Getting Knotless Braids in Curaçao

Getting Knotless Braids has been something I’ve been dying to do for years. Usually, I would always do my own hair, however, the knotless braids style requires great parting skills and a powerful grip that I just do not have. Because of this, I decided to get my hair professionally done for the first time in a decade.

Here was my experience of getting these knotless braids done while on my month long vacation in Curaçao.

The Style:

When I first arrived in Curaçao I had passion twists. They were done by me, and I had definitely rushed through them, not caring about anything else except having a protective style done on my hair for my trip. I was also in a “blue” mood all summer so the passion twists had blue highlights that I absolutely loved. Needless to say, I was pretty colorful most days.

The passion twists were doing their job, however, I was seeing knotless braids everywhere on the island. It seemed like that was the style of choice for most girls in Curaçao. This only brought back my itch to get knotless braids. I convinced myself by saying that it was still a protective style.

I went to a braiding hair studio in the Sambil Mall. The ladies there were speaking to me in beautiful Papiamentu, and I tried desperately to communicate back to them, even though I knew they spoke English just fine (me stubbornly wanting to learn). After setting up my appointment for the next day, I was thoroughly excited and returned to the Air BnB to take out my passion twists.

The Price:

The price of getting your hair done outside of the United States is absolutely low. I almost felt like I was stealing when they told me 100 Florins (the currency of Curaçao). This is about $55 USD. I put down a deposit of $14 USD that first day and paid a tip after my hair was done.

I was astounded by the price but then I remembered that that’s usually how it is when you are outside of the USA. Prices are relatively low in comparison to American prices. It’s nice to think about as a person holding a US passport, but then you realize that if prices are low, the people of that location are also not making as much as we do in the US. Which starts this whole spiral of economic perusing that I dare not get into right now and bore you. But yes, the price was relatively cheap.

The Regrets:

Hi, I’m Dariise Shicarra, and the last time I got my hair done at a salon, or let anyone touch my hair in general, was in 2014 and it was because I was a bridesmaid in my father’s wedding. I don’t let people touch my hair, at all. The only person I loved doing my hair was my mother. Other than that, I don’t let people touch my hair.

Now that I have mentioned this, I can continue with my experience of getting these knotless braids.

My first mistake was deciding to get my hair done while on vacation where I didn’t have access to my own tools for detangling. I took a trip to the beauty supply store on the island and was able to find a plethora of items, however, I still didn’t want to buy the whole store as I would have been leaving in three weeks. So I bought a few items to detangle my hair after a quick wash.

This leads to mistake number two. I detangled my hair and braided it hoping the braids would keep my hair stretched and detangled. I convinced myself that my hair texture had magically changed and would all of a sudden stay detangled after the braids were let loose.

Mistake number three occurred after I arrived at the salon. I didn’t want to get heat damage as that has happened to me before while getting my hair blow dried at a salon before getting braids, so I kindly denied the use of the blow dryer to stretch my hair even more.

Knowing these mistakes that I made myself, you can probably see how I ended up very angry at myself when the hairdresser started parting and detangling my hair. I’m pretty sure my hair was ripped out from the roots as it was being detangled. These mistakes were my own regrets. I don’t necessarily blame her as natural hair care is only just starting to become more known in the world.

We naturalistas and Black women in general are still learning how to take care of our hair. And that even goes for the hairdressers who are Black and natural themselves. We are only just coming out of the century where relaxers, texturizers, hot combs, and the like are the norm. And I forgot that. I have been natural for most of my life, but even I am still learning the ins and outs of my hair. How am I supposed to expect someone else to know right off the bat? Just because she’s a cosmetologist? That means nothing, because even cosmetology schools have lacked a representation of natural hair in the past, so why would it all of a sudden change?

I give grace to the young lady who did my hair. I give grace to myself for not really prioritizing the health of my hair over the look of it. I loved the hairstyle so much and I don’t regret it at all. But I know for a fact that I will learn how to do knotless braids on myself the next time I crave this style.