Not everyone’s dad teaches them how to take care of their hair, but mine did. (My mom’s interest in beauty didn’t really arrive until I was an adult, and I love that about her.) When I was a kid, there was a Sally Beauty Supply about a mile from my house and man oh man did my dad and I tear that place up. Every few months or so, like clockwork, we’d stock up on a bunch of new greases and jellies—pink ones, blue ones, the whole rainbow—beauty drunk on the possibility of finding the one. One day he came home with a spikey tan doo-dad that he said was meant to massage my scalp. Huh, dad? OK… With him there was always some new gadget he was excited to try out. He told me about Carol’s Daughter (“Ashley, Jada Pinkett Smith is an investor!”). He told me about sleeping in a hair mask overnight, and to lay a towel on my pillow when I did. He taught me to brush my hair with 100 strokes every day—he’s not perfect.
Matthew A. Cherry’s Hair Love makes me think of my dad. The Oscar-winning animated short follows a little girl and her dad as they both try their hand at styling the former’s hair for a very big day. “There’s this perception about Black men that they’re not involved in their kid’s lives, where studies have actually shown that they’re most involved,” Cherry told the Associated Press when discussing the film’s impetus. “But if you look at mainstream media, you wouldn’t think that.” Hair Love is adorable, heart-warming, and 7 minutes. Watch it for yourself, and text it to your dad this Sunday with your favorite beauty memory. Happy Father’s Day!
—Ashley Weatherford
Photo via Sony