Japanese Straightening Perm

Grant was quite angry with me for posting the picture of his little nap the other day. So in the spirit of apology I will post an icky picture of me (this is not hard to do). I'm also using the opportunity to vent about something that bothers me at least every third day.

This is me after a shower.

Notice my hair. It's poofy and weird. Genetically I got a lot of great things from Mom and Dad. From Mom I'm very thankful that I get practically zero stretch marks from pregnancy. From Dad I'm happy to claim a naturally slim figure. But, you guys, you really failed me in the hair arena. It's not a lovely straight like Eileen's and Andrew's. It doesn't have a lovely curl like Rachel's. It's frizzy and poofy with strange and unattractive angles. I've hated my hair with undying passion for at least 15 years.


This is me after spending 10 mintues with a straightening iron. Notice how much better my hair looks and how much happier I am.


But my happiness is marred by those 10 mintues. Say I take a shower every third day , that's 122 showers per year (rounded up, you know, in case I get a wild hair and take a shower after only 2 days once a year). That's 122 dates with my straightening iron which amounts to 1220 mintues a year. That, people, is over 20 hours! And it's even more if I have to add in blow drying time. And, what if I wanted to go swimming spontaneously? I have to live with the dread of everyone seeing my hair after it dries. This is all unnecessary agony. In Taiwan I discovered the Japanese Straightening Perm. Wu Jung Li Tang in Mandarin. For about 3 blissful years I revelled in poker straight hair straight from the shower. Spontaneous swims? No problem! Sweat? No problem. A water fight while washing the car? No problem! Sadly, after 2 years in the States my hair has grown back out into it's natural frizzy poofiness. And I'm back to hating my hair and being one of those girls that squeal, "Ooooo! Don't get my hair wet!" Japanese Straightening Perms are available in the US. For FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!! In Taiwan, at my length of hair it would cost about US$80. C'mon, the economies are not that different! I've been told by hair dressers here and it's said on the internet that it's a very specialized procedure, time consuming, it takes skills etc, etc. They apparently feel they deserve every penny of that $500 (which amounts to over $150/hr if the procedure takes about 3 hours). I'm sorry, but I beg to differ. I've had the procedure done multiple times and there is one part that needs the special skills of the hairdresser. He or she must check the hair during the "relaxing" portion to assess if the hair is 'done' enough. I appreciate this skill very, very much. I love hairdressers forever for knowing this skill and giving me straight, silky hair. But it is not neuroscience. The rest of the procedure involves hair washing and rinsing, blow drying, straightening with an iron, glooping stuff onto hair and sticking it under a heat lamp. In Taiwan the salons hired just-out-of-high school kids to do the hair washing, glooping, blow drying and working the irons parts. The hair dresser took care of the checking of the hair during certain key times when the gloop was on the hair and the haircut afterwards. They would also help with the other chores if they weren't otherwise engaged. The hairdressers would have multiple perms going on at a time and do some cuts in the down time. I'm begging the hairdressers of America to make the Japanese Straightening Perm available to the masses and not just to movie stars and the uber rich. Have pity on us poor frizzy haired people. Give us the Perm for a decent price and we will flock to you in droves. You will become rich beyond compare. Okay, maybe not, but you will be loved and honored by clients galore and you definitely won't be any poorer!