The Overdue Haircut....aka Surrendering Control of My
Hair to a Stylist June 2010
Several summers ago I was at a retreat
where we played a game of musical chairs for adults with a twist -
the person without a chair was not eliminated but instead had to
say 1 thing about themselves that was embarrassing and then
everyone who had the same issue had to get up from their seats and
race to find a new chair. One woman's embarrassing detail was that
she hated to give up control of her hair to a hair stylist. I
totally got up for that one.
I had long dreadlocks for many years
and so it was never really necessary to see a stylist - I cut and
cared for my own hair without needing any specialty services
(color, etc...) - with great results. No one was ever as intimate
with my hair care needs as I was. So now fast forward 4 years -
I've only braved getting a haircut twice since the Big Chop. The
first stylist was someone local - not recommended through anyone
and she needed to blow my hair straight before cutting (burning
many strands of hair as she straight combed!). The second stylist
was well reviewed/ recommended at a Brooklyn salon. He gave me a
cut that was perfectly fine but I paid all this extra money
($80-100 over the cut and conditioning) for "special Curly styling"
only to have my hair look like a regular curly afro w/ no curl
definition.
