I have had a love/hate relationship with my hair for most of my adult life. (And yes, this is a hair post. Feel free to stop reading now.) I have naturally wavy hair, which didn't bother me through most of high school and college. I even remember LIKING my hair, which is a foreign concept to me now. And then I moved, had babies, etc. etc. etc. And my hair, spoiled in the CA (high school) and UT (college) dryness, possibly tampered with by several pregnancies, decided to become a monster when confronted by that thing called humidity. It was either frizzed curls (I would occasionally bring out my defuser to let it "go natural"), or easily frizzed and still slightly waved "straight". Ugh. The words "straight" and "sleek" were like a siren call on any product I bought. The results? Occasionally straight hair. But rarely, ok never, sleek. My hair just didn't do sleek, unless I had just came from a hair stylist, which happened maybe once a year or so. And then, if I did manage to get it somewhat straight, any drop of moisture in the air quickly destroyed it. So I either spent forever blowing/ironing my hair straight, or kept it in a messy ponytail so I didn't have to think about it. And even when I DID spend forever blowing/ironing my hair straight (usually only for Sundays or special occasions, unless I was really cold or needed a good excuse to read), then it was usually back in its messy ponytail the next day, frizz once more slightly waving it. I knew I could go the expensive-to-maintain-and-hugely-damaging-to-my-hair route of a Brazilian blowout, or something like that. Or maybe I could get an in-house stylist and have HER worry about my hair. But I'm generally a low maintenance kind of person and really, really wanted low-maintenance hair that looked better than a messy ponytail.
Then, six weeks ago, I saw the light. I've been reading several online articles about "Curly Girls" and their fight with their hair. My dear readers, there is a Curly Revolution going on right now! And so I decided to take the plunge and free my hair - to let it be curly, to finally learn how to reduce the frizz. The result? I think I like my hair. I know! I don't love it yet. But I like it. I've been Straight-Free for 7 weeks now.
Wait, is this blog post only about my hair? Yes. Yes it is.
You see, this is a huge deal to me. Monumental. It doesn't seem huge to most people, but I feel it's a declaration of sorts! I will no longer force my hair straight! I will learn to like my hair! I may even learn to LOVE my hair! At the beginning of this liberation I mentioned my new-found determination to a few very select people. One of my friends, not noticing the OBVIOUS curly state of my hair, said she hadn't noticed - I looked like me with straight hair and I looked like me with curly hair. Okay, so that was a bit of a letdown. And then I remembered I'm doing this for me! Yes, validation is a wonderful thing. But if I stopped slaving over my hair and NOBODY NOTICED, doesn't that just scream that it's ABOUT TIME I STOPPED SLAVING OVER MY HAIR?
Yes.
So, for the last 7 weeks I've had curly hair. My hair is not super curly, but definitely more curly than what you would consider "waves". And better yet? It's easy! It's really easy! For seven weeks I've had easily maintained curls. And I have two confessions - for seven weeks I have not used a brush on my hair. I know! Strange! So strange! But I really haven't! Combing through my hair with water on my hands is all I need to do - brushes just frizz it out. And second - no, I won't admit it. Never mind. My darling husband warned me to not to admit it to random people. (And, by the way, he LOVES the curls.) Okay, maybe I will. For seven weeks I have not used a speck of shampoo. I know, sorry! TMI! But it's so liberating! And I know it sounds icky! But it's not, I promise! My hair is clean! Shampoo just frizzed it out - I still clean it, for goodness sake. And I use a LOT of conditioner. No more brushes! Shampoo! Hairspray! Mouse! Serums! Flat Irons! Curling irons! Curlers! And now, sometimes, I even feel like I have magic hair - my hair is MAGIC!! It can be in a messy bun all day, and just by finger combing through some water it's ready to go. Which is awesome.
I'm sorry, I know I'm waxing a bit long on this. But it's a big deal for me. But now I have this awareness of how prevalent straight hair is in the media - where are all of the curly girls? We have a few representatives, but mostly it's that sleek, straight look that yes, I still covet a bit. But it's just NOT ME. And NEVER WILL BE ME and I can finally come to terms with it. Straight hair has even overrun animated cartoons! Thank goodness for the new Brave cartoon coming out. Yay for Curls! Seriously, if at the end of the movie she shows up in triumph with straight hair, I will scream.
So there it is. My hair is curly. And I've finally accepted it.
