nayzhr
Courtesy of Annie BlaySave this storySave this story
When the stylist arrived, I answered the door wearing my robe and with a pajama-clad baby on my hip—the only attire appropriate for 10 a.m. on a Saturday. This was my first at-home hair appointment since I was a teenager, sitting between my mom’s legs on our apartment floor as she braided my hair.
As a newly postpartum, first-time mom, the idea of leaving the house (and my mostly breastfed baby) for even an hour is daunting. Leaving for four-plus hours to get my hair braided (I’d usually go to the African braiding shops in Harlem, which is at least an hour-long commute) is a definite no.
I thought I’d have to forgo my beloved braids at least until my daughter was weaned—but then I discovered Unruly. The hair service platform was co-founded by entrepreneur Abigail Opiah in 2011, but hadn’t crossed my radar until an email from the founder landed in my inbox this fall. The timing couldn’t have been better; in my time of need, Unruly—which selects, vets, and trains braiders and hairstylists before pairing them with clients for at-home services—came to my rescue.
The booking process
The current Black hairstyling landscape often requires customers to do a lot of shopping around before they find their perfect match. For the past five years, I’ve visited an array of braiding shops (from high-end to budget-friendly) and independent Instagram hairstylists, only to be met with prices up to $1000 for boho braids, inconsistent skills, and aggressive policies (like $10 for every 10 minutes late or surcharges for coarse textures). In comparison, Unruly was an immediate breath of fresh air.
Instead of being bombarded with a list of dos and don’ts before even selecting my style (if you know, you know), Unruly’s home page offered me a wide array of styling options, including but not limited to boho braids, knotless box braids, silk presses, and wig installs. For my first appointment, I opted for long, medium-sized, knotless box braids in off-black (a classic). After clicking the style I wanted, I was prompted to select my city and neighborhood (Unruly currently services New York City, parts of New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and San Bernardino, CA). Next were the customizations; I could specify the length I wanted or add on details like curly ends or human hair tendrils.
Then came the most impressive part of the booking process, an intake form that asked about the current state of my hair—including curl type, texture, length, and health concerns like thinning and breakage. One of my biggest critiques of Instagram hairstylists and braiding salons is their lack of attention to hair health. While many have mastered the craft of braiding or installing a wig, in my experience, they don’t always know the ins and outs of maintaining the integrity of strands. Uruly aims to eliminate this risk by ensuring that their stylists are state-licensed (many social media braiders are not) and have a thorough understanding of each client’s hair prior to the appointment. “Our mission has become very clear. Right now, we're focusing on hair health, trying our best to make sure that Black women are not losing their edges to protective styles gone wrong,” Opiah tells Allure.
Unruly also has its fair share of rules and policies, though it’s not the first thing you see when you go to book a service. Towards the end of the intake form, the platform communicates its cancellation policy, which states that appointments canceled less than 24 hours in advance incur a 25 percent charge of the service price. If you cancel within an hour of the appointment, it's considered a no-show, which incurs a 50 percent charge—comparatively more generous than some IG stylists who retain your deposit or don't offer refunds for missed appointments. Other policies (including a guide on buying hair for your appointment and safety guidelines) can be found on Unruly's FAQ page.
The intake form helps set expectations for both the client and stylist. It listed the specified prices for every service and add-on, plus fields to address every specific detail of the appointment: If I preferred a silent appointment versus chatting, who else would be in my home at the time of the appointment, and even the parking situation at my residence.
At first glance, the questionnaire seemed lengthy, but once I got to the end of it, I felt a sense of peace that I don’t usually have before a hair appointment. I’m used to walking into my appointments at African braiding shops with some anxiety—they often don’t have a menu list, so prices are made up on the fly at the end of the appointment. Similarly, independent stylists who advertise on social media typically treat pricing on a case-by-case basis. These problems were remedied by Unruly’s detailed booking process, so I knew there’d be no surprises.
I finally didn’t have to worry about my stylist’s expertise or level of professionalism, either, because she had already been thoroughly vetted by Unruly. “We do one virtual demo and then we also have an in-person demo with someone that's in our recruiting pipeline,” says Opiah. “We'll then have the candidate go to an actual Unruly client and style their hair, and we get feedback. So, we're getting real-time information from our clients. It’s the best way to get the best people on our platform.”
The appointment
My fear of the appointment being abruptly canceled last minute via a “hey boo” text from the stylist was quelled when my stylist, Tatyanna Charles, reached out the night before to confirm our appointment. I was excited, albeit nervous, to have someone new in my kitchen (the one in my home and on my head). But from the moment Charles walked through my door the following day, it felt like having an old friend come over to braid my hair and hang out.
Many Black women complain of bad customer service among Instagram hairstylists these days—but Charles was the complete opposite. After arriving, she asked to use the bathroom to wash her hands (brownie points for being health-conscious!) and got right to work setting up her supplies, which included an organizer to prep the extensions I had purchased prior (this is required by Unruly). While very professional, Charles was also warm and accommodating, pausing every so often to make a funny face at my daughter to elicit a giggle.
Courtesy of Annie Blay
Courtesy of Annie Blay
By the fourth hour, Charles was already dipping the braids in hot water to finish them off. I was expecting this style to take much longer due to the length and size of the braids; either Charles has very quick fingers, or the fact that I was sitting on the couch watching Netflix during the whole appointment made the time fly by.
The results
As I admired my new style in the mirror, Charles asked if I was pleased with the results or wanted anything tweaked, which made my little socially-anxious heart skip a beat—I’m usually too shy to tell the stylist when I don’t like my hair or want something changed. I let Charles know that my edges were more visible than I expected, to which she responded that she noticed some thinning and felt it best to leave those parts untouched to avoid causing further damage. I was impressed with Charles’ inclination to prioritize my hair’s health—something a true stylist always has in mind. I was satisfied enough with the result to leave it as-is and Charles recommended Eco Style Shape and Define Braid Gel, to make my edges look sleek without drying them out.
Courtesy of Annie Blay
They say raising a child takes a village, and for me, that village has come to include Unruly—more specifically, Charles, whom I will absolutely be booking again in the future. The ease and peace of having a braider who understands my hair and who fits into my current lifestyle is something I thought was impossible to find. But now that I’ve discovered it, I’m holding on for as long as I can.
