Hey dolls, doing good today? Yesterday was my Nappyversary so I decided to give my hair some TLC with heat, lol, the irony right? I set up an appointment with Lumo Naturals Salon here in Abuja for a blowout, straightening and trimming session, this is going to be a long post. Lumo Naturals Salon is a natural hair salon in Abuja (the only one I know of based on referrals as at the time this post was written) situated at Suite G8, Mbouty Plaza, Marcus Garvey street, off fifth avenue, Gwarimpa. Their website is under construction for now so it won’t be linked in this post, however you can give them a call on 09-2911727 to know their pricelist. Price – to wash, blow dry, straighten and trim was N4000. 
First Impressions/My Experience Locating the salon was a bit difficult, I was not mobile so when I dropped at fifth avenue in Gwarimpa, I boarded a keke to the place, and for my lack of understanding the Hausa language very well I could not explain the place to the keke guy so we were merry-go-rounding until I gave them a call and a landmark (Emirates hotel) was given. The plaza is right behind Emirates hotel and it is a popular hotel so if you’re not mobile like me, board a keke straight to Emirates hotel. Once you’re in the plaza, the salon is straight down from the entrance with Lumo Naturals written on the sliding doors. It’s a square shaped salon, quite small so you cannot throw a party in there. There are three hair stylists there, a sofa, products for sale on display, regular mirror and chairs facing it, some nice natural hair quotes on the wall, it was okay but I wasn’t blown away maybe because I expected so much. The ambiance was normal, I didn’t feel I had just walked into a natural hair salon; it seemed like a regular salon with natural hair quotes on the wall. Detangling First step was to detangle my hair, my hair was parted in four sections and held with butterfly clips, the stylist got a spray bottle with pretty much just water in it and spritzed on my hair to start the detangling process. I was taken aback. Fine, water is a really good moisturizer and detangler but I expected a detangling conditioner or a detangler should follow suit and not just water. My hair wasn’t detangled by raking fingers through; it was “detangled” by tugging at my hair. From that my countenance dropped. I couldn’t believe it. So till I left the salon I did not smile. Washing After detangling, it was time for a wash, my hair was washed with Hair Fruits conditioner and Vo5 shampoo, then I went back to the stylist’s sit before the other one pointed out to her that I wasn’t going to get a treatment, I was also taken aback, I had called them by say 11am to remind them of the details of my session which will be to wash, blowout, straighten and trim so which one is treatment? I went back to the washing seat and my hair was conditioned with Afro Chic Deep Penetrating Conditioner which smells like banana by the way (quite nice). Moisturizing My hair was wrapped in a towel which looked like it was divided into two and had faded, Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in Conditioning Repair Cream was first added as a leave-in, followed by coconut oil and then this Olive Oil Hair Serum but I didn’t check if it was the heat protectant serum or just regular gloss polisher serum and that was all. I didn’t get a moisturizer on my hair neither did I get a better heat protectant. Blow-drying Next was to blow dry my hair, sectioned into four parts, she started to finger detangle (rake) my hair and blow dry at the same time, first with high heat followed by the cool shot but she forgot sometimes to change it back to the cool setting. 
Straightening After blow-drying, the second stylist wanted to trim my hair but I hesitated and asked for my hair to be straightened first before trimming. The straightener used was the Revlon straightener at really high heat. At the back of my mind I was praying I don’t have heat damage after all this heat without proper protection. At first she would straighten my hair by only finger detangling (finger tugging more like) and use about six passes of the straightener on my hair. I hated that frying/sizzling sound and I was so scared of heat damage I told her it shouldn’t be more than three passes and she should use a comb instead of finger detangling. 
Amidst straightening, the owner of Lumo Naturals came around and asked the stylist to turn off the straightener because the “smoke” coming out of it was overshadowing the air in the salon. She then turned to me and asked what I wanted to be done to my hair. I told her then she asked why I wanted to trim my ends, it was so clear that my ends were raggedy but I still told her it’s because they sound crusty and the knots are too much. She then talked about the sizzling/frying sound my hair gave out while being straightened (to me that was my hair crying out for help) and I pointed out that my hair wasn’t moisturized because my porosity level is high and the oils just sit on my hair instead of penetrating so I use less oil but the stylist wanted to drench my hair in coconut oil until I told her to stop. She said I should try to reduce my hair’s porosity. It is almost impossible to change the porosity of your hair. You can do a moisture balance which I’m working towards but my porosity cannot change from high to low or normal. I was born this way. Trimming Working in four sections still, the left back section was trimmed as a whole; same went for the right back section. The front sections were trimmed in smaller parts. 
The bad/alarming I practically went from one end of Abuja to the other, Gwarimpa is not in town so I went all the way to get my hair did and I wasn’t impressed. Let me outline why.
- I booked an appointment on Monday and also called to remind them Wednesday morning and I expected them to know what I wanted to do already and not ask if I want a treatment or not. That’s being unorganized.
