Something I have not talked about yet here on my blog is my hair. I have always had naturally curly hair, large ringlets that are not wavy, nor kinky curly. I know many people who have wondered or assumed that I disliked it for some reason (the humidity, the manageability of it) but I have for the most part always enjoyed my curly hair. I think part of the reason I enjoy and am proud of my hair is because I have always been taught how to take care of it. My mom also has beautiful naturally curly hair and over the years taught me to appreciate what I naturally have and what many people pay to chemically create, or for hours use rollers or curling irons to mimic.

I have received compliment after compliment about my curly hair, even from hair stylists. I supposed that even through those awkward years of Jr. High and High School I felt I had one saving genetic grace I could enjoy. Besides this curly hair (if taken care of properly) is actually pretty low maintance: wash, condition, put in a moisture locking gel or cream and let it hair dry!

Still it hasn’t always been easy to find the best care for my hair. Hair care products have taken a long time to evolve and adapt for the curly-hair crowd who didn’t want to straighten or subdue their locks. I remember going through many different companies and products, mouses and gels, which left my hair greasy and/or crunchy and not because that was the look I was going for. Fortunately curly-hair hair products have greatly improved in the past ten years.

Scientist and Stylists have finally realized that curly hair craves mass amounts of moisture; that’ why when it’s humid our hair tends to expand; stretching like a plant towards the sun trying to find the moisture in the air to quench it’s thirst. Now products are beginning to take out the chemicals that dry and damage curly hair: sulfates and alcohol based solutions, and are including more moisture locking materials. It’s still always a gamble whether a specific culry-haired product works for a specific culry-haired person since there are different thicknesses and types of curly hair but it’s better than it was 10 or even 5 years ago.

On top of the product difficulties I have also had many unhappy hair-cut sessions. Stylists untrained in curly hair cuts meant  I’d walk away with much shorter hair then I had asked for because the stylist did not consider how much curly hair springs up when it dries. (Each person with curly hair has different amounts of spring in their curl as well) I have even had hair stylists brush out my curly hair while it was dry then try to cut it!! Anyone with curly hair would know that a brush is always our enemy (even more so than humidity).

So that is a first/part overview of the ups and down of curly hair; stayed tuned for Part Two of Celebrating culry: My Hair to find out more about what I’m doing with my naturally curly hair now.