I felt the waxy goo before I saw it. Squinting, for a better look, I carefully separated the hair that grew from his temples, ordinarily bristling white, but now suspiciously black and tarry. Interrupting my cutting, I ventured, "Doug, what's all over your hair?" As I awaited his reply, I contemplated my long professional relationship with the man seated before me. I cut hair and work with hairpieces for a living. I design, install, and maintain them for fees far below those of large companies whose lavish infomercials are viewable following David Letterman's show. Doug was not typical of my clients. He favored a vanity I could not understand and fed it as cheaply as possible. His obsessive search for his lost youth was equaled only by the stinginess of his wallet. I had taken care of his hair needs for ten years since he was in his early forties, and not once had he tipped me or acknowledged his age. My patience with him ran thin, but I was about to experience something that would help my own dilemma of age and vanity regarding my life and my profession.
Interrupting my reverie, I heard him mutter, "It's mascara." He kept glancing sideways at his wife who currently smelled of methane gas and sported a plastic bag on her head brimming with perm rods. "It's mascara," he repeated, "You know, for the gray..." I continued cutting,
Cornish, p. 2
just shaking my head. Doug was the only client to whom I continually gave hairpieces near cost. He always looked as though the mangy matted mess upon his crown were some form of
exotic roadkill. I rued the day his peers at the San Diego Courthouse might ask the name of his stylist. I practically gave him new pieces to wear so the look of my work would improve. "Doug, I have known you more than ten years." I stated the obvious and began my never ending discourse regarding his problems with growing older, his lousy self-image, as well as the horrible state of his hairpieces. I blabbed while he ignored and the cycle of ten years continued. Finally he stopped, sighed theatrically, and swallowed. "OK," he said," Order me a new one with gray in it, and I'll leave the mascara alone." My enthusiasm grew as I savored a breakthrough-and a sale. We arranged to meet the following week to pick the new color from nylon swatches I use.
In 1909, Morgan opened a tailoring shop, selling coats, suits and dresses. While working in this shop he came upon a discovery which brought about his first invention. He noticed that the needle of a sewing machine moved with such a high speed that often its friction would scorch the thread of woolen materials. He then set out to develop a liquid that would be a useful polish to the needle, reducing friction. Once, when his wife called him to dinner, he wiped the liquid from his hands onto a piece of pony-fur cloth. When he returned to his workshop, he saw that the fibers on the cloth were now standing straight. He conceived that the fluid had actually straightened the fibers. In order to confirm his theory, he decided to apply some of the fluid to the hair of a neighbor's dog. The fluid straightened the dog's hair so much, that the neighbor, not recognizing his own pet, chased the animal away. Morgan then decided try the fluid on himself, trying small portions of his hair at first, and eventually his entire head. He was successful and had invented the first human-hair straightener. This invention has helped a lot commercially. A lot of today’s media features people with straightened hair. This might not be possible if Garrett Morgan hadn’t made the contributions he did. He marketed the product under the name the G. A. Morgan Hair Refining Cream and sold by his G. A. Morgan Refining Company, which became a very successful business.
Beneath the ‘poem’ is an introduction to the product. It emphasizes the product’s natural ingredients, things that seem as though they would be better in a salad dressing than on one’s hair. However, these ingredients are important. First, the emphasis the ‘naturalness’ of the product in turn emphasizes the natural state of the projected audience’s hair. Secondly, its use of Americanized products instead of typical African products (olive oil versus jojoba oil) separate this ad from the typical ‘natural hair care product’ ads. This ad is geared towards a new type of Black woman, one who is more interested in a connection to spirituality and art than to Africa.
Sullivan, Deborah A. "Tightening the Bonds of Beauty." Cosmetic Surgery: The Cutting Edge of Commercial Medicine in America. N.p.: Rutgers UP, 2001. N. pag. Print.
...an see the hazards that are associated with too much vanity and not enough reality: ‘“How is your father? I always liked him. He was one of the finest-looking young men I ever saw. Vain, too, like all his family.”’
