It’s just hair, right? Sure, and Michelle Obama is just a nice looking lady with toned arms — and those bangs. The stir created by the first lady’s new locks is a little hint that hair does more than keep our head warm. It often determines how others see us and how we see ourselves.
Hair is extremely versatile, and not only from the styling standpoint.
Your hair can boost your self-esteem, call for self expression or even determine others’ view of you.
That’s true for women in particular. A woman’s hair is often times referred to as “her glory.”
Sherry Yourdan, owner of Shear 7x salon in Kinston, said when a woman likes her hair, her self-image is improved.
“I think when clients are down, (getting their hair done) makes them feel better about themselves,” she said. “It is very much tied to self-esteem.”
Using a telephone poll, USA Today reported 44 percent of 1,031 women said their mood has been negatively affected by a bad hair day. Hair product line Tresemme conducted a study in 2010 that showed women are on average spending more than $1,000 a year in salon visits and on hair products, with major complaints include hair being too thin or thick, unmanageable or falling out.
Diane Bryant, Kinston Sally Beauty Supply assistant manager, said most customers visit the store searching for hair treatments to help moisturize, especially during the frigid winter months.
“Our products are newly stocked,” she said Thursday at the store in Kinston Pointe Shopping Center. “You at least have to be a cosmetologist to work here. If not, you’re not familiar with the products and cannot tell (customers) about what to use for their type of hair.”
Bryant was a hair stylist for 13 years and said she’s seen the difference well-styled hair makes on a woman’s image.
“To a woman, our hair is our glory,” she said. “You can’t go out with a million-dollar outfit without your hair not being kept up, because the first thing people notice is your hair.”
Although Michelle Obama’s birthday is on Jan. 17, a Yahoo! news story that day highlighted her new hairdo — the much-discussed bangs — and only mentioned it was her 49th birthday in the last line.
Local women and stylists had varied opinions about what their hair means to them. Some said it does make or break their day, others said it makes them unique, while one even called it a reward.
“I like to get my hair done. It’s almost like a luxury for me working hard,” said Juanisha Lawson, an Atlanta woman who was visiting family in Kinston. “I’m beautiful, regardless. My hair doesn’t make me.”
Beauty
Sandy Mills of Deep Run said her hair means everything to her.
“If my hair is not right, nothing’s right,” she said.
She’s a client at the Hair Gallery salon in Kinston, which she found via word of mouth several years ago and has frequented since.
“Color is really important to me,” she said as she prepared for a touchup at the salon on Thursday. “I always leave here feeling good.
A Pantene Pro-V survey conducted in 2010 revealed women have a “love-hate” relationship with their tresses, with 91 percent of 2,000 women claiming to have a serious issue with their hair. It reported many women’s hair can affect their social interactions, including photo opportunities.
A local stylist believes having a good hairdo is a way to break from life’s issues.
“A lot of times women who have problems at home, (getting their hair done) is a way to escape,” said Nikki Morilla, owner of MNM Hair Spa, a Dominican salon in Kinston. “They want to look pretty.”
As she used a blow dryer on a young girl’s hair, she added, “When you look good, it makes you feel better.”
Hair — for men and women — can be linked to a person’s self esteem, according to many local stylists and community members, such as Wanda Hall, Gate Community Outreach Center director.
“We, as women, put a lot of emphasis on our hair,” she said. “I think it has a lot to do with how we see ourselves.”
She said there are many styles that help women define the importance of their hair.
“Whatever way you chose to wear your hair is definitely a part of you and means a lot to you,” said Hall, who rocks a short, natural cut. “I’ve seen a lot of women with a guy’s cut, but that works for them.”
Local men are noticing a trend in women with short hair — and they like it.
“Short hairstyles are in,” said cosmetologist and barber of NEDACUT Barber Shop, Anthony Coples. “I’ve seen women who had short hair and their personality made it look even better.”
His colleague George Garner said short hair is “cute,” but he is satisfied so long as a woman has some type of hair on her head.
“It’s an investment,” he said. “(A woman’s hair) has to be right. That let’s me know what the rest of her stuff is going to be like.”
He said the longer a woman takes in the shop, the better.
Depending on the style, women can log up to five hours in salontime, but Hair Gallery owner and stylist Michelle Cantu said clients could be in her shop from 30 minutes to two hours.
“You have some of them come in and they’re so depressed,” she said. “They feel so much better about themselves by the time they leave; it’s like a different person.
She said the reason she became a beautician was to boost others’ confidence, calling her career, “rewarding.”
Health
Several conditions can lead to hair loss, including chemotherapy for cancer patients.
“There are different ways to cope with it,” said Loretta Griffin, a nurse with Lenoir Memorial Cancer Center. “But it’s pretty overwhelming.”
She said cosmetologist Amy Hill demonstrates a variety of hair and make-up tricks for patients with Hill’s “Look Good, Feel Good” program.
“It’s pretty dramatic when you lose your hair,” Griffin said.
