the ‘white girl hair smell’? i’m sorry, but i didn’t get that memo.

every time i press my natural hair, i go out of my way to make sure that my hair smells good. after washing and conditioning, like you, i’m left with subtly fragranced locks. however, the smell is short lived because as soon as that heat protecant hits my hair and the flaming guns come out in the form of a blow dryer and flat iron, all of my hair aroma is lost; overpowered by the smell of heat – you know the smell i’m talking about.

since carol’s daughter introduced their chocolat line, i no longer have that problem. talk about a product that gets the issue of “heat smell” and makes it completely a NON-ISSUE. if you want to talk about good smelling hair, ALLLL during washing, conditioning, adding heat protectant, blowing out and pressing? well then you’ve got to be on to this chocolat thing that carol’s daughter has going on. [check it out here] but enough about that..

even if i don’t use carol’s daughter when pressing, i’ll always finish my hair of with something that at least makes it smell like candy. this has been a habit of mine for years – good smelling hair is a must for me. i feel some kind of way when the wind catches my hair and blows it into my face and i’m left with a scent that’s soft and feminine.

i remember once while on a date, this was years a ago, a guy (who happened to be really tall) and i were sitting on the stoop out in bed sty brooklyn one hot, summer night in 2005 (since i’m in brooklyn, i’m flashing back right now). since he was so tall he even towered above me while sitting down. during our stoop moment, some hands came out and a game of poke, tickle, or something of that nature started to happen and he ended up face in my head – i think it was a cheek kiss gone wrong. anyway, he pulled back and told me my hair smelled great.

Him: Is that your shampoo?

Me: I don’t think so. (I was using this at the time)

Him: Your hair hair smells so good. It’s like that white girl hair smell.

Me: Come again?

Him: Yeah, it smells good. Not like grease and perm. Not like most black girl’s hair.

yeah, i know. but see, even though old boy and i only went out a couple of times after this happened, this was not the last time i was delivered the “white girl hair smell” line – all different variations of it. i’ve heard that my hair smells like a “white girl’s hair” at least two times since the stoop incident in brooklyn, spread out throughout my natural journey and the resounding reasoning seems to be that, as one guy told me point blank, “a lot of black girl’s hair products stink.”

curious to know how deeply this “hair smell” discernment ran with men, if at all, i just had to do a mini experiment. so, i sent out a mass text to a few of my intelligent and witty male cousins who’d dated every race of woman under the rainbow. (they are often my unofficial focus group)

Text: Quick question. Do you think hair products targeted to black consumers stink/or don’t smell as good as hair products targeted to white consumers? Okay, specifically women’s hair products. Random I know. Don’t ask!

one cousin (who is married to a black woman who is relaxed) said:

LOL. On the real? I’d prefer that Herbal Essence type smell to grease or that placenta, cholesterol stuff any day.

another cousin, who is single, said:

I hate the perm smell. Is this for your blog again? (he knows me so well)

of the eight guys i asked, only one said no because he’d never noticed a difference. since i’ve gone natural, i can honestly say i prefer the smell of my hair products now to any of the products that i used while relaxed (to be fair 80% of my products are all-natural or organic). no competition in the before and after – hands down my hair smells better with the products that i use now. and like one of my cousins, i hated the perm smell which lingered on my head for a few days after a touch up. but when i think about it, i don’t necessarily think that grease or other hair products targeted to to black women stink. they are just different. made me think though. maybe what these men wanted to say was, “i don’t like the smell of relaxer,” because, come on, is there anyone who actually does? but since most men don’t know the ins and out of what we do with our hair, they just just lump it all together under the grease and relaxer umbrella. i don’t know about this, “white girl hair smell.” i didn’t get the memo on that. is that what they are calling hair smell these days? i think i’m out of the loop.

How do you feel your current hair products compare smell-wise to the products you used while relaxed? Do you think on average products targeted to black women don’t smell as good as products targeted to white women?

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Tagged as: hair products, relaxe, smells