Ms. Dow

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Tell me about your hair as it is styled right now--what are you doing with it?

So, I do have a perm. And you know, every time I think about pulling myself away from a perm, new growth comes in, and I find myself right back there. But my hair has gone through many different iterations. When I was a little girl, I used to wear my hair in a little afro; it was natural and easy to style. I did a perm as I was coming up, and it was a pretty bad perm that took out most of my hair. I had to cut down to the healthy part and start again. Now, it made me tentative to go back to a perm, but I gave in. I have tried weaves, but they were not an ideal match for my hair. When I took it out, my hair was very brittle, so I had to really nurse it back to health. You know, I’m pretty diligent about getting to the stylist every week: I get all my ends cut, conditioned, you know things like that. That’s what I’m doing with my hair now, and I want to switch it up like maybe getting highlights. I don’t know if I am going get away from a perm--that's something I have to think about.

 

What are the perks of a perm that keep you going back to it?

The ease of it. Having natural hair is work. Hair is work. Our hair is work in general. But with the perm, there is ease with the texture. If it gets wet, I can blow it out. But there a pros and cons to that too. It's a lot of chemical and that's something I pay attention to as I get older. As women, we have to be cautious about that.

 

What were some of the reasons for getting a perm in the first place?

I got my first perm back in the 70--I got started on the “perm just for kids” in middle school going into high school. I did it because I just wanted ease. For my family and parents, it was the easier option. I didn’t have to worry about my hair when I did sports: swimming was required in high school, and with a perm, I didn’t have to worry about my hair too much. A perm, you know versus press and curl every night, was just a lot easier to manage. With a press and curl, if the hair got wet you had go back, wash it and press it.

 

Who taught you how to do your hair?

My mother taught me a lot actually and my grandmother taught me a bit. Then when I started going to the hairstylist they taught me a little bit here and there. Now we have YouTube. But it really started with my family. My mother would do the press and curl. She would be sitting in the chair and I would be sitting on the floor. My grandmother would wash my hair and take all that time to comb it out. I would complain, “Grandma, that hurts!” She would take the comb and hit me on the top of the head and say, “stop it!” I think about these stories and I laugh now, but it didn’t feel that funny then. Boy it was rough a lot of the time, but the finished product was nice. I loved it!

 

What do you love about black hair?

That it's so versatile! You have natural hair. My hair is permed. Someone else may have a weave. Somebody else has locks. If I wanted to go back to natural I can do that! Some other people have very curly hair. It looks great on us too. So I always hated the good hair vs. bad hair debate.