Locks of Love, a non-profit organization based in Florida, provides hairpieces for financially disadvantaged people up to 21-years-old suffering from a long-term, medical hair loss condition.
Tonya Adams, Kinston’s Beauty Box stylist, has witnessed a couple of clients donate their locks to the organization.
Cancer patients constitute the second highest percentage of Locks of Love recipients.
Wanda Hall survived a 1996 run of endometrial cancer during her last year of college at East Carolina University.
“When I went through chemotherapy and radiation, I lost my hair,” she said. “It wasn’t a big deal for me simply because I wore wigs for a while.”
She said the hair weaves were emerging in the 1990s, so wearing fake hair wasn’t going to stand out.
When her hair began falling out, she didn’t wrestle with trying to keep it — she immediately cut it off.
“I had to work with what I had,” said Hall, who experimented with various head wraps and pieces.
Although she had chemically straightened her hair since childhood, she made the decision to go natural — stop using chemicals in her hair — nearly three years ago because the perm’s upkeep became too difficult and it damaged her hair.
So she cut it off.
All natural
A USA Today Poll reported 36 percent of women chose to ditch relaxers in 2011 — a 10 percent jump from the previous year.
Stylist Danielle Noble of Kinston’s Simply Hair, a salon that specializes in natural hair care, said determining a texture is the starting point for newly-natural women.
“The difficulty, I think, for most women now is adjusting to their natural hair,” she said. “Most people have had chemically-altered hair for so long.”
Trending across the lands is the “big chop,” a haircut that removes chemically altered hair for a fresh start. Simply Hair teaches women to manage their hair during the natural journey.
“Some people don’t think you have as much versatility with natural hair,” Nobles said. “I think you have more versatility.”
Juanisha Lawson said although close family members wear perm-free hairstyles, going natural is too time-consuming for her.
“If it were more acceptable in the workplace, I would probably wear my hair natural,” she said, adding relaxed hair is also difficult to maintain.
Culture has a role in determining how women wear their hair, she said.
“I think sometimes African American women emphasize too much on the European look and (do) not appreciate the natural beauty of our hair,” Lawson said. “A lot of us don’t appreciate our natural beauty.”
Hall, though, enjoys being natural and said it shows her individualism.
“It doesn’t define me, but I think it makes me different,” she said. “In a professional setting, my hair certainly stands out.”
Achieving eye-catching natural looks can take many hours, but studies show more women are transitioning out of relaxers.
Nobles said a common misconception is natural hair is always healthier, but it’s not automatic.
“All natural hair is not healthy hair,” said Nobles, who encouraged finding the right treatment for a person’s own hair type.
MNM Salon owner Nikki Morilla said natural hair dries much faster than relaxed hair.
“You can’t put shampoos in it too much because they have a lot of chemicals,” she said, suggesting naturals should “co-wash,” washing with conditioner instead of shampoo each time.
She said both hair situations should receive treatments, keep up with chemical services and maintain moisture.
“Hair is like a plant,” said Morilla, who’s been styling hair for 24 years. “You have to feed and nourish it.”
Every two weeks, Clyde Harris Jr., 20, gets his dredlocks re-twisted.
“The lady (who does them) said that’s why they grew so fast,” said the Winston Salem State University student who began his dredlocks when he was a freshman in 2010. “It’s a way of me saying, ‘This is me, this is who I’m gonna be.’”
He said women should take the same approach and chose whatever style suits them.
“A woman’s hair gives them confidence,” Harris said. “If they don’t have good hair, they might not have a good day.”
The men
Anthony Coples styles both men and women’s hair, believing women prefer a male stylist.
“They say we grow their hair,” he said.
While he’s personally experienced the importance of hair to women, he said the vanity goes both ways.
“We’re men, and a lot of times we don’t want to touch our sensitive side,” Coples said. “We are very particular about our hair. If a man is used to seeing his hair one way and he gets out of the (barber) chair and something’s wrong with his head, it’s going to bother him.”
Common man-problems linked to hair — along with a bad haircut — include balding and thinning.
“A lot of bald-headed men are pickier,” said barber Tim Brinson of Friendly Barber. “A lot of men who are thinning are more concerned, too. They’re trying to save it.”
Men, like women, have their hair care tips and secrets.
NEDACUT barbers said men dye and chemically process their hair to hide the gray and make their locks appear fuller.
“A lot of men are scared of going bald,” barber George Garner said.
He said keeping a fresh haircut is important to a man’s appearance because of stereotypes.
“You have a certain image you want to hold up,” Coples said. “Everyone does.”
Tonya Adams said some men are pickier about their hair than women, noting one of the longest times she spent on a haircut was on a man.
“He was just so peculiar about his hair,” said Adams, who remembers the 45 minutes she spent on that man 20 years ago.
She said clients at her shop at times don’t want to cut off half an inch of hair because they closely link personality with their tresses.
“For some ladies, their hair is their identity,” she said. “It shows a reflection of who they are.”
Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-259-1078 or at jessika.morgan@kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.