Four hours before my eyebrow appointment on Tuesday I received a Tweet, courtesy of the Eyebrow King Damone Roberts, that Solange Knowles was just in to have her brows sculpted to go with her new shaved head. I missed seeing Solange’s new look and had to wait until the first photos surfaced today. I think I like her new look, which is right on time with my post from yesterday.
I give Beyonce’s little sis’ mucho credit for being herself while living in the weave-obsessed world of entertainment. I guess she won’t be getting a harsh chemical relaxer anytime soon either, which brings up today’s topic. One of the questions Chris Rock poses to interviewees in his documentary/comedy “Good Hair,” opening in October, is when did you get your first relaxer?
I think Eve was 9 or 11. Can’t remember.
Maya Angelou said she was 70. Wow!
I don’t remember what age Rev. Al Sharpton said he was but he told the story of how James Brown asked him to straighten his hair like his so the two would look alike when The Godfather of Soul went to the White House. Interesting.
I’ve spent the last 30 hours trying to remember my first perm. I don’t remember how old I was but I know Glo was the beautician. I must have been around 11 or 12. I can’t remember where her salon was. Maybe off of Arlington or Adams or something like that. Glo was tall, statuesque and her feet grew one size after she had a baby. Don’t ask me why I remember that but I do. Maybe that’s why I never wanted kids.
Before my mother let me get a relaxer, I used to go to Vernie, whose salon was on Central Avenue, to have my hair pressed. I’d ride the bus from my well-to-do View Park neighborhood to the real hood to have him straighten my hair. I remember sitting on a stack of Yellow Pages because I was so little. If I remember correctly, Vernie wore his hair pressed too and wore tight, yellow pants.
When I was in high school, I started going to Coree. She wasn’t much older than me. My mother used to pay for me to go the salon weekly. I loved it! I went to Coree on and off for years up until the time I moved to Italy in 2003 – and even a couple of times when I came home. I was always amazed Coree never aged. I stopped by her salon last week just to shoot the breeze and catch up. She still doesn’t seem any older than when she did when she started doing my hair in the 70s. Not sure what her secret it.
Today I stopped by Elgin Charles’ salon in Beverly Hills to shoot the breeze with him and let him know I saw him in the movie Good Hair. Elgin told me he and his wife Jackee are pitching a reality TV show. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
I love keeping in touch with my old hairstylists. You spend so much time with them, especially when you’re a Black woman, that they’re like friends. Too bad I’ll never find Glo, who gave me my first relaxer.
Do you remember how old you were when you got your first relaxer?
