- This is a disaster.
(upbeat music)
- My hair is always a direct reflection of how I feel.
- You know, when you grow up hearing,
"You should straighten your hair.
Your hair would look really pretty straight."
what I always heard was
"You would look better with straight hair.
You would fit in better with straight hair."
(upbeat music)
Growing up, I didn't really like my hair,
so all throughout middle school,
I kept my hair up in a ponytail
because I had no idea what to do with it.
- Fifth grade, I permed my hair.
And for me, I was like an awakening.
First, I tried sun-in.
Then, I tried a cellophane.
- High school, the way that I tamed my hair
was just hairspray.
- Dyed my hair like a dark plum purple.
- You spray that (bleep) down, so that when you go like this
it just doesn't move.
- Hair foils.
- I started straightening it in college.
I would straighten it, and then curl it,
which was never really me.
If I have to expose my forehead for any reason,
I am going to be unhappy.
You will not be seeing my forehead in this video.
This is my hair care routine.
You flip your hair upside down.
You wet it.
You're gonna shampoo, finger comb your roots,
then you apply conditioner, still upside down,
you rinse your hair,
still upside down.
- When do I lose consciousness?
- Hair should feel like silky seaweed.
- Like spaghetti?
- No.
What's your hair routine?
What am I getting myself into?
- Wash, middle of the day, air dry.
I straighten my bangs.
Sometimes, I just clip them back.
- Really?
- I feel like you're gonna have to do
one day bangs straight, one day bangs back.
- I'm gonna cry!
- And you're gonna have to brush your hair,
so that's...
- I don't own a brush. I don't own a comb.
Because it will grow, like the Grinch's heart,
five times the size it began.
- I'm sorry.
- Yeah, I am too.
- This routine situation that I'm being asked to maintain
is flipping me out.
I really like those, like, tangle-free brushes.
- [Megan] Well, I don't own a brush.
- [Morgan] You're gonna have to get yourself one.
- On non-wash days, it starts with brushing,
okay, here I go.
(upbeat music)
- Ow, ow, ow.
Does she brush it dry?
Alright, I think I'm done.
- [Morgan] Am I still upside down for this?
- I was just in bed, thinking about how excited I was
that I get to wash my hair tomorrow morning,
and then I remembered what Morgan told me about
the specific time that she has to wash her hair.
- Wash middle of the day, air dry.
- Without control over my hair, I feel like
I need my outfit to express me in a way
that I have not really relied on fashion for.
- My curly hair has always been labeled as messy.
I used to grow up watching novellas with my grandma,
and all of the girls had pin-straight black hair.
When I met other Latinas who had hair like mine,
who had that kind of texture, I was like,
"Oh my God, you exist, just like me!"
- This is what they're looking at.
- So, for some reason after talking to Maya,
I just feel less afraid to go shower
and just let it air dry
and not give a shit about how it looks.
Not quite as weird getting naked at work
as I thought it would be.
I think I'm learning that there isn't just
one good way to have your hair be curly.
- People were surprisingly complimentary,
about "the mushroom", which was shocking, to be honest.
- I think today might be the day
that I have to put my bangs back.
- I don't think of myself as actually, like,
high-maintenance or vain in any way,
but this sucks, man.
- Today, I was surprisingly comfortable
having my bangs pinned back.
That being said.
- [Morgan] I mean, Megan, get serious.
This is what my hair looks like if I don't brush it.
Can I wear a hat?
It's been a long week.
Paying a lot of attention to my hair.
I'm ready to shave my head.
- It's pretty crazy, the hold that my hair has over me,
and the way that I think I look.
- It's our last day, I saved up the messy bun, but
I needed it.
- This week, I swapped hair routines
with someone who does it very differently than I do,
and it made me just as uncomfortable as I thought it would.
- I'm surprised that I haven't passed out
from hypertension, with all of the head-flipping this week.
I always sort of thought that my philosophy was like,
"Oh, it's just hair, whatever!"
But I still have always thought that my willingness
to just like, try whatever, has come from
a place of not caring, but really,
it comes from a very intense, emotional place.
- I think that something that I realized I need to work on
is feeling beautiful, regardless of how my hair looks
and regardless of how I think other people
think my hair looks.
- You guys, I brought a rubber band,
I brought a headband,
and I'm getting a hair cut this afternoon.
Oh wait, and a hair clip!
I brought a hair clip!
Where is it?
I'm gonna put it on right now.
Get out of my face, bangs.
Get right out of my face.
F you.
Oh, so good.