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.
Chapter 1: Mary Roach discusses about the procedures performed on heads for plastic surgery. She brings up her experience on specializing this. She then explains the results and problems performed by the task such as restoring them and relocating.
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.
In today’s world, many people place a huge emphasis upon appearance, self-image and fitting in. Some are willing to go great lengths to gain a better sense of confidence, even though the outcome may come at a great cost. In the short story,“Anointed With Oils”. Alden Nowlan introduced Edith as a young, shack girl who tried so hard to extinguish her past to create a new life for herself. As an uneducated young lady, Edith found it very hard to land a respectable and organized job that she desired. She was embarrassed of many aspects of her life so she always tried to enhance her quality of life and the way she appeared. Edith believed that in order to be a star, she needed to be beautiful but she didn't see that in herself. Changing her appearance
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
“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
In this piece, Grealy describes the influence of her experiences of cancer, its treatments, and the resulting deformity of her face on her development as a person. She explores how physical appearance influences one's sexual identity and over all self worth. She also explores how one's own interpretation of one's appearance can be self fulfilling. Only after a year of not looking at herself in the mirror, ironically at a time when she appears more "normal" than ever before, does Grealy learn to embrace her inner self and to see herself as more than one’s looks or physical appearance.
“Beauty might bring happiness, but happiness always brings beauty” (the daily quotes) If you have ever been unhappy about your appearances remember, it is a very familiar problem every human faces. Cosmetology was created to help those that are in need of their desired look. To express every moment was second of who they are or will become to be. Even though, we have abundant stylist today throughout the country. This career may not be the most satisfying, fun, or even a high-ranking in income, but the satisfaction of each smile is more than enough. However, challenging cosmetology is one of the most creative of all art.
Maureen, her nanny, whose face is riddled with defects, still inspires Coralie to think that, “she [is] beautiful, despite her scars” (10), despite the imperfections she, herself, posses. Then I realized: Isn’t this the true nature of life? Don’t we often look at ourselves, picking out the flaws that we think others will notice? I do this too often, never once thinking that, in reality, people often don’t notice these imperfections or look down on us for them. For instance, Dove had created a commercial that placed women in a position where they had to describe themselves in front of an artist. Accordingly, other women with whom they had met previously were asked to describe them. Of course, the outcome is completely different, yet many women can’t see that. Due to this blind nature, people often try to remove their faults, alike to Coralie, who “attempted to rid herself of the webbing with a sharp knife…” (19), which seems extreme, however many nowadays go through cosmetic procedures to ‘fix’ themselves too. This struggle of accepting ourselves is by no means new—it is an eternal static that doesn’t seem to
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.
you that you are ageing, and are in need of beauty products to achieve the ideal look. Teen dramas use the
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...
• Meet with local media to introduce them to the product line and share information about the natural method of hair removal.
Have you ever looked in the mirror and seen many white flakes in your hair? That is a sign you have trouble with dandruff. There have been many shampoos that have been created like Dove, Suave, and Pantene. Every shampoo brand has a different way of using ads to persuade buyers, but one shampoo who is made for men, guarantees greatness, and not dandruff is Head & shoulders. This advertisement is found in the Sports illustrated magazine. Head & shoulders advertisement effectively persuades its target audience to purchase their shampoo through the use of ethos, logos, and pathos.
For many years, I coveted anyone's hair that was anything that my hair wasn't. Despite our differences, we have come to a mutual understanding. And, now, I can say, with some confidence, that my hair and I are friends, not just forced to be together because of genetics. But I can admit this only after years of hard lessons and experience.
Ah, I remember how she used to be with me all the time. A day did not go by without me going over to play. I remember how we used to play for hours and hours. We played whatever came to mind; it didn’t matter as long as we were together. We were happy.