Straightening Out

I got my hair chemically straightened today!  Wahoo!  Big deal you are probably thinking but this is a major thing for me.

You see, I have wild hair.  You probably wouldn't think so from looking at photos of me because I actually straighten it with a GHD all the time.  To see me a la natural is not common - I actually resemble one of the Jackson 5 back in their heyday and give Foxy Brown a good run for her money too.

My dad has straight hair, mum's is slightly curly, but somehow when they got together and created my brother and I, a weird throw back gene gave us hair as kinky as Lady Gaga and Marilyn Manson put together.

I didn't get teased much at school, I made friends easily, but the one thing I did occasionally get teased about was my hair.  My nickname?  Toaster.  Why?  Because apparently I put a knife in the toaster and got electrocuted and that's what made my hair go fuzzy.  I pretty much just used to laugh this off and didn't let it get to me too much but there were times when I felt self conscious just like any teenager.  Looking back though, I had it easy, there were plenty of other kids who had it worse than I did.

I have straightened my hair with irons for years and years because it is just so much easier to manage.  On the odd occasion that people see me with my 'fro on, they always comment that they would love to have my hair and how cool it is.  But to me, this could not be further to the truth.  The minute my hair gets wet, it morphs into tiny kinky ringlety curls.  When it dries and I brush it, it expands and I start to look like fairy floss on a stick.  I can't just wash my hair in the morning and go.  I either have to tame it down as much as I can or straighten it and then tie it up.  Most of the time you will see me with a boring pony tail or bun but it's just so much easier.  Anything else is just too hard to manage and too time consuming.  And now that I have Ella, I don't have an hour each day, or every couple of days to straighten my hair after I wash it.

Tim and I had a holiday to Fiji a few years ago.  It was beautiful.  We went to a remote island where there was nothing to do but swim, snorkel, eat, drink or go and get massages from the spa at a ridiculously cheap price.  One day after I had become really sunburned I decided to treat myself to the Sun Soother massage.  1.5 hours of pure bliss.  I had been swimming prior so my hair was curly at the time but I had turned it into a big bun so that it wouldn't get out of control.

I lay on the massage bed and settled in.  All was going well for about the first hour or so and then the masseuse, a friendly Fijian girl, took the hair band out of my hair and began to massage my scalp.  It was nice to begin with but all I could think of was how knotty my hair was going to be when she finished.  Then she just kept going for another half hour or so.  I dreaded to think what was happening to my hair and as usual I just lay there and didn't say a word (I hate making people feel bad and hate confrontation of any kind so I don't stand up for myself as much as I should).  I couldn't relax.

The Fijian girl tapped me politely on the should and said that the massage was over.  She left the room and as soon as I heard the door close I jumped up to the mirror to see what my poor hair looked like.  It was worse than I thought.  I couldn't even tie it in a bun or tame it down.  It was beyond knotty, it was matted!

I ran back to our little hut where Tim was relaxing reading a book and he burst out laughing as soon as he saw me.  He also told me how well I fit in with the locals!  Not what I wanted to hear.  I couldn't even get my fingers through my hair to loosen the knots.  This was not good.

I panicked and jumped into the shower.  Even after a full bottle of conditioner I couldn't brush it out.  I started crying.  Tim had to jump in with me to help me try to brush my hair.  I was certain that I was going to have to cut all my hair off it was so bad.  But after an hour (I kid you not - it was about an hour!) we eventually managed to tame the hair back down.  

But this is the reason why I am SO excited to have had my hair chemically straightened.  Now I can have a shower, wash my hair and just walk out the door.  No more Foxy Brown.  No more blow drying or having to straighten it with the GHD for an hour.  I have reclaimed hours each week and you have no idea how good it feels.

Exhibit A:  Me after returning from the spa.  Tim HAD to get a photo but you can see the tears in my eyes.  
The length of my hair was half way down my back so this gives you an idea of how tangled and matted up it was.  Lucky I can laugh now about it but at the time it was not funny!