Sororities, Class schedules, and Hair Stylists: Key College Decisions

Photo iStockphoto

As we head into September, I started to reflect on the first time that I really faced the issue of “who is going to do my hair.”  I had to think way back to when I moved 700 miles away to go to college. 

 

Up until that time, my hairdresser was primarily my mother or one of my aunts.  Later, it shifted to a next door neighbor that did hair out of her basement.  In between, my mother found teenage girls from across Philly that would braid my hair. 

 

Basically, I got my hair done wherever my mother told me to sit in the chair.  I may have had styling gripes back then but I knew well enough to keep quiet.  I can’t imagine telling my mom, “oh no, I can’t use Optimum any more I only use Nexxus shampoo now.”  As an adult, I did confide to an aunt that she braided my hair too tightly.  She said, “Really, you never said anything.”  I told her that I did have some sense.

 

When I got on the yard, beyond worrying about revealing my night-time hair rituals to my roommate from Nebraska, I also worried about who was going to do my hair.  I knew how to wash and style my own hair but I had never tried to do anything beyond that on my own.

 

I went to one of my sophomore friends who lived in my dorm for help.  I had one friend, Vicki, who was adamant about doing her own hair.  She could barely afford to pay for books let alone pay for a salon visit.  Vicki said that I could come over and watch her apply her own relaxer.  I observed her as she followed the steps on the box.  Her hair did come out straight but her scalp was bright red.  I guess it looked worse than it felt because all she said was, “See, it is not that hard.”  I responded, “I think that I may rather have someone else do my hair.”

 

Then, I went to my friend Karen.  Karen said, “Girl, you need to go to LaKesha.”  I asked for the name of her salon.  Karen replied that she didn’t have a salon; she is a student and does hair out of her apartment.  Does LaKesha really have a cosmetology license, I asked?  Karen ran down the list of other students that relied on LaKesha for the hook-up.  I thought that the list was kind of impressive but I didn’t hear a name that really had that supa-dupa-star hair quality.  Hey, I have always shot for the stars.

 

Lastly, I went to my friend Ava, whose hair I admired.  She suggested that I try a salon downtown that offered student discounts.  I decided to check it out that week.  By that time, I was kind of worn out.  I had been through my selection of headbands and hats, which included my Malcolm X hat, my jean hat, my black velvet hat that I got at a street fair, my Chicago Bulls hat, and a few others.  As a working woman, I wish that I had the opportunity to throw on a hat as I was looking for a new stylist.

 

I am thankful that my mother prepared me to make all of these decisions before I went off to college.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can I Walk Down the Street with My Hair Like This?

Photo from iStockphoto

Has this happened to you?  Your stylist spins you back around to face the mirror to unveil your hair and you are shocked and not the least bit amazed.  You either look like you are twelve again or you look like your grandma’s running buddy at bid whist.  You try to fix your face so that your true thoughts of “are you kidding me” are not quite so transparent.  Sometimes the other women around you will lie to you and tell you that your hair looks nice.  I guess everyone hates to bring another sister down. 

 

So what do you do?  What is the appropriate response?  The answer seems deceptively obvious but the truth is that the answer is “it depends.”  If you are new to a salon, you should give the stylist the direct feedback of how you like to wear your hair.  You may have come into the salon with a hat so she doesn’t know how you like to rock it on a good day.  She just sees the bad hair day you.  Or maybe, you have just requested a new style and her interpretation was a bit different from yours.

 

But what if you have been wearing your hair the same way for months (sometimes years) and your stylist still misses the mark when it comes to styling?  In that case, you must evaluate the overall health of your hair.  If you are satisfied with the condition (if not it may be time for a new stylist), sometimes you just decide to give lackluster styling a pass.  As long as you have a comb in your purse, you have options.  You can make a bathroom stop before you leave and subtly reshape your do.  Or you can wait until you get at least 3 doors down from the salon and restyle on the street or in your car.

 

I admit that I have stooped to both.  Sometimes you know that you are making a trade-off between health and style.  It’s a lot easier for you to style a full head of healthy hair on our own than to let a careless stylist hook you up once and then send you on a “hair project” pilgrimage.

 

One of my friends told me that she did the bold move of actually grabbing her stylist’s comb at the station to style her own hair right in front of the stylist.  She basically punked her stylist.  I have seen this happen once in a salon but minutes later a more senior stylist stepped in to rescue the pissed off client.  In my friend’s case the stylist actually admitted that my friend made an improvement.  Miracles do happen.

 

Another friend always says that no one can do her hair like she does.  Sometimes that is true.  Unless you are Oprah, most likely you are styling your own hair more than anyone else.  You know the look that makes you feel like your best you.  There is nothing like staring in the mirror at a hair style that doesn’t reflect the woman that you are.  It’s like you are looking at a stranger. You ask yourself “is that who she thinks that I am?”

 

Please send me any other ideas of how to navigate a bad hair style.  I may need it one day.