My Hair-story

This week Chris Rock was on Oprah discussing his new documentary "Good Hair" that is coming out later this month. It was quite interesting and reminded me that I have quite the hair-story myself! And since this is where I share my stories ...

• 1976 - the year of my birth! My aunt took me to the grocery store (back in the day, photographers would set up at the grocery store for photo shoots). I was so bald that when he saw me he said what a beautiful little boy! She got so mad, she immediately took me to get my ears pierced then brought me back later.
• Me around 4 or 5 - my hair started to grow but not really long, more like out.
  It was a thick, massive mess and I'd get it combed once a week and it would pretty much stay (here's the end of the week so it is ratty). I hated HATED to get my hair washed and combed. My family's hair is not as thick as mine so no one was used to it. It would hurt soooo bad.
• When I was around 7, I met Ms. Boogie. She pressed my hair from that point until like junior high. It would look really pretty after but the process was OMG! ALL DAY LONG! I'd literally get dropped off around 8ish and get picked up around 4! She baked pies as well so it wasn't ALL bad! (LOL! I fell in love w/lemon meringue pie getting my hair pressed).
• I always had alot of hair but the pressing made it LONG! I mean LONG! From that point people began to associate me w/long hair. But, because it used to hurt so much and take so much time, I hated doing my hair. I lived with my Granny who was anti most things (gel, curling irons, water in your hair not to mention the phone but I digress) - she was just old school so I never really put much care into my hair when it wasn't time to get it done. I'd wear ponytails a lot! But my ends would always stick out b/c I couldn't get them back!
• 8th grade - HAIR DRAMA! More...
  As I've said before I'm from a small town so my peer group was pretty much the same from 1st grade on. Around the 8th grade, everyone started getting new hairstyles. The Wave Nouveau was in and the most popular girl had one and it was growing out quite well! Most people were getting that one style with the short hair up top and long in the back. Literally EVERYONE got a haircut in the 8th grade except me and the second most popular girl. My world crumbled when she came to school with a nice shoulder length cut w/bangs. ARGH! I HAD to get a haircut but my folks weren't hearing it. I thought about it all day at school and when I got home, I took matters into my own hands and decided to cut my own hair. I knew no one would be home when I got there and I went to work. The plan was to just make it a little shorter ... that plan went awry because I had no idea how to cut hair! I put it all in a ponytail and would snip at the ponytail. It was bad (real bad Michael Jackson!). When I saw it would get no better I decided to roll my hair up on rollers in an attempt to hide it from my Granny. I hid all the cut hair so they wouldn't see it. I had to come clean so I waited until there were a lot of people over and went into the kitchen and plead my case (I figured she wouldn't kill me in front of folk). It was soooooooooo ugly! I had like a bob but it looked like ^^^^ on the ends! A MESS! My family's punishment...they didn't take me to get it fixed for like months!
• Luckily my hair grows fast so by the graduation it had grown back and then some.
  I had gotten a relaxer after the cut incident and it was beautiful. I wore it straight, super curly or deep waved. I got a new cut (professional cut) before graduation and thus began my infatuation with the even bob. I would wear that style all the time (it happens to be my current style!)
• When I moved to Indiana I was fortunate to find an amazing hair dresser that kept my mane WHIPPED! It was super long (back to high school long) and growing well but ... I was really convinced that if I went natural I'd have curly locks. He refused to cut it (I wanted a BIG CHOP), so I found some lady in Indianapolis to release me from my hair (so funny that Solange just did that-girl I had that epiphany in 2002 when the big push for natural was going down! You are late!). My dear friend Kendra came to the salon when she was done. I knew from her expression it was bad so I began to bawl! I looked in the mirror and I looked a HOT MESS! I had to go back to Denzel who cut it correctly and I had a TWA (teeny weeny afro). He dyed it some awesome shade of red but it was a disaster - my head is REALLY small w/no hair! Only one picture of this exists and the one person I trust with my life has it! (Karla, you have my permission to sell it if I ever make it big enough that people would care - those funds can go to the Kennedy college fund!). As it grew out, it became more of a mess and I generally wore my hair covered with colorful head scarves. As it grew, it grew out not down so it never seemed to grow.
• I went to Houston for law school and this hairdresser suggested a light relaxer to get the hair growing down and then I could get the natural I desired. I took her advice and rocked a cute pixie-like cut for a while.
  As it grew I got it pressed (at no other than Headliners Salon - Mrs. Knowles shop!) instead of relaxed and when it was the optimal length I found a natural hair guru who got me right. I had a REAL fro/natural!
  I experimented with different looks (twist outs, cornrows, roller sets) and really enjoyed it!
• During this time of being natural I also started to experiment with full head weaves. The first was a disaster. It was super cute BUT I didn't know how to care for it. I'll never forget my friend Kacy came over and was like girl, have you combed it! (I hadn't which explains why it was matted!) I got better with the weaves and this became the most versatile hair time of my life.
• I moved to L.A. after school and was lucky enough to find an amazing stylist, Ms. Amber.
  Amber didn't like relaxers at all and she pressed in such a way that wasn't greasy and my hair moved and flowed. She liked cool cuts so we did quite a few fun styles.
• I decided that I wanted a texturizer so I went to . She was amazing too!
  It grew out and I got a free style, cut and color at the Kimble salon. I rocked that look until I moved back South. I got back to Louisiana in Nov of '08 and it was clear my current hair which I got texturized once a year in Cali' was not going to work here. I went to Houston for the holidays and let Kimberly work her magic. It was clear I'd need my texturizer more often and so I found a guy here that does that just fine. Problem is my hair is nothing special so I'm seeking a fire colorist to bring my new vision to light. So for now the hair-story has halted but I'm sure it shall continue.

So as my hair-story continues, I'm sure you have one as well! What's your hair-story?

Oh and here's the Good Hair trailer ENJOY!