My DevaCut Experience: What to Know Before You Go

The DevaCut is popular amongst the curly crowd – but is it worth getting? Here is my first experience with a curly DevaCut, and what I wish I’d known before. 

Curly DevaCut

If you are familiar with the Curly Girl Method, you’ve inevitably heard people talking about a DevaCut. 

And after a while, you might start to think, “Should I get one?” 

I know I started wondering that! And when my hair got to the point where I needed to get it cut, I decided that I would invest more than I had ever spent on a haircut to get a DevaCut. 

I have 2A-2B wavy hair, which I’ve talked about in this post – My (Inexpensive) Curly Girl Method Routine Products. It certainly requires a different skill set to style it how I like, but I had finally gotten it down to an art when I decided to get a DevaCut. 

I just thought it would enhance my waves like everyone promised. I’d seen DevaCut before and after pictures of people with similar hair to me who came out looking phenomenal. 

I wanted that!

I found a salon near my house that supposedly had level 2 training (according to the Deva website), and their reviews on Google seemed great. 

I was so excited leading up to it, and I excitedly looked at different “Deva Cut” transformations on the web for people who had similar hair to me. 

I went to the appointment with my hair dry and it’s it “natural” state. 

The stylist was friendly and started asking me questions…and pretty soon after sitting in the chair, I started to get a little nervous about what was about to happen. 

In hindsight, I should have just left. But I didn’t and just had hope that she would do a good job. 

Less than an hour after I got there, she sent me on my way with a hair cut that wasn’t styled, semi-wet, and the longer it dried, the straighter it got. 

It just looked like a mess: 

I just about cried when I got home. 

After being sad for a while, I straightened it (I know, not recommended with Curly Girl!) because I was so frustrated. And then I started doing better research on Deva Cut salons in my area. 

I emailed one, told him my story and sent him some pictures, and asked him if it would be better if I just straightened my hair (which is what the stylist had pretty much suggested by the end). 

He emailed me back and said no way, that I had 2B curls, and when I was ready, he would love to have me come in when I was ready. I haven’t yet (it’s expensive), but I look forward to when I do. 

When I was able to style my own hair the next day, it looked better. But I certainly learned a lot from my experience, so I thought I would share a little bit of that so if you are going to get a Deva Cut – you can hopefully avoid my mistakes. 

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What is a DevaCut?

First off – what is a DevaCut? 

It is a method for cutting and styling curly hair that was developed by the Devachan Salon. It focuses on cutting each individual curl to fall in a way that emphasizes body and beauty, rather than cutting the hair as a whole. 

It should be done on dry hair, because the stylist can see how the hair falls this way to ensure the best cut possible. If you end up straightening your hair, it will more than likely look uneven – which is why you really should just get a DevaCut if you want to wear it in its natural state. 

DevaCut Stylist

You can find a stylist who has been trained in the DevaCut method here. Be aware that there are different levels, and before you go to a salon – you need to do your research…which is what I’m going to talk about now!

RED FLAGS

First I thought I would share a few of the things that happened during my appointment that were clear indicators that this stylist didn’t know exactly what she was doing. 

She was a really nice person, and I do think she’s probably typically a good hair stylist – however, I don’t think she probably should be doing Deva Cuts at this point. 

Here were a few red flags that happened throughout my appointment. 

