Monday, February 27, 2006

Sisterlock cutting...

So last night, I'm kind of bored. And when you're bored, why not play in your hair? Why not, indeed. So week before last I got my locks retightened by a very nice lady in Fredericksburg--Nina Cebrun. This after an unnamed consultant in DC blew off my phone calls. So, I'm bored, and I'm playing in my hair, and see the scissors...
I already had a couple locks break in the front. I'm attributing the loss to 1) stress--of which I've endured quite a bit 2) the haircolor--chemicals are damaging 3)tension differences--it seems to be right at the point I took over doing my retightening...I feel like some kind of tree dating my locks that way. When I visited Nina, I realized that my tightening technique is...let's say quirky. At some point, I reversed my clock. I go counter-clockwise. And it's possible I do something else differently...but that's no matter.
Anyhoo...I had some loose spots in my locks that I hoped Nina could fix. I'm sure she did the best she could. But I'm standing in front of the mirror, playing in my hair and there are the scissors. I ended up trimming one row, right across the front. Not exactly a bang because there was one, undamaged lock and I didn't want it to feel punished. Leave it to my locks to break off almost at the same length, almost straight across...as if they want to be bangs...as if they all drank the same, sad kool-aid.
So now, of course, I can't stop thinking of cutting my locks...
I used household scissors. Don't happen to have any barber shears around. I cut diagonally. Mostly I was focused on removing the frayed ends of locks that had already broken. I noticed that the curl on the ends draws up so the lock ends up shorter than where you originally cut. Just like when I cut my bangs as a teenager...I never failed to have a "oh sh**" moment. The results are very subtle. Since it's one row, they blend back into the rest. I'd have to do a couple of rows to get a real bang. And I'm not sure I want bangs...
But I am thinking a good cut would be fun. I found a couple of sites where people had cut their Sisterlocks with varying results. My next project is to find some very small, very sharp scissors so I can trim stray hairs from my older locks. I went through and tried to trim stray hairs from the ends. But my eyes lost focus...I am far-sighted.
My mother won't help. She thinks I'm too persnickety about my hair. I think she takes instruction badly. We had a long conversation about the Curl Spikes and she just wouldn't do it the way I showed her. Sigh. So it's probably for the best she doesn't get involved. Plus she and Gram have the long hair fetish and want no part of cutting anyone's hair short.
So I'm going to get some style magazines and think seriously about the wisdom of cutting my own hair. For Brunsli...I know that saying about a lawyer representing themselves having a fool for client...does that apply for hairstyling? I mean I tease my mother all the time that she only combs the hair she sees. Maybe that would happen with me. And I know I would petrify the fair stylists of Warrenton if I walked in asking for a cut...sigh...what to do? what to do?

2 comments:

brunsli said...

You're so funny!

Can you put down the scissors for a week & think about it? Then have SOMEONE ELSE do it!!

I'll be in DC next weekend. I can do it for you. LOL!

brunsli said...

When I got my hair done on Friday, my hairdresser gave me a bit of insight. Don't fret about each lock individually, look at them collectively.