Yesterday I mentioned transforming my hair for my birthday. I don’t even think the word ‘transform’ does the process justice. It was more like alchemy. How else could you explain the following:
Ok well, since I was there I can actually tell you how it happened. My hairstylist Fritz is actually a superhero. He has super-human arm strength (to blow dry my hair for 45 minutes), boundless patience (color + straightening was a 6 hour process), and a most excellent eye. Here’s how it actually went down.
1. Epic Blow-Dry
2. Hot Comb
3. Flat Iron
And voilà – the final product:
Having straight hair for a few days was like traveling to an exotic location where everything seems different and you’re seeing the world with fresh eyes. I hadn’t had straight hair for over a decade. I chemically straightened my hair every six weeks from the time I was 12 to 17, and then the weekend of my 17th birthday I cut it all off.
These photos were taken several years apart, but you get the gist. So for the first time in 11 years I could run my fingers through my hair, and feel the wind on my scalp. For the first time in 11 years, to paraphrase Anjelica Huston, I could sell toothpaste. This sells toothpaste:
This,
And even this,
Do not. “Selling toothpaste” is obviously a metaphor for looking normal. It was a strange feeling, knowing I looked normal again. But embracing my curly hair has become MY normal, and I’d rather look like myself than be able to sell a tube of toothpaste. Especially when I can sell clothes.
What's your opinion?