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Hygiene & Grooming Behind Bars

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"It's not uncommon for women getting out of prison to leave with a full goatee and unibrow, not to mention a "shag carpet," writes Deputy Clementine Johnson of Comedy Central's Reno 911. And while it's impossible to be high-maintenance in the slammer -- because beauty supplies are limited, and if you want someone to, say, do your hair, another inmate will be your stylist -- not all female inmates turn into unibrowed goons with flat hair and serious roots. At least if they follow these top ten helpful pointers.

  1. Catch up on all treatments before incarceration: haircut and color, facial, brows and nails.

  2. Request easy-care styles on everything from brows to nails, and have any extensions removed (lest they get yanked out in a fight). Maybe visit the dentist and doctor to make sure everything's in good shape.

  3. Get your hair braided. Braiding is a popular beauty procedure and general pastime in prison. A few words of warning, though: Approach a potential braider with caution, in case she thinks you're bossing her around, and offer to reciprocate. Also, as a white girl, adopting an African-American style is unwise for many, many reasons, least of all that you can't pull off the look.

  4. Let your waxing go. Word to the wise: The less attractive down there the better.

  5. Make a headband from plastic bags, like garbage-pail liners. Shred them into strips (maybe rinse them first) and start braiding. When you've made several strands, braid the small braids into larger braids. Repeat this process until the desired thickness is reached.

  6. Mortar and grout between bricks and tiles makes a handy emery board for filing nails.

  7. Prison TattooGet a tattoo. Nothing says "I did time" quite like a big-house tat. You'll want to find someone experienced to administer your design, but here's a summary of how these homemade body art happens. Paper is burned and the soot collected on a shiny surface, like a magazine cover. The soot is scraped off and mixed with liquid soap to make "ink." "Needles" can be fashioned from an unfolded staple tied with dental floss to a pencil, like a bayonet. Spread the "ink" on the skin to be decorated, then punch out the design with the "needle."

    Go for a simple design. Put it somewhere inconspicuous. Make a laser-removal appointment for your first day of freedom.

  8. Play beauty parlor with the prison-issue makeup kit (compact, eye shadow, eyebrow pencil, hair color). As one of the few residents who's ever had a professional makeup application, Paris could earn brownie points by sharing her insight--and makeup--with fellow inmates.

  9. Wash your face morning and night. No reason to become a zit farmer.

  10. If you get a cut or scrape, discreetly ask a corrections officer for an alcohol swab and a Band-Aid. Two goals: Don't get an infection; don't establish yourself as a crybaby.



Latest page update: made by Patty , Jun 11 2007, 1:26 PM EDT (about this update About This Update Patty Edited by Patty

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