Biz Review: Bananas Hair Design, College Park

Updated 1/31/2017
By popular demand, Route One Fun! is expanding to feature a Local Biz Review section with this debut review of College Park’s Bananas Hair Design!  Check it out, y’all!  And then “like” Route One Fun on Facebook to automatically stay in the know about the happs in PGC!  

It’d been a while since I’d set foot inside a hair salon.  And it showed.  Girl, it showed.  Scraggly bits here, no body here, there or anywhere.  Flippity, flap.  I looked like an extra on Honey Boo Boo but not in a funny or ironic way…More of a straight-up you-on-the-tail-end-of-hard-times kind of way.  And now, it was time.  Time to try a new, local stylist.  But tepid Yelp reviews and a stroll past other local possibilities around Route One weren’t exactly movin’ my lady spirit.  Eureka happened when I read that Alison Gary, a fashion blogger whose style and persona I truly dig is actually local AND gets her hair done at Bananas Hair Design.  Well, hot damn.  Decision made: Gets me to Kathleen forthwith!

After getting cozy in her chair, Kathleen asked how long it had been since my last cut.  I froze.  A customary question, yes, but between getting this one’s diaper on and that one ready for soccer, remembering to have my hair’s sell-by date in my back pocket was not on my list.  Finally, I landed on the answer and sheepishly replied: Forever/March/don’t judge me.  Thankfully, she rolled with it and deftly pivoted to a question of what it was that I was hoping from this visit.  Who me?  Clearly, a miracle.

I was really happy with the experience.  Kathleen took the time to listen to what I wanted from the haircut and then made some recommendations on how to improve things.  When I asked what she would do were she to have my magic wand, she actually had some real feedback as opposed to just repeating what I had said – how refreshing!  I appreciated her advice and we ordered me up some thicker, bigger bangs, more layers & a side of 3 inches off my tattered ends.  Kathleen has been at Bananas for over 20 years and her experience shows; she’s prompt, efficient (wash, cut and blow-dry done ~ 50 minutes) and engages in enough chat for you to comfortably know that she knows what she’s doing but not so much that you don’t have any time to just sit there and unwind.  She hails from Hyattsville, rocks some dreads and happened to be showcasing a sweet GNR short-sleeved t-shirt.

In the short span of time that I was there, I noticed many regular customers and a laid-back atmosphere throughout the place.  The tunes were also set to an 80s Pandora Station, which I dug as The Pixies, The Cure and Joy Division were a welcome diversion from the typical, daily Kids Bop jams that litter my musical membranes.

For a little before and after, here’s what she was workin’ with & the final product:

Life as Honey Boo Boo Extra.

Life After Honey Boo Boo.

The wash, cut & blowdry was ~ $48 though that included a 20% discount for being a first time customer.  I was happy with the cut at Bananas and will be penciling in my next appointment with Kathleen soon.  (Quick update – Just learned that new customers who mention Route One Fun! at check-in/out, will get 20% off their service and I’ll get 20% off next time!  Win, win!)

So, tell me, Route One Fun-land:  Where you get your hair done and what you like about your local spot?  Drop you knowledge in the comments, below!

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Banana’s Hair Design, 4511 Knox Road, College Park / 301-277-4500.