Orchid Blue Hair Salon

I’ve gone to Orchid Blue a few times to get two strand twists. Chastity is my stylist and I’ve had really good results. She showed me her portfolio when we had my first consultation, and I have been able to have some head-​turning styles.
I have natural, long, thick hair so I’m used to having to pay extra to get my hair done. One time I paid $ 90 and another time I paid $ 80. So it’s not a place I would go more than once a month.
I think the customer service could use work though… they are not the friendliest when you come in, and with everyone getting their locs done, it can feel a little intimidating.
But it’s a nice salon and I’m glad a coworker recommended I try it! Whenever I need twists, I have a place to go.

On my quest to find a salon to regularly maintain my locs I happened upon Orchid Blue. The salon is sizable, clean, well-​decorated. The atmosphere is very neo-​soul-​natural-​hair-​big-​black-​woman-​no-​pork-​esque (typical Philly stuff, in my not-​so-​humble, born and raised in NYC opinion).
The services: My hair was washed, it felt great. Twisting was done with light, delicious smelling products and it looked FANTASTIC when it was done.
In terms of professionalism, don’t be surprised if someone is eating a takeout plate of fried fish and yams in the seat next to you and don’t be too offended if the receptionist is texting while you’re trying to talk to her. She means well.
Prices are aiight. Your stylist will likely try to force you to get a style (an additional 30ish dollars) even if you don’t want one.
After years of (unofficial, completely subjective) research, I’ve decided that this kind of salon is really as good as it gets. One part your aunt’s living room, one part fancy spa and a lot of talent and good intention.
I’ll take it.

I gotta agree with Joy. First time I went I saw Drea. She pressed and curled my hair. Gave me good tips and gave me a complimentry bottle of hair oil (which smelled great). During this visit I noticed a girl getting a weave which came out so good, so I made an appt before I left to get a weave in bout three weeks. During that visit Drea also did my hair. Came out great, no complaints.
Now after the weave was taken out and I went in to get a touch-​up it was done by someone else (a girl I didnt see in the salon before, therefore im assuming she was new). And I did not like the results. I even noticed before she put the touch up that she consulted Drea on the right product to use. How do you not know!
Anywho, good salon, if you go to Drea and Drea only.

The first time that I went to Orchid Blue, I was impressed with the services. I was walking home from work last summer and was in desperate need of a relaxer. My place of employment lacked air conditioning and my hair was looking like a total and complete hot mess.
Anyway, I decided to see if Orchid Blue would accept walk-​ins. I was greeted by a friendly stylist with a cool frohawk who told me that they could give me a relaxer and style. The salon was not very busy and i liked that it seemed like such a diamond in the rough. It was small, and in a not so cute area, but the inside of the salon was actually rather nice and cozy..
The main stylist who did my hair was Drea. I really thought that she did a good job with the relaxer and she gave me a style that was just right for me. The service was quick and enjoyable. I made it out of there within about 2 hours. This was great, especially since it was a Friday evening. We all know how busy salons can be when it starts to get closer to the weekend…
The pros from this visit are as follows: student discount, friendly staff, comfortable salon, quick service
Unfortunately, my next visit did not live up to this precedent. I went back for another relaxer and discovered that I was going to be serviced by a less experienced stylist that I had not seen in the shop previously. This was surprising since I was expecting Drea to do my hair again. I probably should have said something about this, but Drea seemed busy and I really wanted to get my hair done so that I would look cute for an event I was going to the next day.
The staff was still very friendly, but the quality of the service was lacking. When I left the salon, I noticed that my roots were still practically as thick as they were before the relaxer. They basically felt like I had not even just received a relaxer. I began to notice much more breakage during the next couple of weeks.
This is basically a recurring real life nightmare that I have experienced ever few years: a bad relaxer.
So, the cons are as follows: the trauma of getting a bad relaxer from an inexperienced stylist
You know the saying, «every cloud has a silver lining,» right? Well, the silver lining in this case was that I decided that I never want to get another relaxer again in my life time. I decided to go natural.
This experience inspired me to go to Duafe Holistic Hair Salon and talk to Syreeta Scott about undergoing the «big chop» which means that I chopped off all my chemically straightened (relaxed) hair. This left me with just my unstraightened, natural roots (notice the short hair in my profile picture).
So my suggestion to all of you would be to specifically request Andrea («Drea») if you go to Orchid Blue Hair Salon. She is the owner. Also, they used to offer low priced mani pedi’s on tueday and wednesday. Make sure to ask for your student discount at this salon for any services as well.
I would also suggest going natural to all of you… but really, do whatever feels right to you! Personally, I can’t believe I waited this long to do it. I’ve never been happier with my hair than I am right now!