My Blog

You’d think a short natural would be an easy ‘do, right?

Wrong.

Here’s what I look like when I wake up in the morning.

Egads!

I tie my hair down at night. When I wake up, it’s half high-top fade, half ‘Fro and all bad.

I jump in the shower. Don’t wash my hair each day. But the moisture from the hot water loosens my hair up a bit.

slowly but surely

Here, we have something close to an actual hairstyle. The steam has filled my hair out a bit. But now what?

Now, it’s time for product.

[Cue scary music here]

My hairstylist uses something made right in the shop. It’s top secret information. And I don’t know the ingredients. But she works it through my hair, puts me under the drier and I have a curly, firm, non-jheri-curl-looking TWA.

I have not been able to replicate this process at home.

So, I am one of the few women on earth who actually goes to the salon every two weeks to get her TWA done.

It’s a travesty! I know Lynn’s not complaining. But I should be able to leave the house with a perfect TWA all on my own.

My problem is my overuse of product. I start with essential oils for shine, throw in some mousse to release the curl. And then, out comes the hair gel. I like my hairline to be defined. I like my babyhair slicked down. Yup, I said it. I need definition around those edges.

Last Saturday, I went to my bestie Victoria’s birthday party. I was in the mirror for 20 minutes patting my TWA. Adding just a little more mousse there and a bit more gel here.

The result was not pretty.

From far away, I look totally acceptable. Up close?

I was Eriq La Salle’s twin sister.

I ran into an ex at the party. He gave me a hug. And then said, “Your hair looks good.”

I said thank you.

And then, disaster struck:

His hands started reaching toward my hair.

I was frozen in fear. Was he really about to touch my hair? Even if I didn’t have a temporary jheri curl, touching my hair would be out of pocket. But considering the circumstances, I definitely had to keep him at bay.

I did a quick duck dive and put my hands up.

“Heeeey,” I said, “Hands to yourself.”

I pretended to pat my ‘Fro.

“I don’t want you messing up my ‘do.”

We laughed. Disaster averted. Temporarily.

I avoided candles the whole night. Didn’t even want to eat ’cause the food was all on tiny burners. Open flame plus my hair? It could have been a major tragedy.

So this morning, I decided to go light on the product.

I skipped the oils all together and reached for my mousse.

I use Sculpting Foam from Paul Mitchell. 20.00 a bottle. Ugh. Lynn would frown on me using this on my hair without putting some kind of oils on first. Cause this stuff can be drying. But I don’t care. I’m determined to get out of the house with one form of product in my hair.

A palmful of that stuff goes along way. I massage and start the Pick and Pat.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see…

C'mon. Just a little touch. Your edges are looking kinda dry...

No. I must resist. I love the greasy little curls this stuff gives me. But it never ends well. This pomade is the key to getting your soul to glow. It’s for rolling up bangs on little girls with pink sponge rollers. It doesn’t belong within 10 feet of a TWA.

I fought the urge. I left the gel alone and kept working in my foam.

I picked and patted, patted and picked. Put on my favorite headband from Urban Outfitters and voila!

I was out the door this morning in ten minutes with just one product. Yay!

However, I’m not completely satisfied with today’s TWA. I’m not sure what’s missing. Do I need a real pick? The kind with the Afro on the top? In the middle picture, I’m looking a bit uneven.

And all in all, I feel like my TWA needs some TLC. Highlights? Twists? Braided sides forming a Mohawk? I need an upgrade. I’m taking all suggestions…

-A