Hair

• Lori Palminteri
• Uncategorized
• March 16, 2022

I didn’t really know how much a haircut (or styling or highlights) cost until I was in college. I remember the moment clearly. At the time, I was working at the nursing home and a girl I worked with had gotten a haircut and highlights and it looked really good. We were all complimenting her on it. And then she told us how much it cost which was well over $100. This completely shocked me. Then, all the other girls I worked with then were like, “yeah, that’s how much it cost.”

It wasn’t until then I realized I had been taking advantage of my godmother, Aunt Nancy, my entire life when it came to hair. She’s a hairstylist, and at that point in my life, no one else had cut my hair. Usually, Aunt Nancy wouldn’t charge me anything at all. I’d just tip her. Suddenly, I felt pretty bad about myself. It just never occurred to me to look up the prices of the hair-styling universe. It wasn’t my intention to take advantage of my aunt, someone I love dearly, is a strong maternal figure and frankly, one of my best friends. “Damn,” I thought to myself, “I really have to start tipping Nancy more or getting her better Christmas/birthday presents.”

Because Aunt Nancy has been my life long hair person and Uncle Keith (her husband) is the best cook I’ve ever known, I used to fantasize how if I got famous and toured for comedy, I could hire Nancy to do my hair, Keith to cook my meals, and they could join me on the road. We always have a lot of laughs together, and together they are actually fodder for material as I always viewed them as a sitcom like married couple, who bickers, jokes and loves unconditionally.

But Nancy may have some competition: Charlotte. Charlotte is my niece and is just four years old but when I sleep over my sister’s house she always brushes my hair at night. Charlotte is such a girl. Everything with her is “beautiful,” about rainbows and unicorns and what she loves. Charlotte’s emotions can run erratic, however. She can be the happiest kid one moment, and the next she is crying about something totally ridiculous. One night when I was sleeping over, Charlotte brushed my hair, “it’s so beautiful, like Rapunzel!” she complimented her own work. When she went to the bathroom to put the brush away, I moved my hair. So when she returned to the living room, all of a sudden she burst into tears. All of us were like, “Charlotte, what’s wrong?“

Crying, “Aunt Lori ruined her hair! After I made it perfect! Why would you do that? Why did you ruin your hair?”

Geez, sorry kid. So she got the brush again and made my hair “perfect again.” After she did so, she said, “now don’t touch your hair. Cause it’s so beautiful. You have to leave it this way till you go home. Don’t mess it up. It’s so long and beautiful. I love you!”

My cosmic sister-in-law, Dayna, mother of my nephew, Blaise, is also a hair dresser. She is part owner of an amazing salon in Babylon, Long Island, called “Hair Stories.” The salon was hosting a summit where the senior stylists were showing their junior employees some of their secrets. I was lucky enough to act as a “model” for this. Dayna and her team are awesome. They made my hair look possibly the best it’s ever looked. I had a real Jennifer Anniston look going on and it made me wish someone else could do my hair every day, because my hair never looks that good when I blow dry it.

It’s crazy how much our confidence is contingent on what our hair looks like (and I find this to be equally true for men and women). For example, there have been times I didn’t go out because my hair looked bad (haha). Conversely, there were times I didn’t feel like going out but my hair looked so good, I just had to leave the house because I wasn’t going to waste a great hair day.

It just so happened I had a first date that night Dayna did my hair. I said to Dayna, “I feel like my hair is false advertising. This is dishonest hair. It will never look this good again! My hair is too impressive!”

Dayna joked that I will just have to keep going to her house so she could keep doing my hair before dates to keep up this facade. I wish!

Anyway, it was the best first date I’ve had in ages. Was it because he and I are compatible and find one another charming? Or was the success contingent on my perfect hair game?