Alice Walker’s short creative nonfiction, Dreads uses imagery to convey her narrative about a hairstyle that was inspired by singer, Bob Marley. Dreads are defined as a “hairstyle in which the hair is washed, but not combed, and twisted while wet into braids or ringlets hanging down on all sides”, according to howtogetdreads.com. Imagery was chosen for this paper by the depth of Walker’s illustration of beauty that natural hair has that might seem to be abonnement or not professional by society standards. This reading sparks interests just by the title a lone. That people have mixed feeling about dreads, some might see it as being spiritual; or as a political statement. However, Walker loves the way her natural hair is supposed to form without
For women especially, advertisements have them denying ageing, and going to great lengths to continue to look like the ideal of a youthful woman. There are hundreds of anti ageing products that are advertised to convince women that ageing is undeniably a bad thing. These advertisements for anti ageing products often show a youthful woman without any flaws as the ideal woman to become. In order to become this youthful woman, fight your ageing and buy the product to prevent or fix any flaws you may have. In figure 1 below for an Olay regenerist anti ageing product, the advertisement shows a youthful woman with no flaws using the product. The product is being applied to the woman’s face similarly to the way a doctor would draw on your face before plastic surgery. The ...
“Shaving” is a short story about a teenage boy who shaves his dying father. Throughout this story, there are many lines of dialogue, and although they may seem simple at first, most of them have a profound deeper meaning. For example, near the beginning of the book, where his father stays to Barry that “You could have used electric razor, I expected that.” Barry replies by saying that “You wouldn’t like it, you’ll get a closer shave this way.” In this quote, what they talk about on the surface is fairly obvious, the quality of the shave ad the razor. However, beneath the surface of this quote lies a much deeper meaning. Barry uses a real razor instead of an electric one, which shows not only his confidence in shaving skills, but also the fact that he has taken the family matters into his own hands, as to put his father into such danger like that, as
I instinctively squeeze my eyes shut. The distinctive odor of chemicals and the sweet aroma of coconut oil intermix in the air and the monotone sound of scissors and clippers fill my ears and the warm water streaming down my scalp overwhelm my senses. Once again I’m sitting up in my chair and before me are stacks of hair magazines filled with minority women modeling bold or day-to-day hairstyles. Optimistically flipping through the pages of one of the magazines, I stop mid way through, “This one,” I say assertively while I use my thumb to point to the women modeling a braided updo. My stylist smiled and nodded at me and walked to the other side of the salon to retrieve all the supplies that she’ll need.
Sloane starts losing her hair and gets diagnosed with alopecia areata. “A pile of hair came out when I showered.” (Langston49), Sloane got frantic and nervous when she noticed an abnormal amount of her hair falling out. She checked to make sure that she did not have any bald spots, however she did in fact find three. She went to a specialist and
In the short story "Lather and Nothing Else," by Hernando Tellez, the author explains how society tells a man, Captain Torres, about a barber who is secretly a revolutionary. Myself can relate the quote back to this short story because the barber is hiding pieces of his true self. "I would have to shave his beard just like any other, carefully, neatly, just as though he were a good customer, taking
My dad removed a Swiss Army knife from his belt and poised the miniature scissors at the nape of my neck. The snip-snip reverberated sharply against my numb ears. I knelt down at the banks of Evolution Lake and surveyed my reflection on the water: my face was toughened and my appearance starkly different.
Men and women have often been appalled from my abundance of body hair. While body hair is not a "social norm" I decided to go against it last summer. Instead of shaving my armpits once every couple of days like every other girl at camp, I let my body take its natural course. Personally I felt that it wasn't a big deal, having a little hair under my arm pits was heavily criticized and I was judged harshly. Men with more body hair than I could ever grow called me gross, which I found hypocritical. In our culture body hair below the neck is looked upon a gross and unattractive (for women), but why is it not gross for men? Why not let nature take its course on our bodies, we are wasting our time and money on removing body hair that is on our bodies for a reason! According to Glamour magazine; the average women will shave 7,718 times in her life and spend over $10,000 on body hair removal products. The war on body hair i...
Every bride wants to look her best on her perfect day. Dr. Young and the staff at Advanced Cosmetic Surgery are dedicated to delivering superior aesthetic results. Dr. Levi Young is a natural artist and brings that artistry to his patients. Using his eye for elegance and classic beauty, Dr. Young provides advanced cosmetic outcomes. He is compassionate, caring and devoted to building a personal relationship with every patient to ensure the patient's goals and expectations are understood.
First of all, Pamela, you look radiant – absolutely stunning in that dress. Jonathan, you need a haircut! As I was walking behind him leaving the church this morning a funny thought occurred to me. From the back, it is very difficult to tell if Jonathan is a man who needs a haircut or a woman who just had one. When Jonathan was best man at my wedding he made a great deal of me having a mullet. Jonathan, I don’t think I have to say anything more about your present hairstyle other than at least mine had a name.
Ms. St. Vincent attended group with a positive attitude and moderately participated in the group. She stated “Being around people or friends who still using can be triggered for me.” She indicated having troubles to trust and open up to others, which prevented her to develop new friendships. Ms. St. Vincent appeared to be in the action stage of change.