#curly hair tips

Look up #curlyhair #curlyhairtips #curlyhairstyling #curlygirl method, and more and it's amazing the number of hits you'll get. Part of the nervousness about starting the blog is the fear of not measuring up. Well fear is no way to live life. So here we are. "You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great."

All curl types are welcome here. Wavy hair, bendy hair, curly hair, coily hair - If you want to embrace and enhance your curls, something you see here will be worthwhile. I will use the term curls here for all the types.

WHAT'S MY WHY?

I was adopted by a woman with pin-straight hair. Mom didn’t believe kids’ hair was that important. Therefore, my super-curly hair mostly got cut in garages or kitchens by people who “used to” do hair. She even taped my hair down to make it behave.

My curly locks were the bane of my existence—unruly, unstylish—until an aunt took me to a true professional who cared about my hair. My life changed. From then on, I knew that fashion, including hairstyle, was a form of self-expression. I still longed for that fashionable Farrah Fawcett style, but I knew I had to work with what I had.

In my early days, people did not embrace their natural hair. I was raised in Southern Maine. There were very few Black people here. Once I became frustrated by trying to make my hair behave by blow-drying and using curling irons, (there were no flat irons back then,) I learned that I could comb it in direction I wanted it to go with a lot of gel in it, and it would comply, if it was cut properly. Once it got long enough to make more than a half of a revolution, I was sunk. It started to curl back the other way. No fun. So I learned that I needed regular haircuts.

As my stylist recommended, I started using professional products like shampoo and conditioner. I stopped rinsing the conditioner out all the way, so the hair stayed a little softer.

Eventually, as Maine gained some diversity, products for Black hair were somewhat available. I learned that, for short curly hair, pomade was in order. I could use it on longer hair in small amounts.

The thought that other young people were struggling to find appreciation for their hair made me curious about how I could help. A friend was attending hair school, so I went to visit and ended up signing up for cosmetology school.

Beauty school was not magical, but I did find a bit of happiness in the process. There began the journey. I wouldn’t be where I am now without the aunt who took me to my first professional stylist, and that friend who went to beauty school before me.