I Didn't Know Hair Can Do That

[ChiChiKinks]

I recently started wearing my natural hair out fftopic (thanks to all my hair counselors :thumbsup ) any way so I wore it to work in a padded down afro and one black girl comes up to me and I stretch my hair out to show her the actual length and she was surprised. She said to me "wow, I didn't know your hair can do it". Now I wasn't going to post but yesterday I showed my length to another black chick at work and she had the same reply and reaction.

I myself was surprised that they were surprised that our hair can shrink and stretch like that. Although these ladies were regular black sisters with relaxed hair, I didn't know our hair shrinkage was a big secret. I thought everyone with our kind of kinky, coilly type of hair knew this even while relaxed....but I guess not

[sweetield]

yep. i have major shrinkage. it's a beautiful thing.

[bluvember]

So that's why they think their hair is growing after they get that perm. Its the shrinkage!

[undrea]

I love the shrinkage!! Alot of people haven't seen their natural hair in so long that they've forgotten how it used to shrink up.

[brittanynic]

a lot of people don't even know what there natural hair looks like. when i went natural my mom was surprised that my hair was curly when she is the main one telling me about how terrible it was to do my hair. now she loves to touch it...even though according to her i don't have good hair

[xxNappilicious_07..]

Originally posted by brittanynic@May 12 2004, 05:37 AM
when i went natural my mom was surprised that my hair was curly when she is the main one telling me about how terrible it was to do my hair.

right, my mom did me like this too. She will act all surprised how curly it is and stuff and be playing in it, oohing and ahhin at it, lol, telling my sister to come see. Then she will be like, I knew your hair was like this. This is how it was when you were little. I be thinking to myself "if you thought it was so cute, then why did you proceed to slather it in Gollum cream?"

[skn]

Alot of people haven't seen their natural hair in so long that they've forgotten how it used to shrink up.

Yep, if they've EVER seen it. I know I never did. Part of the ritual was to get me (and my sisters) from the sink to the dryer to the stove before we could ever have a chance to see anything.

When I was first natural (a LOOOONNNG time ago) I didn't really get the shrink thing. I accepted it, but I didn't really have a name for it. But it was funny that everyone else seemed to notice it. It was ridiculous: I would wear a shake and go...major shrink of course; next day (day-after hair) if I wore my hair out, nobody said a word. The third day I would be sporting a shake and go and EVERYBODY in the office would say, "did you cut your hair?"

I was clueless. I would just say, no my hair is just kinda wet right now. They would look at me like :huh , but that was it. Good thing they didn't ask me at the time because I didn't know the answer. I realized my hair looked longer on the second day, but I just attributed that to it being "pulled out."

[ulovenae]

when i was a permie i didn't know about shrinkage either. i always thought the perm stretched my hair... :doh stupid huh

[paulicia]

It's funny how permies claim not to know about shrinkage when they scatter like roaches at the first drop of rain to avoid it!

[skn]

It's funny how permies claim not to know about shrinkage when they scatter like roaches at the first drop of rain to avoid it!

Well, I don't purport to defend permies, but I don't think they *know* anything about shrink. I think permies in the rain are running from frizz. At least, that's what I was doing at the time. I don't think that action was good by any stretch, but I also don't think it's a reason to give them knowledge they (obviously) don't have.

Just sayin'.