My First Silk Press at Textured Press in NYC!

I had the wonderful privilege of getting my hair done at TEXTURED PRESS this past Sunday.

• A NEW silk press and blowout based salon in New York City specializing in silk presses and blowouts for women with textured hair.
• A pop up only salon! Follow @texturedpress on Instagram to stay updated on when books open up!
• Focused on educating women on how to maintain and grow a healthier mane, giving the customer knowledge she didn’t know before!

The first thing we did was wash and condition my hair. I hadn’t washed my hair in about 2 weeks. She gave my scalp a good scrub and detangled my hair. After washing I steamed my hair for the first time! I sat underneath something similar to a dryer, except it had steam coming out. This adds additional moisture to my hair for the long haul and will help products work better with my hair in the future.

After steaming we did a cold rinse and my hair was the most shrunken I’ve ever seen it! However it was still super detangled, I was genuinely shocked.

The only products used were a very light weight leave in conditioner and 2 heat protectants (also very light weight). She went through my hair with a wide tooth comb fairly easily and put my hair in 4 twists. Throughout the process from washing to now, I only had about one third of my usual shedding! Then I went under a hooded dryer for 5 mins. It wasn’t hot or intense, just a quick dry to get my roots dry and not sopping wet.

Next she blow dried my hair with a concentration nozzle and paddle brush. She started off with the tension method then brushed through my hair with the blow dryer. After my hair was blow dried her first comment was how uneven my hair was! I’m so against trimming my own hair I was surprised to hear this. She did a “pre-trim” to even out my hair before straightening.

After that we got to the flat iron! First she straightened my edges with a baby flat iron. Then, after asking if I rather my hair with more volume (of course I do), Ebony curled my hair in small sections using one pass.  It honestly went a lot quicker than I thought! When she was done I had a head full of curls. Then we did another trim.

She finger combed it and I was done! I loved the look and was happy to have a light weight head full of hair that has lots of body (not greased down & not flat)! To maintain my hair she recommended pin curling my hair for the first few weeks to preserve the curls, then wrapping my hair to keep my roots flat if they start to puff up.

Ebony was early (which I find rare when dealing with hair stylists), answered all my many questions, and super nice! She explained every step she was taking and related it to what I should be doing at home. This experience was way better than my many experiences at the Dominican salon. I felt like this was tailored for me rather than feeling like burden on the stylist because I had natural hair.

Ebony has experience working in a dry bar hair salon and wanted to give girls with natural hair a similar experience but using way less heat. Textured Press is in the heart of the city and is open as early as 7 am. They place a lot of importance on placing the client first and making sure you feel more educated about your hair then when you came in. They can get you in and out in about 1 hour! Be sure to book your visit during their pop ups in NYC!