Jas Stallings

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What are you doing with your hair now?

I have it braided right now. I’m thinking about cutting it over the summer. I’ll cut my hair either way, but I’m not sure if I’m going to cut it as short as I planned or just a blunt cut until it grows out.

 

Why do you want to cut your hair?

There’s a couple reasons why I want to cut it. One is because my ends are kind of rough right now. Also, I think I’m too attached to my hair. I did do the big chop before, and I started putting all of my value in my hair. I started grading and ranking myself by my hair. It was the only thing I really took pride in, but it's just hair. So, I want to cut it so I’m not so attached to it.

 

Did you always have your hair natural?

I did for most of my life, but then I got real happy with the flat iron. I got a texturizer and then a keratin treatment. My hair was supposed to revert, but since I got the keratin treatment after the texturizer, it didn’t. Then I had to big chop and start all over.

 

What was it like to do the big chop that first time?

My mom was more scared to do it than I was. I asked her to cut it, and she didn’t cut it short enough for me. I was like, “I want my straight ends to go!” So, the next morning, I impulsively chopped it all off. It wasn’t traumatic. I just started wearing it either in a puff or in box braids.

 

What made you want to straighten your hair a lot?

It was a lot easier to deal with. You don’t really need any hair products--just some Oil Sheen and a comb. For me, I never wanted my hair to be straight. I grew up around a lot of Caribbean people and people with looser curl patterns. So, I strived for that than I did for straight hair. But because it was easier to deal with and I was lazy, I began to straighten it. My hair ended up looking longer too because shrinkage is the devil.

 

What are your opinions on the good hair vs bad hair debate?

It took me awhile that there was no such thing as bad hair in reference to curl pattern. I have type type 4 hair--like 4a. I always thought that 3b/3c was good hair. I did always have a nice curl pattern because my hair was very frizzy. You just couldn’t see the curl pattern--I didn’t know how to define a curl back then. Once you start focusing on health rather than hair types that's when it's good.

 

What are the dangers of being too involved with your hair?

With hair anything could happen. You can go to the wrong hairstylist, and they can ruin your hair. There is always something that can go wrong with your hair, so if you measure how beautiful you are through your hair and something happens to it, it can fluster you. It's kind of sad. It's an unhealthy attachment.

 

Why do you think we as black people care about our hair so much?

Black culture has a lot to do with hair. I think back to things from when I was little: going to hair salons with my mom, sitting down with my mom and grandmother and mom as they did my hair. It's always been a big thing for me family wise. This is true for me and for other black women as well. That plays a big role in it I think.

 

How has your hair shaped your identity as a black woman?

After going through the process of cutting my hair off because I ruined it, I had a moment of loving who I am. I shouldn’t have to work so hard to change aspects of my appearance.

 

Why did you always have that need to have your hair always put together?

I feel like natural, as beautiful as it is to me, can seem unruly or unprofessional to some people. Even with styles that we do with beads and puffs, we make sure that our edges are laid. We embrace our hair, but keeping it tame enough so that it isn’t offputting.

 

Who taught your how to do your hair?

Honestly, I had to wing it. My mom couldn’t braid. My family all had a wig, cutoff, weaves, and I had one aunt with locs. So, I had to wing it--shoutout to Youtube tutorials.

 

What songs do you listen to while you do your hair?

I listen to a little bit of everything. I’ll listen to the typical family reunion bops. I listen to a lot of trap music just so that I’m not tired. It's high energy.

 

Hair Icon?

I like @naptural85! But when I first started, I kept trying to convince myself that I had type 3 hair. Then I found her and was like were doing it.