- It seems these stylists were not properly trained on the diversity of natural hair. It doesn’t stop at having a type 4 hair, you should know the characteristics of each customer’s hair so there should be a mini consultation before the whole process starts, I wasn’t asked if my hair liked oil or not, some people don’t like that much oil on their hair, some would rather you use a comb and so on.
- They have a streamlined way of doing natural hair. Because my hair is natural doesn’t mean you can’t use combs, you can if you ask and if you know when to use a comb. During my blowout, my hair wasn’t even stretched in twists first then combed while blow-drying for a smooth and stretched look, instead she was finger detangling, that’s wrong and I take that as an insult just because my hair is what, thick and natural?
- If I go to a salon, it is because I want to get all that pampering and treatment I wouldn’t ordinarily give myself. I can’t still believe my hair was just washed with Hair Fruits conditioner, Afro Chic conditioner and VO5 shampoo for N1200? Nothing extra. No ACV rinse, no deep conditioning, nothing, yet I paid N1200 for washing?
- Trimming of hair is very sensitive because some hairdressers get too scissors happy but if you go to a natural hair salon, you’d expect most if not all the stylists to be fully trained. I practically showed them how to trim my hair by placing my hair in-between their index finger and middle finger, for me that is ridiculous.
- My hair wasn’t moisturized for the process it underwent and I didn’t get that smooth straightened look. I ended up with a fro, a blown out fro.
The Good
- It’s good to know there is a salon that caters for your natural hair needs here in Abuja.
- The trim was fair enough, most of those knots are out and my hair looks even.
Would I visit Lumo Naturals again? For now, no. I would handle blowing out and straightening my hair myself till I find a regular salon that trims natural hair well. I left the salon and went to Tutti Frutti at Shop 5, Plot 616, 3rd Avenue, Gwarimpa, Opposite Drumstix (08055120298) to get myself some frozen yoghurt for the pain and yes it was worth it. Love love love! I got three flavors: green apple, blueberry and I think either kiwi or lemon in a 12 oz cup with pure strawberry and sweet-sour gummy rings for N1189.65, lol they weigh the cup for accuracy. 
Embedded are two YouTube videos on straightening natural hair and blow-drying natural hair, both on type 4 hair. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCSnLtnCrks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJhNBdNztLQ After watching those videos, you can imagine my disappointment after I left the salon with this: 
I got home and my hands couldn’t even go through my hair without encountering some clumps as I would like to call it. I didn’t get that smooth laid hair. I got home, brushed my hair properly and it looked like this:
My hair looks like I only did a blow out, no sign of a silk press, my hair looks like this at the moment: 
I might do twists pending the time I make up my mind on what to do with my hair. The only thing that made my day was that frozen yoghurt. Please we need more natural hair salons in Abuja, competition makes the game improve. Bey.
bookiekunlere.com 
Aww I miss TuttiFrutti!! With their Froyo that I was never convinced was yoghurt. Now you have me craving and wanting Abuja as a whole 😦
Happy Hairversary and I’m really sorry about your unsavory experience at Lumo Naturals. My two visits there were for just styling appointments & I had no complaints.
They aren’t the only salon in Abuja though. There’s Natural Nation Hair Studio (also in Gwarinpa, which I’ve also been to & reviewed) and there is Snow’s Purely Naturelle in Wuse (these are listed on our Where to Find Page)
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Thanks hun.
I was referred to Lumo from two subscribers to my blog so I felt it will be good enough.
Also Google didn’t help much as it was only Lumo appearing in search results.
I’d check those two but maybe laaattteerrr.
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Also, the thing with most NH salons is that they specialize mostly with hair styling and I’d rather go in for a trim than to get my hair styled (plaited & etc)
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And re: porosity, high porosity hair can be “reduced”. Personally I believe in working with your porosity as is, but yes there are treatments to reduce porosity. One of them is Roux Porosity Control- read about it relaxed hair blogs. And if your hair is high porosity, shouldn’t it soak up all the oils & benefit from extra sealing? In theory. I’d like to read more about your porosity and what works for you 🙂
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That’s the tricky part, for sealants, it absorbs what it wants then it rest sits on my strands and I also had flakiness on my scalp yesterday which I can’t explain. The same doesn’t apply to water or water based moisturizers, my hair absorbs the water quickly then let’s the sealants sit on my hair.
My hair has this crispy look & feel to it as well which shows result of dryness (I presume).
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Hi Bey,
Thank you for your review and for stopping by our salon. We appreciate your custom and your review.
Please allow me to apologize for your not so pleasant experience. As an ever evolving company, we are always working towards providing better service to our clients.
Permit me to point out that there seem to be a misconception with my conversation with you. I had advised you to work towards balancing your porosity and doing a protein treatment when you want to do a press. This is to ensure your hair is properly coated when using heat.
Consultation services are also available to all clients when specified at the time of making appointments.
