《Being Nigerian In A Foreign Country.》Hairstyle.
Advertisement
There are times where I've had to cancel an outing with friends, with the excuse, "I'm not feeling well today" or "I have other plans."
Well, it's a lie. The truth is, I'm feeing fine but the state of my hair isn't. And yes, I have other plans, plans to get it done, which would take ALL DAY LONG. So I can't go out with you.
Again, soz.
I might come to the pool party the next day though, but just know that I'm not swimming. And if someone by joke throws me in the pool . . . hm . . . someone is gonna get murdered.
The worst part of it is when you have to travel miles to get to your hairdressers. In Nigeria, you can easily find a hairdresser that is suitable for you . . . they're everywhere. The options and plenty, so you can do shakara.
Don't try that here o.
In England, it's not as easy. You have to search hard to find that GOOD ONE, and before you actually find that ONE, you might have tried a few crap ones, who would do experiment on your hair. Some Nigerians here, claim to be good hairdressers. Lies. It turns out that they are not as good as they claim to be. Just don't fall for it, if you're new here. They'll leave your hair looking like a mad woman's.
If you're in Nigeria, you can just vex and loosen it, the next day, fix a new one. But here, you just have to manage it, because you cannot afford to pay another £50 or £60 or take a whole day off work just to get it done again.
You know what's a good idea? To have an 'emergency wig' at home, so when sh*t like this happens, you're sorted. It's a temporary solution to the problem. Then you're not left stranded
When you find that perfect hairdresser, whatever you do, keep, treasure, cherish him/her, because, trust me, you don't want to be going through the stress of looking for another one. That, my dear, might take you a long while.
Advertisement
When you have non-black friends and colleagues and you show up with a new hairstyle, they're mind-blown. The reaction on their faces is exceptional lol. They'll be like "Oh my gosh your hair is amazing. It's beautiful. Wow!"
"Why thank you, thank you." *Grins widely whilst my head swells from the compliments*
These are questions you'll get asked.
"Well, yes, you can touch it, since you asked. But please don't just think you have access to touching my hair every time you feel like it, because I might be wearing a wig one day and you'll go and do oversabi and touch my hair and the wig falls of . . . eh! It won't funny o.
I understand your curiosity, but for the love of Christ, just ask, okay? In fact, don't touch it sef. My hair is not an experiment. Except you're my hair stylist . . .
You ever heard of that thing called extension? Yeah? Okay.
So, if my hair is in a short bob braids, (colour blue and purple) one day and another day I have it down in long dreadlocks (grey and black), don't come and be asking me rubbish questions. It's an extension. I don't know how many times I've had to explain to someone saying, "Oh this isn't my natural hair." And most response I get is this, "So, is it like fake?" or worse, "Is it a horse's hair?"
Mtcchheeeewwwww!
No! It's not fake. Neither is it from a horse, you dum dum. It's an extension added to my natural hair. You know, like some of you have on sometimes. (or it might be a wig, again, depending on the situation lol)
Even Beyoncé and all these other famous celebrities use extension and wear wigs, so shush you mouth and don't judge.
"Can I wash my hair?" "Can I wash my hair?"
Advertisement
Are you taking a piss right now.
Of course I can wash my hair. Why wouldn't I be able to? Okay, I might not be able to wash it everyday or every other day like you do. It's not because I'm dirty or I don't want to, but it's because of the texture of my hair. Fact is, black hair, thrives on oils, so washing it everyday, means removing the oils and it isn't really doing any good to it.
Where oil is an adversary to Caucasian hair, it actually does us a lot of good, so much that we actually make it a daily routine of oiling our scalps . . . How romantic.
I wish I was that clever. But no, I didn't. Someone did them for me. Although some people make their hair themselves (I seriously don't know how they do it. Big thumbs up to them).
I like looking at the faces of people when I tell them it took abut 6 or 7 hours to get my braids done. "Oh my God. I wouldn't be able to sit that long."
Of course you wouldn't be able to because you don't to. We're are used to it. Like my mum always say, "fashion is painful."
Just so you all know, it's all love here, okay? I'm not pointing fingers or anything like that. Like i mentioned before, these are all from experience. They're not meant to upset anyone. That's not my intention. This is just educating people about other cultures and places and how different it is from yours. We're all learning from each other, yeah? Okay?
