Angie

Angie, age 52, is a chef instructor. She is married and lives in North Carolina.

What is your first or strongest hair memory?

My mom was doing my hair in the kitchen, she attacked a knot in the back of my head (AKA the kitchen) and she combed and combed it until it gave me a headache. Now when I comb my hair I’m careful not to snatch knots because the kitchen is a dangerous place.

What is your favorite or best hair memory?

The very first-time mom used Lustrasilk on my hair. Back in the day, Lustrasilk was a mild relaxer, it was better than Dark n Lovely or Revlon, but it didn’t smell as bad as Vigarol. It was swinging and shaking and I was like “Whaaat!”

What did your mother tell you about your hair?

Make sure you condition it because it gets really dry.

What did you learn or believe about your hair from family and friends?

That I had “good” hair (put that in quotes), meaning my curls were looser.

What were your favorite hairstyles in your elementary and high school years?

I started wearing it out with a headband around 6^th grade. In high school, I wanted to look like Prince because he was my everything. I started wearing it curly with Tenax, which was a gel that would make it dry hard as steel. But, you couldn’t touch it because it would crack and get all dry and flaky, like a bad case of dandruff. One day I went to phys ed and I forgot about my hard hair. When I changed into my gym clothes, I quickly took my shirt off and it cracked my hair and it looked like I had a bad case of dandruff. I had to walk around the rest of the day looking like I had psoriasis. (Laughs)

At what age did you start doing your own hair?

Around 6^th or 7^th grade

Were you ever teased or ridiculed about your hair?

I lived in Ecuador for a while when I was in my early 30s. I lived with a Spanish family.  At the time, I had all my hair cut off, and the father called me ‘cabeza de piña’, which means ‘pineapple head’. You could see my scalp through my short curls and it looked like a pineapple.

At a previous job, a black female security guard called me ‘Becky with the good hair’, in fact, she would sing it to me every morning. This was within the last couple of years, and it was the first time since the 80s that anyone said anything like that to me. I remember thinking “Really? Are we still doing this? We’re not past this yet? What year is it?” Maybe she thought it was a compliment, but I didn’t like being called out in that way.

Were you ever made to feel ashamed or wrong about your hair?

No.

Oprah tells a story about losing her hair after a bad perm. Do you have any hair tragedies?

Yes! In the early 90s, I was about 27, I lived in Brooklyn and I went to a Dominican salon all the way up in the Bronx. They fried my hair really hard with a flat iron. I remember standing on the subway platform waiting for the 4 train to go home. The humidity hit my hair and I could hear it popping like electricity! They burned my hair up and it was literally dying on my head in front of my eyes. I could never get it smooth again. I just cut it all off.

What were your favorite hairstyles in your 20s and 30s?

In my late 20s, after it was fried off, I wore it really short like a Halle Berry, but that didn’t work out so well for me either. I let it grow out.  I washed, wrapped and used the flat iron. I stopped perming my hair when I was about 30.

Looking back, what is your funniest hair experience? It may not have been funny then, but it’s funny now.

I remember as a kid I was upstairs in my bedroom and my white friend was visiting. We were sitting in my room and my dad was downstairs yelling through the house “where’s the hair grease?!”  And my friend says to me “what’s hair grease?” and I said, “it’s like gel”. I wasn’t sure how to explain hair grease to her.

I have another one! I was about 25, and my mom and another woman put on a hair and fashion show. I was modeling and she paid someone to put in a weave down my back. She put the weave in on Friday night and the show was on Sunday. The lady cornrowed my hair in order to sew in the weave. It took six hours! My hair does not really accept cornrows, so she should’ve wet my hair and braided it, but she braided it dry. Well, by Wednesday, the weave was hanging crooked on my right side because my cornrows were coming out.  I couldn’t figure out why it was longer on one side. I felt like Baby Alive; remember that doll back in the day? You could pull her hair out of the top of her head and make it longer!

What transitions have you been through?

Press-n- curl, Lustrasilk, Care Free Curl, Luster’s S Curl, Cream of Nature relaxer, and I’ve gone short to long about three times.

Have you made any drastic decisions about your hair? If so, were they tied to anything happening in your life at that time?

No

What do you believe about your hair now?

It sets me up every time.  We have an agreement that we will cooperate, but by the time I get in the car it’s acting up and doesn’t keep the agreement. So, it sets me up, on a daily basis.

What is your favorite way to wear your hair now?

Right now I’m in a ponytail, every day. So, I’ll probably get a Keratin treatment and go back to wearing it straight. My mother is a beautician, but I’ve never really learned to do my hair well. When it’s natural, I’m in a ponytail every day.

What are some of the products that your hair loves now?

Kevin Murphy Hydrate-Me Masque Conditioner and Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Extra-Moisture Detangler

Who is your main stylist now?

No one

Have you made peace with your hair?

Nope, this ponytail everyday makes me look like begging Felicia, from the movie, Friday. So no, I’ve not made peace with that.

Any final thoughts?

I’ve never colored my hair and now the grays are coming and bringing friends.

Thank you, Angie, for sharing your HAIRstory!