• Seemed confused when I talked about the Curly Girl Method – I’m pretty sure she has never actually heard of the curly girl method. When I mentioned it, she seemed a little skeptical. 
• Referred to it as “one of those Deva Cuts” – This indicated to me that she really didn’t do them that much. 
• Only had done one once before – She told me she’d only done one Deva Cut since her training. And her training was done on manikins 
• The way she washed and conditioned my hair – She had me lay back in the sink like any old hair cut and she drenched my hair in water – and then shampoo and conditioner. Then she towel dried it for a little bit before putting in some product. 
• Told me not to “scrunch” gel in my hair – Anyone who follows the Curly Girl method is probably with scrunching gel into your hair. She told me this was a big “no-no”, and that I should be using “barbie hands” instead…which was just weird. 
• Kept telling me that she was going to make it so I could straighten my hair – From the get go, she kept saying, “Don’t worry, you’ll be able to straighten your hair anytime you want with this hairstyle I’m giving you”, despite me insisting that I wanted to wear it natural. 
• Said she had curly hair, but it was completely straightened. – This is fine! I don’t care what you do with your hair – if you want to straighten it…great! But I would have liked to see someone who had curly/wavy hair that followed the Curlyl Girl method. 
• Kept saying, “Well your hair may be curlier or straighter after. You just never know!” – This just made me nervous that she didn’t know how my hair would turn out while she was cutting it. 
• Worked in a “regular” salon – I’m sure there are some fabulous curly hair cutters who rent a spot in a regular salon. However, the fact that the mass majority of the cuts this lady does were not DevaCuts probably wasn’t a good sign. I looked at the reviews for the salon, and they were excellent. But that wasn’t based on curly cuts. Just anyone who went in there. 

So now that I’ve shared a few of the red flags, here are a few things I wish I had thought about or asked before just blindly going into a salon. 

What level of training did they receive? 

On the DevaCut website, it lists the different levels of training that a salon/stylist has. This is a good place to start – but always verify!

I went to the salon I went to, because it said they had level 2 training. Level three would have been ideal, but this place was so close. However, when I went in, I quickly discovered that while some of the stylists had level two training, the person I was seeing had level one. 

Can someone with level one give a fantastic DevaCut? I’m sure they can! However, it was clear this lady didn’t specialize in it at all. 

Do they have curly hair themselves? 

I think that someone that has curly hair themselves can be better equipped to help you by giving you a good cut – as well as teaching you how to take care of it yourself. 

With that said, the girl I saw said she had curly hair, but she definitely didn’t follow the Curly Girl Method. 

Are they familiar with the Curly Girl Method? 

This is a big one! You want to go to someone who understands the principals behind the Curly Girl Method. If s/he does, they will likely be able to help you more. 

What percentage of their clientele has curly hair?

I think it’s helpful to know how much they actually cut curly hair – so definitely ask!

Are they familiar with wavy hair? 

Obviously, this is just for those of us with wavy hair. There are a lot of stylists who see wavy hair as not being actually curly, and that it just should automatically be straightened. This is not true! As I’ve gone through the Curly Girl process, I’ve discovered how wonderful and lovely wavy hair can be. 

You want to go to someone who understands that wavy is just another derivative in the curly world. Just because you don’t have tight ringlets doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be taught how to properly care for and style your hair. 

Will they style your hair? 

Yes! Part of the DevaCut process includes styling your hair with approved products. They shouldn’t send you home with wet hair and without the proper instruction on how to make the most of your curls. 

Should you do anything before you come? 

They should give you instructions on how you should come to the salon – typically, they should ask you to come with your hair dry and in its natural state. 

How do they feel about heat tools? 

Heat tools aren’t horrible, but they also aren’t part of the Curly Girl Method (with the exception of diffusers on low heat. Make sure they aren’t planning to straighten your hair or use a powerful blow dryer!

Deva Cut Price 

This is just something that’s important to know upfront. The haircut I got was the most I’ve ever paid for a haircut (which made it even more disappointing that it was one of my worst haircuts). 

DevaCuts are going to cost anywhere from about $65 to well over $100. 

How long do they recommend in between cuts? 

When a DevaCut is done properly, you really shouldn’t need to get another one for a while – make sure you ask them the frequency they would suggest. 

What products do they use/recommend? 

You want to make sure they are using Curly Girl friendly products! The salon I went to just used their run-of-the-mill products, which was disappointing. 

Through this experience, I definitely learned a lot. I am anxious to try another DevaCut stylist that I know is trained in the way I would want them to be…just have to wait long enough to justify the cost! I also learned the importance of saying something when things start to go south. I just was too intimidated, and before I knew it, I had a haircut that I hated. 

I would LOVE to hear your experience with a DevaCut below – I’m particularly interested in those experiences of a wavy girls!