OKAY, we good.
Advertisement
- In Serial25 Chapters
MERTICORE
Meet Ian. Ian is an IT consultant who accepted a supposedly impossible job for an incredible amount of money. However, he quickly learns why his colleagues avoided that gig like the plague. Ian now hates his job, and wants to be fired to get severance pay. However, things don’t go as planned when he downloads MERTICORE, a mysterious program that popped out of nowhere. After that, the life of Ian has changed drastically. Gone are the days of drinking bad coffee while staring at a screen. His days are now filled with magic, fighting weird creatures and even weirder people. Let’s not even mention the comrades he collects along the way, which are more often than not worse than the (numerous) enemies he makes as he bumbles through alternate dimensions. There’s also a disturbing number of laundromats for some reason. Release Schedule: One or two long(2.5k+ words) chapters per week, maybe more depending on real life.
8 150 - In Serial24 Chapters
Ashen Ghost
Gravelroy, the last free city, giant metropolis. All ethnicities, cultures, and religions can be found there. Merchants, sailors, criminals, everyone is welcome inside its walls. Everyone but a king, the free citizens don't kneel. But some rulers on the continent would like for this to change... A country bumpkin coming to the Big City. Raised by the wilderness as much as the war. Turned criminal by necessity. A wounded and insane woman. A monster lurks in her prison. She struggles to regain her memories and dreams of escape. A tiny, insignificant meeting. It will send ripples through the world. Given time, ripples can become waves. With enough luck, once in a very long while, a wave will turn into a storm. Slaves, commoners, and soldiers. Bishops too, kings even. Perhaps the Emperor himself. Everyone will feel it. But for now, the stubborn little rock has yet to fall into the waters. He has quite a long way to go in fact. Let's give him a little nudge, shall we? With chance, something might happen. Life can be unpredictable. Especially when we consider the adventures of a crazy girl and a weird lad. Things might get dramatic as the prelude suggested, or they might decide to do as they want and go nuts. Maybe a bit of both. The girl will fight against her own mind, her prison, and her fate. Who imprisoned her and why? But maybe she has imagined everything. She is mad after all. To save someone dear, the boy fights hunger and city guards. Sometimes pigeons as well. Well, this city is cracked anyway. Cover art by Paul Lerouvillois.
8 200 - In Serial28 Chapters
Brightstar: The Rising Superhero
Kenn has powers, it's not a weird ability to have in this world, rare, yes, but not impossible. Superheroes exist in this world. So how about he gave it a go? Helping people doesn't sound so bad. However, the thing that may hold him back is his power because at best, it's mediocre, but in truth is nothing more than a party trick. What is his power? Well... If I told you everything now, it wouldn't be a story, is it? I'll try to post weekly.
8 160 - In Serial19 Chapters
A New Life to Live (PJO FF)
Percy Jackson left his camp to wander around the world. His journey was quickly shortened when a mysterious man offers him a place away from earth. After all he's been through, Percy didn't see the point of staying there. So he left. Hopefully never to return.-sorry this is a Chaos story but I've read so many and wanted to make my own-Disclaimer: All rights and characters belong to Rick Riordan- this is a Percico story so if you don't like it, you don't read it.Enjoy my wacko story if you read it. Thank you
8 266 - In Serial70 Chapters
Area Codes // dreamwastaken
a text sent to the wrong number. a conversation between two strangers. their lives changed forever, even if they don't know who's on the other side of the screen. will they ever find out?
8 244 - In Serial26 Chapters
When Fireflies Diminish | Poetry
❛ ᴡᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀʟʟ ꜰɪʀᴇꜰʟɪᴇꜱ ʀᴏᴀᴍɪɴɢ ᴏɴ ᴛʜɪꜱ ʟᴀɴᴅ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴏɴᴇ ᴅᴀʏ ᴏᴜʀ ʟɪɢʜᴛ ᴛᴏᴏ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴅɪᴍɪɴɪꜱʜ. ❜ ~ Layla Griffin"When Fireflies Diminish" is a collection of poems that touch various dark and neutral themes such as loss of loved ones, life's challanges, mental health issues etc.Copyright © 2022 Layla GriffinCover by @-DeeIsDead-Started: 09.06.2022Completed: ~
8 196

