The Day I Tried to Relax My Hair.

I literally was in the beauty counter justifying that I did not need the salon. You have seen enough videos, I thought. "You're smart. You can read instructions." The box did not appear ominous when I put it in my bathroom later that night. At first, I felt proud, then I shared it in sections and parts, and started rubbing the hair relaxer, glancing at the clock, as I had an idea of what was going on. I even did a snap-on mirror selfie such as, wow, look at me, responsible, grown. Then the tingling started.
You know how it is when you find out that something is not tingling, it is burning? Yeah, That. My head was warning me through e-mails. I kept on saying to myself, there are still a few more minutes. This is how it is supposed to feel. I started pacing. Timer in one hand. Phone in the other. I opened random tabs to take my attention out of it, messages, hair tips, alibaba site and stuff I had looked into previously. The burning feeling was increasing, still, I stared at my screen as if it could assist me in making the feeling go away. By the time I managed to rinse it out I was bending over the sink because I had succeeded in a survival test. My hair was straight, yes. But my edges looked... nervous. It took days before my scalp was no longer sensitive, but I had saved money, technically and learnt a new skill.