I've had this one thrown at me since I was a kid.  There's this myth that Asian  (Mongolid types) hair due to it's coarseness and individual hair strand's thickness is also wiry like a porkypine.   Okay, maybe if it's cut short enough but it's still not going to hurt your fingers to touch it!  As long as I take good care of my hair and get the moisture balance right, this is NOT the case!  My hair can be very soft and I dare say pleasant to touch but what do I know.....

Apparently Asian (Mongolid) hair is also gross and greasy.  Getting the moisture balance right is again the key but fine hair can become greasy too for someone who's going through a phase of adjusting the moisture their hair needs or if they don't know how to care for their hair.  This is not exclusively nor universally true about Asian hair!
 Most of the time my hair appears naturally shiny but the shine is most apparent when the lighting comes directly from above in an otherwise darker room. Fx. bathrooms with spotlights make my hair look its best where as bright outdoor sunlight doesn't do my hair the kind of favors it does for other hair colors in my opinion.

Of course shiny hair is not an indicator of hair health in all hair textures nor is hair that doesn't naturally look shiny any less gorgeous than shiny hair.  I love hair that naturally has an ethereal glow rather than shine.  However, nature had different intends with my hair.  I'm trying to accept and embrace the whole shiny, straight hair thingy.

When I lived in CA I would often see Asian women with oil in their hair if they were going out for the evening and wanted their hair to look good for their occasion.  It wasn't because they thought it was a great look.  Some do have some sebum problems that can cause the greasy look but it's not because they're careless.  Most Asian women I've met are very hair proud.  

There will always be people who don't care or prefer certain tortured styles or have scalp problems that affect the appearance of their hair.  That's not an exclusively Asian problem.  

-Rant over.

It's actually been a long time since I'd heard comments like these until Wednesday and they weren't said directly to me but just generally of me and two Fillippino ladies who were at my middle son's school.  I don't think they thought we'd heard them. 

Comments like these were more common in high school.   These days people usually only compliment if they say anything.   I'm going through a good hair phase so my skin is usually a bit thicker regarding hair comments than when I have a bad phase.

The funny thing is that I think the bottom is evening itself out.  I can see why women with long hair and layers need quarterly trims to keep a "style".  I can also see why it will become a drag as my hair gets longer and because of the way it grows.