Philosophical Monday: When Bedtime Accessories Get Ugly

So when I was 17, I cut off all of my hair and rocked a natural until the age of 21 when I got dreads. Then I wore those forĀ  11 years, until one day I decided I just couldn’t bear to retwist my ends even one more time and once again cut all of my hair off.

The best bit of my first natural 15 years is that I didn’t have to fuss with my hair day or night. I went to bed and then when I woke up, all I had to do was run a hand through it before heading out the door. My hair never took more than 5 minutes to deal with.

Painting by Irma Stern

Painting by Irma Stern

Now I wear my hair in a afro hybrid style called a twist out. I still don’t have to fuss with it in the morning, but if I want it to hold it’s style and luster, I’ve found it necessary to wear a scarf to bed at night. I am not happy about this. My hair looks great in the morning, but the scarf makes me look even dowdier than 8 months of pregnancy does.

The head scarf look is especially unappealing on me, as I feel it makes me look less like a nubian queen and more like an antebellum field slave. However, if I don’t wear it, it takes a lot more work in the morning to make my hair look decent and my twist out doesn’t look as good for as long.

So now I face the dilemma that most other women have had to decide for themselves long before now. Cute for the person who shares your bed at night or cute for the rest of the world during the day? Decisions, decisions… Advice and comments welcome.