At a local pharmacy this morning, a middle-age woman was spotted sporting frizzy hair. As other patrons looked on in horror, the woman with frizzy hair seemed nonplussed by the attention and stares she was attracting while she shopped.

A young child was heard saying, “Mommy, why does that woman look like that?” to which her mother remonstrated her daughter for pointing and replied that she had “no idea.” Others just looked on in disbelief and shook their heads in disgust. When approached by a bold customer who asked why her hair was so unruly, the woman explained that after using keratin treatments for several years, she had recently decided to embrace her natural locks. She stated “in addition to the expense and inconvenience involved in keratin treatments, I am uncomfortable with the chemicals used in them.” Although she had most recently been using the product with the lowest amount of formaldehyde, she understood that it was still a necessary ingredient for the product to be effective. She added, “I realized that a lower cancer risk didn’t mean no cancer risk and while, of course, I would prefer to be buried with straight hair, my stronger preference is to be around longer.” This reporter tried to reach the inventor of the original keratin treatment for comment, only to discover he had died of cancer.

Another woman at the pharmacy, who wished to remain anonymous, seemed baffled why someone would choose to allow their hair to be frizzy stating “that woman is shooting herself in the foot and will most likely become a social pariah.” With no attempt to hide her disdain, the woman further commented, “What will she do next, stop coloring and highlighting? What about regular blowouts? We are no longer living in the dark ages you know. We have seven shops devoted to hair care in this town alone. What would happen to them if we all followed her example?”

The frizzy haired woman said it was somewhat liberating not to think about her hair and was considering throwing out the hundreds of hair straightening products located under her bathroom sink. “I have creams, masques, oils, mousse and countless other concoctions wasting valuable space, not to mention the time I spend using those products. I will no longer be a slave to my hair,” she declared triumphantly. When asked to comment, her husband looked confused and said he hadn’t noticed any change in his wife’s appearance and would love her no matter what she looked like.

Further developments will be reported as they occur.

You can find more from Marlene at Thoughts From Aisle 4