Let my hair be straight

Women and their mane
Always attract attention,... in vain!
If they have wavy hair, they'll love the poker straight look
and if they are blessed with great straight hair, 
Wavy curls is what they crave!

I always liked straight hair though I have a wavy mane. As a kid, would ask mom why did my hair curl so much when I just wanted them to be obedient and stand on 'Attention' at my command. She'd always tell me how nice my hair was,  what thick and  fabulous curls I had but; that was hardly a consolation! Anyway, didn't leave them loose much as they had to be worn as braids or two little ponytails with the red ribbons, part of the grooming prescribed for school. 

When in college in the late 90s the perms were in and every girl  liked to have them, It added volume to the hair apart from making it look wild and dramatic. I never tried that as my hair hardly was any different from remotely permed. Then in the early 2000s, came the poker straight, coloured and  highlighted hair. Every other girl sported that look. I liked it but felt it  looked like being a part of the local 'band'. Every girl looked the same and somehow the uber straight hair didn't look natural. But I just couldn't resist trying it once. 

Finally, I summoned enough courage to try the straight hair look, in 2004  went to my neighbourhood salon and told the lady there that I would like to straighten my hair. She agreed and told me the charges for different hair straightening products, she used the best available. She told me not to wash the hair for the next 48 hours. I went to work with that kind of sticky straight hair. A few of the people told me it looked nice but one of the colleagues, who never chewed her words, always gave her frank opinion told me that it wasn't that great and that my natural hair was far better. Anyway, couldn't do much then it was a mixed bag of feelings. Went back to the salon for the hair wash. Guess what? Like the dog's tail 'the best available hair straightening product' didn't do anything much for my hair, they hardly got any straight! The lady told me that my hair was thick and stubborn so didn't pick the result. She said that she'd try the second time, of course at no extra charge. I went to her that weekend too and the whole process started with some not so pleasant smelling solutions and gels. Went through the ordeal as it was like walking around having half of the mustache shaven.

The result was straight hair but it did break quite a few of my strands, luckily my hair was really thick so didn't become that noticeable. But I had achieved that straight hair look that I had always longed for! To be frank they didn't somehow feel natural but who cared... everything 'in' and in trend doesn't have to be natural or comfortable. Why would women wear stilettos then? I felt 'In' with the trend!

After that disastrous episode I haven't gone for using any chemicals or straightening products on my hair. What I do now is, if I need a different look, say hair to look better behaved then I oil them well the night before, shampoo and condition them the following morning. That  relaxes them a bit and while the hair is still wet, I  cover them with a silk scarf, heat the iron (the ironing box used for ironing clothes) and iron the silk scarf. It gives instant straight hair and it doesn't look as if the hair has been asked to remain straight at gun point. At no extra cost one can get great looking straight hair. They'll remain so till the next wash. 

If you can't handle the iron yourself, seek someone's help. There are many products available in the market that can be tried, if you don't mind experimenting and treating your hair to some new fragrances, I am not saying that they'll be pleasant always. Many brands offer gels, mousses and hairsprays that need to be applied on wet hair and the effect will last till the next wash.  If the hair isn't too stubborn then a blow dry can also make it straight. Alternatively, one can use the hair iron to straighten them. Yet again the effect lasts till the next wash.

Some women I've heard use the rolling pin on wet hair, rolling the end and pulling it down hard so that when the hair dries it remains straight. Some even swear by using heavy books such as a couple of encyclopedias. What they do is lie down on the floor comb  their wet hair and place the weight on them within 30 minutes the job is done. Latest in my list of know how is the use of cloth clips. Stand near a clothes line with wet and nicely combed hair, divide them into small sections and clip each section to the clothes line, again give it a half an hours time for the desired result. Some kitchen remedies are the use of curd regularly on hair, don't blame if you start  smelling sour permanently. Not a regular idea but it seems protein makes the hair look straight, rather it makes them stiff... so use the most potent protein that you can get your hands on. Haven't tried them though, but they seem to work fine.

Just in case, you are living in Mumbai and travel by the local train you don't need to do much just wash and condition your hair and stand at the door of the train (foot board actually), I know its not supposed to be done but half of the train travelers are hanging on the outside. If you are into that kind of antics, the air hitting your hair is the natural blow drier and the result is straight hair on the go!

Women would love it if there was a product, trustworthy enough and that promised straight hair without much fuss.

Submitting this post as an entry to the Indiblogger- Sunlik 'The straight Hair Experiment Contest.

These pictures have been take from various websites, if anyone has an objection to their use here, they'll be promptly removed.