Asians and Oily Hair

When I was younger I couldn't really understand why being a minority was a bad thing. I knew I was a minority being Chinese in Canada, but since I've always been situated in such Chinese dominant areas, I got spared the blatant racism.

My parents never really taught me a lot of things. The internet is what taught me how to do everything, that included hair care. Well one evident thing about asian hair, is it gets oily very fast. Unfortunately, many of the haircare divas I followed online were not asian. If you've ever fallen victim to the idea that you can train your hair to be less oily, well you and me are in the same boat. This was my first time realizing what it meant to be a minority. It meant walking around with oily and dirty hair not knowing that google did not have me in mind when it said I should wash my hair 2-3 times a week. But, oily hair is not that big a deal. Everyone has an awkward phase, mines just so happens to be oily hair, right? Well little did I know I'd have this issue when it came to dyeing my hair, doing eyeliner, eyeshadow and even finding a bra size. No these things aren't specifically tied to being asian, but they were times when I realized I wasn't what society viewed as "the norm."

Now I'm not trying to act like my atrocious beauty journey is this horrid, traumatizing thing. In the grand scheme of life it's a nothing burger. However, it is a testament to our society. I live by the idea that every little thing is a peek at something bigger. My oily hair and ugly eyeliner is a sample of how these industries viewed me. How could they ever make a profit by designing with a diverse group of people in mind? Luckily for me, I live in an era where I can just search"eyeliner for epicanthal folds" or "Hair routine for asian hair" but these solutions are the work of other asians who fought an industry and built space for us to exist. Asian beauty products used to be cheap and dirty, now it's popular and chic. It's so interesting how in only a couple years things can change so much. Anyways, if you're a little asian tween, wash your hair more often and if your not, idk treat everyone with respect and understanding I guess. Thanks for reading to my yap and have an awesome day!

-Connie