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Hey all - I have a busy weekend planned out of town and I just found out I have an event Monday night that requires me to look good. I'm black and transitioning to natural and so - thinking maybe a blowout from a neighborhood "Dominican-style" salon? Any recommendations for neighborhood or elsewhere places? I'm scared to just randomly pick one; last time I went in my hair smelled burned for weeks after. 
Super bonus points for a place with hours late Friday, early Saturday or even open Monday. Thanks much!
Brooklynian » Forum » Greenwood Heights and Sunset Park »
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Meh, nevermind, think I might just slick back my hair and call it a day. Too scared of heat damage.
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Sorry, I didn't see this earlier. Not up on any of the Dominican places, but I swear by Time Salon in Ft. Green (Fulton and Greene)for the emergency hair stops. Its going to be more expensive than the Dominicanos, but they specialize in both natural and processed hair and if you're doing the in between thing, someone there should be able to help you out.
Call and ask for an appointment (718) 522-9030, they don't take walk-ins.
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Ha, that's funny - Time Salon was my solid go-to place before I decided to go natural last November. I just kinda stopped going - all the clients I saw in there were all getting relaxers so I assumed it wasn't the place for me to go for my transitioning. Maybe I'll go back, though. Do you happen to know which of the stylists there do natural best?
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The irony of going to a Dominican spot to fashion Black hair... Where do I begin? Yo, Google 'Trujillo', or, check out Henry Louis Gates' recent book, 'Black in Latin America'. Check out Chapter Four of the book. It's entitled, 'The Dominican Republic: Black Behind the Ears.' Folks from the DR have a skewed, unhealthy, bizarre concept of race. There is a constant striving for whiteness there.
Sorry to point fingers here, but I cannot help noticing Toadette's equating 'looking good' with having her hair essentially blown straight by a couple of D-Republicans, who, presumably will view you as a poor senora negraseeking their expertise to approximate whiteness.
I wonder if we all know what is involved in the straightening of Black hair? Essentially, chemicals or heat weaken the protein molecules which make it curly. This protein is called keratin. So, what happens over time to Black hair as it is subject to either heat, or chemicals, or both, is that the hair grows weak and breaks off. Sisters in their perpetual attempt to have long straight hair then turn to wigs and weaves, and these too come with their negative effects, namely the weakening of hair follicles and baldness. All in the name of 'looking good'. And what do we mean by 'looking good' anyway? What we mean is essentially trying our darndest to look like White people (Cue the Dominican hairdressers!) Whitefolks, do me a favor, ask your Black female friends why they choose to straighten their hair, and I bet you their answers are emblematic of self hatred. We like to say that history is dead, that what happened 300 or 400 or more years earlier have no presence here, but the heads of most Black women will tell you such is not the case. This also goes for the women who would rather wear the ACTUAL hair of other women because they believe that straight hair is better than un-straightened hair, or bleaching their skin (go to YouTube and type in 'Vybz Kartel', or 'Sammy Sosa' -- He's Dominican!), or even speaking in a certain manner because the manner of elocution that approximates how White people talk is presumed to be another aspect of 'looking good'.
'African-American hair' indeed...
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Did you not notice that Toadette is transitioning to "natural" hair? Presumably she also equates "looking good" with unprocessed hair. Cut her some slack?
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MHA, my experience is that black women know more about both the history and the science of how to deal with their hair than anyone else. In my experience for those that are in the know, decisions about how to wear their hair are immensely personal and are based upon a variety of factors including cultural beliefs, economics, professional responsibilities, and self-image. The lion's share of those women don't need to be lectured about the decisions they make.
I wonder what it is about yourself that sees the desire to "look good" as a desire to appear to be something on than what one is...
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Sorry about the lateness of this post, but I recommend these two places:
Juanita's Unisex (this is my favorite and I always go here)
39th and 5th just up above 5th avenue two doors up from the dinerInternational hair
40th and 5th avenuea teaspoon of kisses and a drop of glee -
It always amazes me when some writers insist people are propagating oppression, when the people themselves view thier actions as being their choice alone.
Some feminists feel entitled to tell women they should not wear makeup, bras, shave their legs, dye their hair, or have male bosses because they are supporting the ongoing patriarchy.
Not only are such feminists annoying, but they assume individuals have some obligation to follow their advice on how such broad social change is best achieved. Their is no best way to change the world, and I would never feel entitled to judge a person by how they wear their hair.
