Time Flies, No Lye.

This week went by like a flash. Sleep has been minimal. Its always the first to go when I want to actually have a life outside of school and work. I did end up coming in late on Friday but only half an hour. We had the rare pleasure of having Ms V in the classroom Wed and Thurs to learn the chemistry and application of relaxers. Relaxers have many levels. First of all, I dont think i was aware that there was such a thing until I was about 22. I just never thought about it, I never got a perm so I never had a real firm grip on chemical hair processes anyway and I didnt have any really close black friends in high school. So its not like a haircut where it just feels like an old pair of gloves. That said, its not as daunting as I thought, at least the process isnt, socially and conceptually, its a big hurdle, but we'll get to that later. Basically relaxer is lye. There are lye and no lye varieties but the most effective one, the sodium hydroxide ones, are of the lye variety. For a retouch, you part through the hair (and this has to be done very quickly to avoid chemical burns) and put the relaxer on all the new curly growht without touching the scalp. When its all on, making specially sure to have gotten the most resistant hair which tends to be around the hairline, wouldnt you know it, you go through all your partings again the opposite way and smooth out the curl with moderate tension. At this point its hard not to get it on the scalp so you really have to be fast and check in with your client to make sure theyre not experiencing tingling or burning. We did about five mockup relaxer applications with cholesterol and gel (as the base protectant that you put all over the scalp) on our wigheads, and we have our first relaxer models on Tuesday. Except I already did one. On the clinic yesterday, Ms V called me away from my bookwork and had me do a for real relaxer with Amber, you can get it on faster with two people on a head. It was easier than with the cholesterol because it stays where you put it, but I was nervous about going over the line of demarcation where the hair had been relaxed before. And, as is to be expected, I learned something: Your client wont always tell you when its burning. They know that in order to get the hair straight, you have to leave it on long enough, and they want it straight from the root, so it really has to touch the scalp. Therefore, they are willing to suffer the chemical burning (it does feel somewhat mild but once it starts it goes pretty fast), to esure that every trace of that nasty, evil curl is gone. This brings me to the real hurtle of chemical relaxers. We are taught that it makes the hair more controllable, easier to manage, more flexible for different styles. I suppose so, but I cant get comfortable with it. Black hair isnt that hard to control, if you treat it right, and there is so much you can do with it. Way more than my boring but overly manageble flat and straight hair. I am getting more understanding about how it makes life easier (going out in the rain etc) but I dont care what you tell me, there is just something eurocentric about it. Manageble, controllable, easy...it just doesnt sit right with me. And added on that you are spreading lye and all manner of toxic chemicals on your head, YOUR HEAD!! Ms V went over the history of straightening and the development of pressing combs, the use of potash and straght lye for primitive relaxers, the slaves didnt have time to do their complicated styles from home so they developed new ways (that just happened to look like white people's hair) to take care of their hair. As hard as I try, I just cant endorse it. To that end, Ill be doing a locks and twists internship with Ms V's daughter at her salon over the summer break in september. I also want to collect a lot of advice about the most culturally sensitive manner of encouraging people to wear their hair naturally. Its a touchy, touchy subject especially coming from Dr. Sealhead-Cornsilk over here.
Ms V is the most captivating teacher, no one utters a word while she is talking or demonstrating. We all sat there and watched her flat iron a whole head and were half an hour late for lunch,and didnt even notice. I remember everything she says and the number of repetative and already answered questions that my classmates ask drops sharply. She is so efficent and so fast, she can get a whole head of relaxer on and smoothed in about 12 minutes. In other news, Michelle's hair looked great. I cut the silver on top so that it pointed like frosty daggers into the brown beneath. Ms Kendra had to give me a lot of guidance because Michelle had been cutting her own hair so it was hard to tell where to start but it came out really well and I think next time I will get to get even closer to exactly what I envisioned which was a just grazing the shoulder razor cut with very subtle layering. She's gorgeous. Also. a lady that I recruited from my gym came in! That was awesome. She had hair down to her boo-tay with beautiful silver streaks all through the crown. I cur off about six inches into a solid form and "slithered" long layers into the back. I wanted it to come to a point in the back instead of the straight across, wall of hair look but Ms Dolores insisted that her hair was too thin. Her hair was very,very thick and I have no idea what Ms D was talkin about, but I couldnt argue with her, especially not in front of a client. It kind of sucked. She had brought pictures and was showing them to me, which is not an uncommon practice when youre deciding on a haircut, and Ms Dolores came up and told her "I hate pictures. " I know what she means, about photo tricks, extensions, styling etc, but jesus, she could work on her chairside manner a little. This woman told me the most amazing stories about how she and her husband ended up together. Im gonna make her write it down and add it as an adjunct post to this blog, i could hardly concentrate on her cut, it was so hilarious and captivating. She may be a little nuts.
I saw Romy at the club on thursday with his brother. He looked tired, and was really happy to see me. We danced together a little bit, after I asked him if his girl was anywhere to be seen. He explained the whole thing to me, how she stole all of his kit out of his car and wouldnt give it back. Chloe asked his brother, because she always asks weird things Id never think to ask, if Romy had told him about me and he said he spoke of me often. That made me feel a little melancholy. I wish he could see himself clearly and get out, stop blaming her for his immobility and just switch it up. I know he's a gem. I got to spend the day last Friday with Youssou N' Dour and his band. Assane Thiam in the passenger seat, and all the Fayes in back, Sizzla never had so much rhythm! I stood outside the Paramount theatre and sang the song they had just rehearsed with Mbaye Dieye Faye and their badass backup singer Ndeye Marie whose gold ring was about the size of my face. Our voices sounded pretty together, and they were happy to see me know all the words even if I cant understand what they mean. I am used to hearing that voice on the albums of course, but to see it coming out of her, no mic, seattle streets, marlboro lights, folding chairs,was a vision. I hope the two year unforgiving memory eraser spares me that one.