Growing up, I always wanted long hair but never had it, so I would often fake it. One game that a friend of mine, who also had short hair, and I would play was the "hair game", where we'd put black skirts on our heads and dance around pretending to have long, luscious locks. In fact, as silly as it sounds, we'd even put our "hair" into ponytails by gathering the length of the skirt with a rubber band! :)
Throughout my adolescent and teen years, I went through many different styles including braids, cornrows and relaxers. Sadly, I'll admit that, during a period of particular optimism or, depending on how you look at it, marked desperation, there was even a brief period, one that that I'd permanently banish from my memory if only my friends would let me, where I had a jheri curl! Now, you may be thinking "hey, that's nothing to be ashamed of, after all, it was THE style in the 80's. That's true...except it was well after the 80's when I had mine... and I only agreed to it because my mom convinced me that it would result in me having longer hair.
Flash forward years later, after one of my many horrible hair dresser disasters, I was forced to have my hair cut into a really short "Halle Berry" cut that, ironically, I absolutely adored! However, though I loved my short, sexy hair, I still yearned for the option that I'd never had...long tresses. So I decided to let my hair grow out. I made great progress over time, though for some reason, my hair never seemed to be able to get past shoulder length (I would later learn that it was due to over processing, friction caused by my ends rubbing against my clothes and scissor happy stylists).
I finally reached my "hair epiphany" after a few visits with yet another stylist who was said to have "magic hands". The stylist was detangling my hair during what was to become my final visit with her, and she was so rough that she BROKE A COMB! It was at that point that the proverbial camel's back had been broken. I mean, I was spending a significant amount of money visiting her every two weeks only to receive lack luster results and then she breaks a comb in my hair?! Oh
HELL no!!
I left the salon that day determined to take matters into my own hands and I can honestly say that it was
the best decision that I have ever made regarding my hair. I knew that it had to be possible for black women to grow their own hair. After all, women of every other race seemed to be able to grow their own hair, why would black women be the exception? So, after thousands of hours of research, experimenting with countless products and techniques, trial, error and simple patience, I have finally been able to grow my hair
longer than ever before! It is currently past armpit length and I am on track to reach my goal of mid-back length by December 2010.
Why did I tell you all of this? Here's why. I learned that just because someone is categorized as an "expert" does not necessarily mean that they know what's best for you. As corny as this may sound, I also learned that, with the proper knowledge, you can do
anything that you set your mind to. Last but certainly not least,
black women can indeed grow long hair!
I had a similar pair to this that I loved but the munchkin broke them and I never replaced it. The basic frames (including prescription lenses) were $8 and I added an anti-reflective coating for an additional $4.95 bringing the total cost to $12.95.
The frames were $9.95 (including the prescription lenses) and I added an 80% tint to make them sunglasses for an additional $4.95 bringing the cost to $14.90.
The frames were $8 (including the prescription lenses), I added an anti-reflective coating for $4.95 and the photocromic feature (the coating that makes them transition) was an additional $19, bringing this pair to $31.95.
