Curl Power – Learning To Love My Curls!

I use to always have a hate relationship with my hair, but that has slowly changed over the years and has become a loving relationship. Curls are fun and they never look the same, its like getting a surprise every time.

So lets go back to the beginning when I was a little girl and people would always talk about how beautiful my hair was. But they didn’t know the struggle of my mom (I was adopted into a loving white family) trying to put a comb through my (Puerto Rican) hair and me just crying from the pain. No matter how much my hair was combed it would always just get all tangled up again.

This was the start of my hate relationship with my hair. My Mom would take me to get it chemically straightened and it would just curl right back up. It just got to be to much and to be honest I don’t think my mom knew what to do with my hair. Everyone had straight hair in my family and I had the crazy curls, so it was time to just chop it off and be free. When I hit middle school my hair started to grow back, and like before, no one knew what to do with it. I remember one day in middle school some kids encouraged me to keep wetting my hair throughout the day and this was suppose to make my curls look awesome – or so I thought, until the kids started making fun of me saying “I had a Jheri curl”.

During my high school years, the majority of my peers had straight hair, I wanted mine to be as well. Since the chemicals couldn’t straighten it when I was younger and (which as I got older I knew wasn’t good for my hair) before there were hair straighteners there was the iron, yes the same iron you use for clothes. I would iron my hair straight until I learned how to straighten it with a curling iron. When I did wear my hair curly, I had to use 12 different products and my hair still would frizz. Now I like the frizzy look, go figure.

After years of straightening my hair and damaging it with heat, I now mostly wear my hair as it wants to be…Curly and free! I still use the curling iron and straightener every once in awhile – but it is very minimal. This girl likes to change it up whenever possible!

I love my curls now, they make me unique and proud to have them – and unlike the straight hair I struggled to get, my curls gives me power. They are a part of who I am and they make stand out in the crowd, and besides life is to short to have boring hair. (Nothing against you ladies with the straight stuff :))

When doing my hair routine, I like to keep it as simple as possible, so right now I am using Rusk Thick shampoo and conditioner (but I never stay with the same brand). I am thinking about trying Carol’s daughter next, so if any of you have any thoughts about it, please let me know. When getting out of the shower I use a serum, and the days I go out I just apply some mousse. The serum that I used is the Renewing Argon Oil Of Morocco Penetrating Oil by OGX, and this stuff has really helped to bring my curls and hair back to life, plus it smells really good. The mousse that I use is the Herbal Essance Totally Twisted Curl Boosting Mousse and this stuff is amazing on my hair making it look like so much more effort was put into getting my curls. Instead of using 12 different products, thanks to Herbal Essneces I only have to use one. The last thing to do is to let my hair air dry, but sometimes I do need my blow dryer. When using heat items I always use a heat protected product so that not as much damage is being done to my hair.

If you have curls, where them proud, because that person with the straight hair wants yours!