Sorry I went off on a tandrum about braided hair when I should have been talking about the BIG PERM stage, but in this post I 'll discuss my disgust with the matter. Okay, I have attached this picture because I want to bring to your attention the attention to detail this PERM involved for me. the false confidence this stuff brought me. Notice the bangs. I had to buy professional precision cutting sheers in order to get that fresh Owl like effect. Every day I would have to shape up the bangs so they would be leveled at an acceptable proximity that reveal my eyebrows without highlighting my forehead. I did this as a daily routine sort of in the way a man would shave everyday in order to keep his 5 o'clock shadow from showing. That was to often to be dealing with all of that - but I did not think so at the time. At this time I also began cutting my eyebrows, I think i would use a razor blade.
Listed above is a photograph is the type of scissors I used to cut the BIG Bang.
Here is a a variation. Aside from me cutting my eyebrows occasionally, sometimes I would cut the Owl hook more to the left side for a special added effect. Nice! Now I cut the photo in half because I wanted to emphasize the hair. Look closely at the top of my hair, in order for me to get the top to be elevated like that, I had to stuff it with some ones else's hair and wrap my hair around the dead hair. I secured it with bobby pins and sticky white liquid gel that would make your hair harder than glass to the touch. Don't ask me how long that took because I don't know and I don't even want to guess. I can say this , once I had the bouffant in place, I did not take that baby down for a week, sometimes a week and a half. Plus, I had to sleep with a scarf in such a way that the bangs stayed out while the rest of the hair was in the scarf. I also had to sleep on my side so that I would not mess up my bangs. I am dead serious.
See, here I am with my scarf on to keep my bouffant looking good. You can't make this stuff up!
Ah and yes, that shiny, bone straight, jet black hair that I so proudly sported. I had to get a black rinse done every two weeks, and my hair permed every six weeks in order to obtain that consistent bone straight look. Perm burns your scalp also, but it's a different kind of burn. Plus chemicals seep deep into your skin - Oouch! Above is the perm product I would use if I permed my hair myself, which I rarely did. At this point, my mother was taking me to the salon and she paid - She didn't want my hair falling out because of the harsh chemicals, so she kept me away from the process.
Below is a photo of the type rinse my stylist would use every two weeks. This was not the exact brand, but I looked similar. On occasion, I would put a rinse in my hair but that had to be when I could not get to my hairdresser in time and I had an engagement.
And for all of this hassle, I could no longer stand in the rain, go swimming, turn to quickly to my right or left side, drive with the window down, or even go outdoors when it was too humid for that matter. I didn't even want to go anywhere where there were warm, cleansing, climates - so you know Africa was out of the question. In fact, I identified myself as part Indian and not African at all. Little did i know, I have indian in my blood, but I didn't know that back then! I was just not happy to be Black or of African decent. So, the natural hair thing was definately gone with the wind.
Below is a photo of the type rinse my stylist would use every two weeks. This was not the exact brand, but I looked similar. On occasion, I would put a rinse in my hair but that had to be when I could not get to my hairdresser in time and I had an engagement.
And for all of this hassle, I could no longer stand in the rain, go swimming, turn to quickly to my right or left side, drive with the window down, or even go outdoors when it was too humid for that matter. I didn't even want to go anywhere where there were warm, cleansing, climates - so you know Africa was out of the question. In fact, I identified myself as part Indian and not African at all. Little did i know, I have indian in my blood, but I didn't know that back then! I was just not happy to be Black or of African decent. So, the natural hair thing was definately gone with the wind.
And now the BIG GEL.
And speaking of gone with the wind. On top of the perm and rinse, I started to use that sticky white and clear gel listed above. So now there was no movement to my hair when the wind blew. Above is another photograph of my bouffant from the side. Just so you know, at the time, this was a bad hair day. The back of my hair was sticking out because it had been burned out from when I used to do my hot comb number. It never really grew back until I went all natural. This is the dress that was made by my hairdresser as well.
Here is a picture of my mommy perming here hair at home. It was so rare to see my mother with a perm that to find this photograph was almost spooky. Infact, I used to think she was so out of the loop because she didn't have a perm. But man, as always, mother knows best.
Here is a picture of my mommy perming here hair at home. It was so rare to see my mother with a perm that to find this photograph was almost spooky. Infact, I used to think she was so out of the loop because she didn't have a perm. But man, as always, mother knows best.
