‘BORN TO braid’
Nadine’s Hair Salon in Bowie thrives after going viral on TikTok
Nadine Djuiko braids extensions into a client’s hair with one hand and answers her phone with the other, while switching between speaking French and English as she talks to staff and customers. She’s been doing this since 4 a.m. nearly every day for the past five years.
Djuiko, 35, owns Nadine’s Hair Salon in Bowie, a formerly little-known salon sandwiched between a Caribbean carryout spot and a catering company in a strip mall off of Old Annapolis Road.
About three years after opening in the summer of 2021, a popular TikTok user walked into the salon and posted about her experience on the video-based social media platform. The next day, Nadine’s had more than 200 calls.
Ever since, the business has been thriving with dozens of appointments a day on average from customers traveling from Delaware, North Carolina and even California to get their hair done at Nadine’s.
Customers say it’s worth making the journey because the salon offers its signature style — hip length, knotless box braids — for about $170 to $180, and it can be done in about two to three hours.
The cost and speed are unheard of in the braiding industry. The standard is about $220 for the braids and the execution usually takes six to eight hours, according to Djuiko and her customers.
For the past year and a half, TikTok feeds of Maryland, Virginia and D.C. residents have been alight with posts about Nadine’s. Videos referring to Djuiko’s salon have received hundreds of thousands of views, including a video posted by Howard University student Jaala James.
James posted about the salon last week under the moniker @uhitsjaala on TikTok. She has 1.5 million followers and her post about Nadine’s recently garnered about a million views.
‘It was natural’
The internet stardom came as a surprise to Djuiko, who didn’t have a TikTok account herself, but it’s something she said the salon has embraced.
“The people that posted on TikTok, they didn’t know it would go viral,” Djuiko said. “We never planned it, told someone, ‘You’re popular, please make this video.’ No, it was natural.”
Soon the salon went from about 15 or 20 clients a day on average to about 50.
Djuiko started doing the knotless box braid in 2020 soon after it rose to popularity in the braiding world for its painless implementation and easy upkeep. The style involves hair being braided seamlessly into a hair extension. At Nadine’s, multiple braiders do one client’s hair at the same time.
“People don’t have time to sit eight hours,” Djuiko said. “Most of my workers are from Cameroon. We are born to braid. It is a natural thing. Being fast is something you learn but knowing how to braid is in our blood.”
Alita Ndambia, a 33-year-old braider at Nadine’s, loves the art. She’s always striving to learn more and improve her craft, using her free time to watch YouTube videos that feature braiding tips and techniques.
“It’s a passion. It’s something natural. If you like it, you can do it,” Ndambia said.