My first experience with Dickey at Hair Rules (828 9th Ave #3FL, New York, NY 10019) was years ago when I was a baby beauty editor. For years, he has been a go-to for natural hair both on magazine shoots and for editors in the industry. He even wrote a book all about caring for curls and has his own product line called Hair Rules. I experimented with going to other stylists for years after that first appointment but, just like every beauty trend from the 2010s, I made a comeback to Dickey. Two years ago, after a nudge from a fellow curly beauty editor, I arrived on his doorstep with scraggly ends, breakage at the hairline, and an itchy scalp.
As soon as I enter the space, I’m transported back to my early days in the salon with my mom. There’s R&B music playing in the background. Women of all shades sitting under the dryer or in the stylist chairs that overlook 9th Avenue. The salon smells like the citrus and tea tree oil that is blended into his hand-mixed oil treatment, Scalp Ting. The big difference from other salons I’ve visited is that most people here are embracing their natural curl pattern instead of treating their hair with relaxer. Just like with any Black salon, there is laughter and a bit of loving ribbing (“Girl, you got to stop pulling back your hair, what is this breakage at your edges!”) in the atmosphere.
That first day he cut almost three inches off my hair to kick off my reset (I cried a thug tear but it all had to go!). Now, I visit his Upper West Side salon every three months for a trim and scalp treatment. Sometimes I get a silk press, but most often his associate Letty braids me up.
At my last visit, we were all raving about the health of my hair. It’s now grown from just grazing my shoulders to well past my collarbone. The key: Dickey convinced me to start blowing out my hair before doing a twist out. With this additional step, my hair remains more moisturized than when I was using the LCO (liquid, cream, oil) method on wet hair then air-drying.