People are complex entities. Attempts to simplify people always end badly.
I am told one can respect the beliefs of others, without ratifying them. -
PS. Sorry I was unable to come thru with a recommendation for a fancy hair salon; despite having lots around me, I don't take that much pride in my appearance and rarely patronize them.
I am told one can respect the beliefs of others, without ratifying them. -
There is a hair salon on Sterling Place near the corner of Franklin Avenue. I see all sorts of hair there being blown, sewn, fried, and dyed into appropriate standards of normalcy.
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I wish I knew for certain what was normal, or appropriate. I walk thru life bumbling along.
I am told one can respect the beliefs of others, without ratifying them. -
late to the party :p, Cornrows are nice when done nicely just not in weird styles and its been around for thousands of years before the white man's oppression.
Fight white guilt and injustice by smoking tax free guilt free Reservation Smokes or go gamble in a Native Casino.
I like to stick it to The Man, The Man happens to be Liberal in NYC(power Structure). -
whynot_31 said:
PS. Sorry I was unable to come thru with a recommendation for a fancy hair salon; despite having lots around me, I don't take that much pride in my appearance and rarely patronize them.Why Not I disagree with a lot of your posts, but I have to heart you on this one
(I could't find a heart),
but, I wish I had the guts to stop wasting time, trying to take "pride" in my appearancea teaspoon of kisses and a drop of glee -
whynot_31 said:
PS. Sorry I was unable to come thru with a recommendation for a fancy hair salon; despite having lots around me, I don't take that much pride in my appearance and rarely patronize them.I think it's more a of a normal girls thing :p or guys who are too much into themselves, who imho waste money :p.
Fight white guilt and injustice by smoking tax free guilt free Reservation Smokes or go gamble in a Native Casino.
I like to stick it to The Man, The Man happens to be Liberal in NYC(power Structure). -
AW-
I often think I look good no matter how much (or how little) attention I pay to my appearance.It hurts me when others disagree, but somehow I carry on.
I am told one can respect the beliefs of others, without ratifying them. -
lol don't worry bro, as a guy the size of your wallet is more important than anyting else :p.
well only true when you grow older etc.. the younger you the better looking you are, more ladies you get.
but when ladies age they realize financial security is more important :p.
nerds/geeks at the end :p who make more money than the good looking guys :p. most of the time anyway LOL.
Fight white guilt and injustice by smoking tax free guilt free Reservation Smokes or go gamble in a Native Casino.
I like to stick it to The Man, The Man happens to be Liberal in NYC(power Structure). -
Wow, yeah - booklaw got it right. By "looking good" I just meant "put together" as in - hair having some style other than my half curly half frizzy ponytail I've been rocking the past 10 months while growing out the relaxer. Since it is easier to temporarily straighten the natural hair than set the straightened hair on some sort of micro-roller to give it the half-cm diameter curls of the natural kinked out part - straight it was.
Anywho, thanks for the recommendations. It was a job interview. I got the job. Hurray. Back to my ponytail, sorry new boss!
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Congrats on the new job!!!
(\__/)
(=’.'=)
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Congrats Toadette!
I am told one can respect the beliefs of others, without ratifying them. -
Congrats! Looking good wins again
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Is there a way I can temporarily make myself six inches taller for job interviews?
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I think you should start a new thread. This one has been through enough.booklaw said:
Is there a way I can temporarily make myself six inches taller for job interviews?
I am told one can respect the beliefs of others, without ratifying them. -
I'll pass, thanks.
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congrats :).
Fight white guilt and injustice by smoking tax free guilt free Reservation Smokes or go gamble in a Native Casino.
I like to stick it to The Man, The Man happens to be Liberal in NYC(power Structure). -
So I get censored for my dead on analysis about White supremacy and the politics of aesthetics, and the usual suspects can opine without repurcussion? And then Toadette digs a deeper hole for herself by rationalizing 'looking good' with a similie -- 'put together'? -- and by that she ultimately means straightening her hair? And I am off topic for responding to that? ANd WARNED against expressing that? Sheesh.....
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@MHA - Wow, "put together" i.e., I did something, ANYTHING to it beyond my 30 second lazy ponytail. Nothing more to read into it. Sheesh indeed.
To everyone else - thanks for your congrats!
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