -- to get me a haircut; however, my experience was not warm or inviting enough to warrant a second visit.

If you have natural hair you need to be going here. I grew up going to Black hair salons to get my hair done and I have always expected to be in there all day. I am very pleased to say that this salon gets me in and out so quickly. The staff have a system that is working very effectively to make sure that your appointment does not take too long while still giving you quality service. The lead stylist is very knowledgeable on hair and offers a wide range of services. To be clear this salon caters to ALL hair types. Booking a appointment online is very easy all you have to do is add what you want included in your appointment and it gives a description of the treatment and the time it's going to take. This is very helpful if you want to plan other things during the day.