Ms. Pleasants

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What are you doing with your hair right now?

 

Right now, I feel like it's in the hot mess stage. I’m very between stylists. It depends on what I need. My regular stylist is down in Coolidge Corner. If I need my hair quick and done, then there is a Dominican lady I can go to. The last time I went, she did me wrong. I don’t know if it was the humidity, but when you get your hair done by Dominicans, it’ll usually last you. But, I haven’t had the chance to go back. So right now, I am wearing my safe hair style. I’ve been doing it since high school-- two french twists on the side, pinned in the back.

 

What style do you get when you do go to the salon?

I don't have any chemicals in my hair. I stopped getting perms almost eight years ago. When I go to the salon, I get it washed, blow dryed, or flat ironed. Then at night I’ll just wrap it up. That's kind of the latest thing: wash and blow dry it straight. Although in the summer, I wear natural all over. I let it be. However, in the school year, I blow dry it straight. Then I’ll curl it myself.

 

What made you decide to get a perm?

I’m not sure if that was even a decision I remember making. Many young black girls during my era just got a perm. As a child, it was probably a decision my mother made for me. I wore it naturally braided or in plants. I wasn’t very good at doing my own hair because I had shoulder length hair. It just didn’t work. Having it permed made it easier.

 

Why did you decide to stop perming your hair?

For this most recent time, I saw a wider variety of how black women wear their hair. I thought of all the chemicals that I kept putting in. I wanted to have the flexibility to wear it straight or not like in the summer. I wanted to embrace what my hair really was. It was taking a toll on my hair.

 

How has the salon shaped your relationship with your hair?

I don’t go as often as I used to. When I wasn’t married, didn’t have a mortgage, and didn’t have a kid, I kept a standing appointment with a stylist. Nowadays, I stretch it longer than I used to. Sometimes, it's every three weeks that I get there. Also, I can’t always get to my Brookline salon, so I’ll go to my local Hyde Park. I have to go somewhere where I know it’ll be cleaned, but not trimmed, cut, and styled the way that I love it. But, I’ll leave with a clean head of hair.

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Why do you feel the need to have a regular stylist?

That person knows you! They know you’re hair. You build a relationship with them. Ron, my regular, I followed him around from salon to salon since ‘92. I took a break and found someone else, but it's not quite the same! It's someone that knows you. When I was in college, my senior year, I was exhausted. It had been a very tough semester for a lot of reasons. I went to my regular stylist, Ms. Mamie, and I was going to get a perm. She told me, “You know what? I’ll wash your hair and do everything, but I will not give you a perm. I can tell you’re just exhausted, and it wouldn’t be good for your hair.” It was so weird that by looking at the state of my hair, she could tell that I was a hot mess. She told me to go home and rest and that she’ll do it before I’ll go back. Wow, she really knows me. If I went to “Joe-Shmoe” they wouldn’t have known my hair. For me, that's Ron.

 

Why are salons such a force in the black community?

Like the barbershop for men, there is a sisterhood, especially within the black community. There was Ms. Mamie and Gladys for me. People will come in; you’ll put in your order for your fish dinner. When I take Zaki to the barbershop, someone is coming in selling fruit or has the bootleg CDs. That is such a big part of the black community. While Ron has moved out of Dorchester, for me, having a black stylist is important to me. I’ll have other stylists say that they know how to do “ethnic hair” and then I wonder why I even tried with them. I think there is something about the presence of being with other black women. You can let your hair down! You can chat with people. My best friend and I can just talk. There is a conversation. There is a shared language that we can have.

 

Outside of the salon, do you ever feel a pressure to have your hair put together?

Even when it's looking like this, I have to make sure that it's wrapped or tight. Zaki will be telling me to hurry up in the morning because I’m trying to make sure my hair looks good. I’m wondering if I need the flat iron or the bumper or the little flat iron because the edges look bad. I try to spend sometime in the morning to look presentable. I’ve worn my braids, worn it short, done it natural; I’ve done a variety of styles. Whatever it is though, I don’t want it looking a hot mess because people will say, “girl it looks a hot mess!”