Sacha Walters, Staff Reporter

Carol Reid (left), whose dream braids have become very popular. Her sister, Marcia, is the expert crimper. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Dreams can be made of strange things. A hairstyle, was at the centre of one of Carol Reid's dreams more than 20 years ago. Since then, the style has been refined to become a lifestyle.

One Saturday morning, Reid, a hairdresser, woke from a dream in which she was doing a new type of braid.

"I got up and said to my roommate, 'There is a hairstyle I dreamt about and I don't want to forget it. Can I try it in your hair?'" Twenty-two hours after her roommate agreed, she was sporting dream braids. The hairdo is an extension-based braid with a plait base and crimped ends. The colour of the extensions are expertly blended to suit the client's skin tone.

The long process was more than worth the wait back then.

"She walked down the road and, luckily, I wasn't a jealous person, because I was like her shadow. Nobody saw me. People were asking, 'where did you get your hair done?' It was pure excitement," she recalled.

Since then, with the assistance of her sister Marcia Reid, the two have created many dream braids. They've even done the tresses of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. They also did Angela Bassett's hair for the movie, How Stella Got Her Groove Back as well as the model who graced the cover of the book.

Fast-forward to today, and the two sisters and their staff are still weaving magic. The business called Black Image, now caters largely to weaving these braids. A home-based establishment, the sisters insist on keeping it that way to preserve its charm and focus on individual treatment.

One of the most unique things about the braids is that the crimps last.

"Many of the clients fail to believe that when we wash it the crimps will remain," noted Marcia, 'the master crimper'. The waterproof 'do is always ready to wear. With minimum upkeep, Carol said it's an ideal way to get into locking your hair, as it will see you through the growing-pain stages. Marcia used the braids to help transition into her now hip-length locks.

"It's the only hairstyle that you can leave the salon with and go into the rain and your hair is unaffected," Marcia said.

10-hour process

The process takes about 10 hours, but the style lasts at least three months, some preserve it to as long as a year.

"We put you in a very comfortable position," said Carol. Clients just show up with clean, oil-free hair. Three persons work on a customer and they usually do about three clients per day.

They get most of their customers through referrals, so it's a sisterhood that shares, telling stories of how dream braids gave the winning look that got them noticed by that guy they've been in class with for years, or allowed them to make a friend in the bank line.

"It's a labour of love and every day that we do it, it's like the same excitement because of the joy you see coming from the people's faces because they feel so attractive," said Carol.

Contact Black Image at 923-9348.

Jackie Chung sports dream braids, the length of her natural hair. Chung had just completed the process. - photos by Sacha Walters

Carol Reid used a few of the braids to secure this partial up-do.