When Sharon Browne went into Office Depot in April to send a fax, she did not expect to walk away with the prospect of a new hairstylist. Then Browne met Jasmin Ameen, owner of Caribbean Braids by Jasmin, who was working on her newest catalog.

“I admired her hair,” Browne said. “I had always wanted to get my hair done (in braids), so I stopped her and asked her about her hair, and she happened to do her own hair.”

Three days later, Browne, 49, booked an appointment and walked away satisfied enough to return Saturday to have her hair done again in the same style - but with a new “twist.” Browne’s hairstyle, the Afro Kinky Twist, involves adding extensions to the natural hair and then twisting the entire strand of hair.

“When I first had (the hairstyle) in, it was even shorter, and now I am adding length to it and it looks even nicer,” Browne said.

Ameen, 42, began Caribbean Braids by Jasmin in 2004, catering to tourists in hotels in Sunny Isles Beach. It grew to include a home studio in the Miami Lakes area a year later.

“My goals are to perfect the hair-braiding industry and to bring hair-braiding styles to a professional level, as well as provide business opportunities for other young men and women,” Ameen said.

Ameen specializes in hair wraps, which involves adding colorful strands and beads to the hair; pigtails, where the beginning of each strand of hair is braided and then tapers off; and wraps and corn rows, geared toward the male customer. She calls her salon all-natural, since no chemicals are involved and extensions are added at the customer’s request.

Ameen has two distinct target markets in each business location. The Miami Lakes location caters to the business professional who usually adds extensions. In Sunny Isles Beach, her target audience is vacationers whose hair she styles naturally, due to the mostly on-the-spot poolside, pier or hotel lobby appointments.

Before the appointment, Ameen will hold a consultation with the customer in person or by telephone. “We decide what’s right for the client, what the client wants and what I recommend, “Ameen said. “We learn together about each other. Every client is unique, and every style is unique for the client. One cap does not fit all.”

Ameen believes her business will grow because of demand. “I believe the trend is changing in the beauty industry,” she said. “African American women are becoming proud to wear their heritage, and I am here to support African American women who want to support their image,” she said.

But she has also expanded the concept beyond African American women, since most of her customers in Sunny Isles are white or hispanic. She has also expanded to styling men’s hair. “I also have a lot of men now who are growing out their hair. They are moving away from cutting their hair to growing it and styling it,” she said.

Rick Alexis is one of those customers. He ran into Ameen almost a year ago in the lobby of the Newport Beachside Resort in Sunny Isles Beach. “I asked her if she could braid my hair, and the rest is history,” said Alexis, 20.

Ameen has come a long way since experimenting with chemical treatments and permanents on her own hair as a child and then as a banker in Trinidad and Tobago and in Miami.

“It’s my childhood dream coming true,” Ameen said. “I wanted to do banking, which I’ve already done, and I wanted to go into the beauty industry, which I am perfecting now.”

Caribbean Braids is available at the Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort.

For more information, call 786-514-4644 or visit www.caribbeanbraidsbyjasmin.com.

The Miami Herald