October is Black History Month here in the United Kingdom and so far I have spent it all with my natural hair. It isn't a deliberate statement but the timing does seem to work. I still scowl at my reflection in the mirror first thing in the morning, but I'm OK with it. My hair looks the same as it did when I was eleven, but the main difference is that I now bother combing it properly and putting a bobble in it. As per usual there are people wanting to know when we'll be celebrating white … [Read more...] about BLACK HISTORY MONTH
SUBURBAN AFRO POSTS
SEEING DOUBLE. THE CURSE OF THE DOUBLE HAIRDO
There are lots of ways to have hair extensions. Quite often my go to solution is to bury my natural hair under my shop bought hair. There are various methods, but the end result is that you only see my new (and allegedly improved) hair. This period of equilibrium exists for a brief time until eventually we witness the return of the original hair, peeking out from under the shop bought hair, giving rise to the dreaded Double Hair Do The good news is that for a while I'm the only person who … [Read more...] about SEEING DOUBLE. THE CURSE OF THE DOUBLE HAIRDO
I SHOULD BE GORGEOUS BY NOW
I'm average looking. That's not a good thing or a bad thing, it's just a thing. Most people are average looking, it is quite unusual to meet people who are either truly beautiful or hideously ugly. The trick is to make the best of what you have. I looked my best when I was 25/26. I was young and slim. I was old enough to know what suited me and I was earning enough money to buy the clothes, products and hairdo's that flattered me most. I had my first management position and was driving around … [Read more...] about I SHOULD BE GORGEOUS BY NOW
THE DELAY ZONE – NOT GETTING YOUR HAIR DONE ON TIME
OK so today's D-Day. You've taken your fro to the hairdressers, your hair looks amazing and you've had the chat about when you need to do your roots / remove your extensions / redo whatever you just had done and you nod, smile and enthusiastically agree that you'll be back in four to six weeks or whatever the agreed timescale is. Then you strut your way out of the salon looking amazing. Fast forward three months and you still haven't been back. The Delay Zone is the gap between when you … [Read more...] about THE DELAY ZONE – NOT GETTING YOUR HAIR DONE ON TIME
NEW CLIENT SYNDROME – SALON CUSTOMER SERVICE
I have very strong views on customer service, which almost certainly stems from spending several years as a customer service manager for a very large company, and means that whenever I come across poor customer service I notice. There are lots of ways that hair salons can display good customer service and over the years I've experienced both fantastic customer service and terrible customer service. The frustrating thing is that sometimes you get both ends of the spectrum from the same … [Read more...] about NEW CLIENT SYNDROME – SALON CUSTOMER SERVICE
IN DISGUISE
For the next few days the site is going to look a little bit different. I built this site on WordPress and there have been a couple of updates which mean that the theme which controls how this website looks has changed - and not in a good way. It's the digital equivalent of dying your hair blonde and having it turn green! So until I finish rebuilding it, I'm going to have to go with something safe and plainish. Technically this shouldn't take very long but when you're self employed you … [Read more...] about IN DISGUISE
WEB DEVELOPMENT STUFF
As I hope I've made fairly clear, this blog isn't designed to offer you a host of life changing hair and beauty tips. I build websites for a living. I offer other digital services too, but the majority of the day job is building websites for people. I retrained as a mature student a few years ago and quickly discovered that learning web development is a process that never ends. You don't start with a list of things and when you've learnt them all you're done. The things on the list change and … [Read more...] about WEB DEVELOPMENT STUFF
HAIRY HORROR STORIES
I was a child in the 1970s, so I grew up watching Charlie's Angels with icons like Farah Fawcett and her famous flick. There were also regular adverts for Harmony hairspray, which consisted of somebody with nice straight hair flicking their head about for no obvious reason. As far as I was concerned nice hair meant long hair and definitely not a very short afro. When I was a little girl, visits to the hairdresser were essentially going to have my hair cut very very short. The only thing I hated … [Read more...] about HAIRY HORROR STORIES
BAD HAIR WEEK
I'm currently having a bad hair week. Some people have bad hair days, but mine generally last at least a week. If there was a scale of how good my hair looks where a ten is how I look when I've just left the hairdressers, I'm currently around a two. Last week I was a three because I could still manage a fringe with the help of the straighteners, this week I've dropped to a two because I can just about get all my natural hair in a bobble but not even a pair of GHD's could get this sponge to … [Read more...] about BAD HAIR WEEK
HELLO FROM THE SUBURBAN AFRO
As a rule of thumb my natural hair journey is me travelling as far as humanly possible away from my natural hair. I spent most of my childhood daydreaming about having long straight hair and most of my adulthood experimenting with every kind of hairdo. I've been permed, relaxed, weaved and braided but when the chemicals wear off and the extensions are removed I'm back to spending time with my nemesis. My natural hair. Every time I look in the mirror my unruly, unattractive, uneven afro waves … [Read more...] about HELLO FROM THE SUBURBAN AFRO