We are also happy to report that there are other natural hair salons in Abuja like SPN in Wise and Natural nation in Gwarimpa.
Thank you again for your suggestions and observations, and we look forward to serving you better.
Regards,
Farida Yahya
Lumo naturals manager.
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Hello there.
Yes I understood you hun that’s why I’m working towards a moisture balance for my hair, wish me luck 🙂
Thank you for reading this review.
🙂
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I wish you loads of luck, and please share your progress with us.
And yes,roux porosity corrector is a good option.
No,thank you for the review. These review keep us on our toes.
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Lol! Funny, straight,no-nonsence post. I really like it, I’ve always wondered how d price of d so called natural salons would be and how they would take care of our hairs. Like I always do and nappilyNigeriangirl always advice, I’ll go for the locals or the women tha make little children hair, they can still deal with our hair. Thank God for tutti fuitty tho. And happy nappyversary
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Lol I didn’t mean to sound harsh though.
For me, a NH salon session would be to get a trim, every other thing can be done at a regular salon or I invest my fingers.
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Wow..bey, this is interesting. Styling? yeah , that, i had thought of going to a natural hair salon to do probably to mark my 2nd year into my journey in april but blowing drying and straightening? Hell nah! African threading does that for me. I don’t have any intentions to straighten my hair for now. i have disliked the feel of hair on my neck/shoulders since relaxed days……lol plus I;m still trying to get a hang of straightening though my last experience was fairly good for a starter. Sorry about the patches of disappointments here and there. Good luck on finding other NH salons in abuja. (i loooooove those final pics with the ‘blow-out-ish’ hair
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Lol the irony ba? I know.
Yes I like the blow out look too, makes combing easier and I’d try to style my hair into something else other than a fro tomorrow.
Is your blog still up and running? What’s wrong?
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yes it. Its just been my busy schedule preventing me from keeping up with hair updates. But not to worry, i’ll be posting up a hair update and a couple of reviews few days from now.
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Oh dear! You paid what for what?? I can imagine your frustration. Six passes from the flat iron for a blown out fro??! **faints** Be careful with who you let touch your hair. Most Nigerian hair stylists are not trained so don’t let the name ‘natural hair salon’ fool you.
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LOL!
Your comment is too funny.
I’d definitely scout well next time before jumping with both feet.
Honestly, there were some good sides to it, I’m just glad my hair reverted to its curly self without heat damage inspite of the fact that I haven’t done a protein treatment in three weeks, I was really scared of heat damage.
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Good morning! I just began a 4c natural Kinky Hair blog for children’s hair care. The process’ are about the same for adults I hope you stop by like a few posts and feel comfortable enough to subscribe and follow Kaylei and our journey! I’ll be following yours Enjoy your day! – Lilly from #CoilyKids
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Oh thanks for the love, I definitely will. 🙂
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Just reading this i actually laughed out at some point, ridiculous price just to wash hair and with cheap conditioners yea right,you are very patient i will just stop at the washing just because it has started ,i love to get my moneys worth please.And about the straightening instead of having this i would rather thread my hair ,whats the difference anyway?first time commenting by the way but i always stop bye, all the best.
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Lol I had to go through it for a proper and not a half baked review.
I will try threading my hair for the heat-less blow-out look, I’ve seen videos about that.
Thanks a lot hun! 🙂
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My name is lugard, I am a stylist that specialize in fixing of hair, eye lashed & nails. Please, I want to work in your salon. I am a male stylist
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Well well i cant wait to take my hair on a treat to a proper natural hair salon. And i MUST know what they put on my hair. Vo5 products are not good for natural hair. Too many harsh chemicals init 😪but well it was back then. Im sure it cant happen now 😄
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Really? Harsh chemicals in one of my staple conditioners? HOW? 😥
Lol my dear, read reviews first before going to the salon, that will prepare your mind on what to expect.
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Lool i will oo thnks dear. Yeah it contains chemicals like propylene glycol, DEA, MEA,Formaldehyde, sulphates, some harsh alcohols, etc known to cause cancer and birth defects, it was even ban in some countries. Check out this link http://kinkyhairaffair.com/2013/09/13/watch-yourself-toxic-ingredients-found-in-hair-products/
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Wow! Thanks a lot hun!
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Your welcome dear
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Wow thanks for the review and to think I was planning to go to the same lumo naturals for the same heat styling because my hair is super thick, curly and coarse with maximum shrinkage.I imagined stretching it a bit with heat will make it a little bit easy to manage.My stylist offered to help me but I just felt the natural hair salon would have more expertise in handling my two year old natural hair but now I know better.Thank you so much Bey.
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This review is two years old, please check them out for yourself, there’s been so much improvement I’m sure.
Thank you!
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This review was 2015, in the Old Saloon, They have well grown since then in their New Salon. Check it out..
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Thanks a lot for review. I’ve got natural hair as well, and was actually thinking of going there for Silk press, but no thanks. I’ll happily pass!
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