THUMBS UP Mocking the Monopolists.

To Isis, otherwise known as Dana Brantley, for defying the Texas State Cosmetology Commission’s insistence that she be licensed to ran her Dallas hair-braiding salon.

The 39-year-old single mother of five has tangled with the commission since 1995, when she was first arrested for operating what she calls her “ancestral braiding touille” without a license.

Isis, who lamed herself after the Egyptian goddess of km, beat], and fertility, insists teal her Graft has nothing to do with cosmetology. “I’m trying to reconnee! with my culture by braiding,” she says. “Braiding is all-natural. You don’t use chemicals or sprays. If the board contrais braiding, it will be another break with our ancestry. That’s why I refuse to comply.”

Isis’ civil disobedience soon may no longer be necessary. Dallas hair care tycoon Comer Cottrell, chairman of the cosmetology commission, has directed his staff to re-examine its standards.

“A committee has hen set up to look at hair trailing.” says Larry Perkins, director of enforcement in Austin. “We may consider a separate license for them.”