Have you ever done something uncomfortable in the name of perceived beauty?

Have You Ever Done Something Uncomfortable in the Name of Perceived Beauty?

Yes.   Growing up with long, straight hair I always wanted something different –  curls.   I could never do much with long, straight hair.  I always thought curls represented feminine beauty.  I rarely made a change to my hair until I was about 18 and a freshman in college.  I remember getting different cuts and trims, but nothing drastic – always wanting curls.  And it was fitting that my roommate freshman year had naturally curly hair – the hair I longed for.  She wanted straight hair, so go figure.  After college and into my first professional job I started to experiment with hairstyles, long, short, bangs, no bangs, layers but still no curls until I got engaged.   I was going to have curly hair at our wedding if I had to pay for it, which I did in more ways than one.

 

One afternoon, about 6 weeks before our wedding, I went and sat in a black salon chair for four long hours and left with manufactured curls.  It was THE most painful experience of my life, right up there with childbirth.  Through growing up, getting my hair done for formals, and being in weddings, I knew I had a sensitive head but this was beyond torture in my opinion.

I’m pretty sure I had about twenty pounds of curling equipment on my head and just remember how sore and tight the stylist pulled and pulled.  I asked for this.  The worst was when she was taking out the tubes and washing the chemicals out of my hair – I was pretty sure my hair would fall out.  However, the end result was this, curls.

They were pretty for about 6 weeks until I went for my pre-wedding hair trial and the stylist combed out my hair and in the process, the nice, spiral curls I’d paid for and longed for all this time.  My hair never looked the same after that, and I remember ON my wedding day needing to use the curling iron to make my hair curly.

Several years after my hair wouldn’t grow and it took forever to get all the curl out of my hair.  I would get it cut shorter and shorter trying to get any remaining wave out – finally after 4 years, one pregnancy and some raging hormones, my hair is long and straight and I love it.

Staff – Colleen