I love Ouidad for the amazing way it makes my hair look and feel. I also have another special reason for loving it… Vincent Voorhees.
A very good friend told me about Ouidad when I went to visit her in New York many years ago. She, having gorgeous curls herself, told me I HAD to go and get my hair cut by her Uncle Vincent at the curly hair salon. I have A LOT of thick, curly hair. No one has EVER been able to manage this beast. I wore my hair in ponytails pretty much all through Junior High and then most of High School. If it wasn’t up, I would straighten it. In college, I got braver and let the curls show here and there, but I never knew how great my hair could look until I met Vincent at the Ouidad salon. After my cut that day my new husband looked at me with awe and told me I looked like a movie star. I didn’t wash my hair for a week after that!
So, fast-forward a few years later… I found out my mother had cancer. After going through chemo, she lost all of her hair. She felt much better after someone gave her a wig to wear. I wished so badly that I could have given her some of MY hair to wear. So, I decided to cut my hair and donate it to Locks of Love. I couldn’t give my own mom my hair, but I COULD give it to someone else’s mom.
The only time I have ever had my hair cut shorter than my shoulders was in elementary school when my mom cut it when it became uncontrollable, or there was gum stuck in it from my habit of falling asleep while chewing. I could not trust just anybody to cut a foot of it off, even for a good cause. I knew a bad cut could (and has before) frizz out and make me look like a big porcupine! So, when I planned another trip to New York with my girlfriend, the second thing I did after I got my plane ticket was call the Ouidad salon and schedule an appointment with Vincent. Although I was nervous about having my hair cut short, he made me feel comfortable and relaxed. I felt confident that he would make my hair look great. And he did.
As you can see from the pictures, I was a bit weepy near the end of my visit. Not because I didn’t like the cut or style, but because I had cut off a part of myself. To me, my hair was a part of my identity. Everyone that saw it short, liked it, but it took a while for me to get used to it. I even cried the first time I washed my hair and my hands automatically rinsed all the way down where there was none to rinse! Vincent made my curls look and feel amazing though, and it turned out to be a very special day for me. I am very happy that I did it! I taught 1st grade at the time and two of my students decided to give their hair to “locks of love,” too. It was an incredible experience but I could not have done it without Ouidad.
Thank you Vincent, and thank you Ouidad, for helping me to give back and for helping to make my hair beautiful!
Sincerely,
Sara Satterfield
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